Confirming what we all believed to be the proper final verdict on injured Texas Rangers reliever Tanner Scheppers, the Rangers announced this week that the former top-notch setup man turned failed starter would be returning as a reliever again next season.
The club announced the 27-year-old righty will begin a throwing program in about eight weeks — after the wasted Rangers season is finally finished — and then will ramp up to be ready by the time spring training kicks off.
After being one of the league's top setup men in 2013 with 27 holds and a 1.88 ERA, Scheppers somehow was tabbed as the Rangers' Opening Day starter and ended up making four starts before heading back to the bullpen for four more games sandwiched between two DL stints.
In his eight games this year, he was 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA.
Scheppers is one of several relievers-turned-starters the Rangers have seen fail miserably, with the most recent this season begin Scheppers and Robbie Ross, who is still starting for Triple-A Round Rock and has fared well at that level. Alexi Ogando has seemingly been ruined by the move, as was Neftali Feliz.
