Following the 2012 season, it looked like the Texas Rangers had a legitimate No. 2 pitcher to pair with ace Yu Darvish. Matt Harrison had a fine season, putting up an 18-11 record with a stellar 3.29 ERA while pitching in the yet-to-be altered wind tunnel that was Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
Then, he made two bad starts in 2013, including the Rangers' opening night loss to Houston, before being shelved and undergoing two back surgeries to put him out for the remainder of the season.
Given the Rangers' level of success in 2013, there was a prevailing battle cry from Rangers fans along the lines of "we did that, and imagine what we'd done if we had Matt Harrison."
True statement, but don't just assume Harrison is going to be the Harrison of 2011 and 2012.
He's been throwing off a mound since December, which is a great sign and has the club optimistic he'll be ready to roll when pitchers and catchers report to Surprise, Ariz., next month. But it's going to take him a while to get back in the flow of pitching and re-discover his pitches. He should be good this year, but it might be safe to assume his ERA will trend closer to 4.00 as he'll likely struggle early in the season.
So yeah, assuming the Rangers don't bring in another star pitcher like they say they're not, you'd have to slot Harrison as the No. 2 pitcher with Holland out until midseason, but you might not see those results early on.
