Washington Remains Confident In Dempster; “He's A Pro”

After missing the Rangers’ weekend series with the Blue Jays in Toronto with an altogether strange passport issue, Ryan Dempster will be back on the hill for the Rangers on Monday night as the team welcomes the surprisingly hot Baltimore Orioles to the Ballpark.

Since coming over in a deadline deal with the Cubbies, Dempster has been anything but stellar. Specifically, Dempster is 1-1 as a member of the Rangers, with an 8.31 ERA. But manager Ron Washington isn’t ready to panic about the veteran. He was asked this weekend if he remained confident in Dempster, and the answer, if you know Washington, doesn’t come as a surprise.

"I am. He's a pro," Washington said, per the Rangers’ official website. "He went up against a hot Anaheim team and a pretty good New York Yankees team. He had two innings against that Yankees team he showed us real good stuff. After that, he just started elevating the baseball.

"I'm pleased with him. We got to get [his] feet wet, he has to get comfortable. We will see how it goes, but he can pitch."