Colby Lewis, pitching on his third consecutive one-year contract, has been the Rangers' most consistent pitcher in what is the best rotation in the American League through nearly two months of the 2016 season.
Taking a quick look at his game log makes it clear.
In his nine starts this year, Lewis has just one start that didn't qualify as a quality start — minimum six innings and maximum of three earned runs. That came back on April 16 in his third start of the year when he allowed four runs in six innings in a game the Rangers won 8-4.
Other than that, all of Lewis' starts have been at least six innings, and they've all been quality. In fact, his last five starts have each gone seven innings, including his start on Friday that was seven scoreless innings against the Astros in which he took a 100-plus mph comebacker off the noggin only to stay in the game.
On Wednesday afternoon, Lewis will take the hill looking to make it six straight against a team that has traditionally given him a ton of trouble — so much so that Jeff Banister tinkered with the rotation to allow Lewis to miss the Angels at the beginning of the year.
Back on April 29, he wasn't given that luxury, and it didn't matter as he went seven innings and allowed two runs to earn a victory. He's now 3-0 with a 2.75 ERA and cruising along.
To make it even more impressive, Lewis is doing this with maximum efficiency. He's only eclipsed 100 pitches three times all year and only once in his five seven-inning outings.
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He continues to defy odds and with each passing start like those, he continues to etch his place in Rangers lore forever.
