Take a look at the guys who have started games for the Texas Rangers this season, and you'll be reading for a while.
Here's the list: Yu Darvish, Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers, Colby Lewis, Martin Perez, Matt Harrison, Nick Martinez, Nick Tepesch, Scott Baker and Joe Saunders. Nice 10-man rotation, huh? And it's not even June. If all goes well, there will only be one name added to that list in the form of Derek Holland.
Clearly, the Rangers have worked with a makeshift, patchwork rotation this year after Yu Darvish, Colby Lewis and Matt Harrison started the season on the disabled list, and Harrison and Perez have since suffered season-ending injuries while Ross and Scheppers have moved back to the bullpen.
Yet, through all of that, guess who has the most shutout wins in all of baseball? Yup, it's your Rangers.
When Joe Saunders tossed five shutout innings on Wednesday in his first big-league start since April 4, the Rangers held on for a 1-0 win over the Twins and notched their 10th shutout victory of the season, one ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.
How has this happened? Frankly, we have no idea. But it has, and it's pretty remarkable considering all the bad luck that has ravaged this team this season.
If the Rangers are going to sneak into October, they're going to have to continue getting pitching from unlikely candidates like they have been this year, and while that seems unlikely, it's definitely not impossible.
