Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections are a good measure of what to expect from players in the upcoming baseball season. We'll take a look at the Rangers' projections on a position-by-position basis. Szymborski can be found on Twitter at @DSzymborski.
Today we'll look at the projections for the Rangers' middle relief role, which at this point, has a whole lot of new faces with Robbie Ross moving up the food chain.
Josh Lindblom: 69 innings, 4.57 ERA, 8.22 K/9 IP, 63 strikeouts, 31 walks, 11 home runs allowed
The Rangers took a flier on Lindblom as a relatively unproven guy, but one who had a good 2012 split between the Dodgers and Phillies when he posted a combined 3.55 ERA in 71 innings. He'll definitely figure into the Rangers' bullpen somewhere.
Yoshinori Tateyama: 49 2/3 innings, 4.35 ERA, 7.97 K/9 IP, 44 strikeouts, 15 walks, 7 home runs allowed
Tateyama has bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the majors for the past couple of years, and 2012 will likely be no different.
Another name that will factor in here is Jason Frasor, who was signed as a free agent from Toronto. He had a 10.9 K/9 IP last season with the Blue Jays with a 4.12 ERA. He has a very lively arm and will most definitely factor in, but he's not in Szymborski's ZiPS projections for the Rangers because he was signed after they were finished.
