The two pitchers that were supposed to led the Texas Rangers to World Series glory, both left Arlington last season. Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels both ended up in the north side of Chicago via free agency and trade deadline deal respectively. And guess what? They’re back in Arlington. Darvish is scheduled to pitch on Saturday night against Edinson Volquez, while Cole will pitch Sunday against Lance Lynn on ESPN.
Both Darvish and Hamels had their ups and downs in Arlington on the mound. Darvish was considered one of the best pitchers to ever come out of Japan and Hamels was acquired from Philadelphia in 2015 to help bolster the pitching rotation. While neither helped complete the ultimate goal due to some struggles, both brought great moments to Rangers fans.
Let’s look at the good of both pitchers and the bad that ultimately lead to both pitchers leaving Texas
The Good
The entire month of April 2012
Yu Darvish - 31.6 IP 30 H 8 ER 17 BB 33 K over 5 games
In his first month in the The Show, Darvish started 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA. His best game of the entire month came against the New York Yankees. He threw 8.1 innings striking out ten while only walking two. Darvish had established himself in the majors very early on.
2013 Regular Season Game
Yu Darvish - 8.2 IP 1 H 0 ER 0 BB 14 K vs Houston Astros
In his first start of the 2013 season for the Rangers, Darvish was one out away from throwing a perfect game. Darvish ran through the entire Astros’ roster. Yes, this was before the Astros were the current day Astros, but it still had a lineup with Jose Altuve and JD Martinez. Only four of the nine hitters in the Astros’ order had one strikeout and Brett Wallace got the honor of striking out in all 3 of his plate appearances against Darvish. After two groundouts to start the bottom of the ninth, Marwin Gonzalez hit a single up the middle to end the perfect game bid. Darvish was pulled after he let up the hit and got the win after Michael Kirkman closed the game out 2 batters later.
2015 ALDS Game 2
Cole Hamels - 7 IP 6 H 2 ER 0 BB 6 K vs Toronto Blue Jays
While the Rangers did not end up winning this series and Hamels look the Game 5 loss, at the time this was a great pitching performance to put the Rangers one win away from the ALCS. I started rough, allowing a Josh Donaldson solo homerun and two runs allowed in the second. Cole settled down after that. All six of his strikeouts came between the third and seventh inning. He did allow another run in the fifth inning, but nearly had a quality start in his biggest game to date while in a Rangers’ uniform.
The Bad
2016 ALDS Game 1
Cole Hamels - 3.1 IP 6 H 6 ER 3 BB 1 K vs Toronto Blue Jays
This was the beginning of a disastrous ALDS for the Rangers. After having the best record in the AL, the Rangers hosted the Blue Jays after losing to them in five games in last year’s ALDS. Hamels through 82 pitches in 3.1 while allowing 7 total runs. Melvin Upton Jr. hit a solo shot in the fourth inning before a Josh Donaldson single led for Hamels to be pulled. This would be the last time he would pitch in 2016, as the Rangers got swept 3-0 by a combined 22-10. The Rangers went downhill after this, not making the playoffs in 2017 and is in full rebuild now.
2017 Regular Season Game
Yu Darvish - 3.2 IP 9 H 10 ER 2 BB 5 K vs Miami Marlins
As somebody who was at this game, I can attest as to how bad it was. It was never ending. It was July 26 and the Rangers were beginning their rebuild. Darvish was going to be the first key piece to the start of the rebuild, moving him near the trade deadline. His last start before the deadline was supposed to help the Rangers and his trade value. It did the exact opposite. The Marlins outfield of Ozuna, Stanton, and Yelich went 11-15 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs. The downfall was in the top of the fourth. The Marlins scored 9 runs, all credited to Darvish, after allowing 4 singles, 2 doubles, a triple, and a walk. When Darvish was replaced, Jeremy Jeffress allowed a two run home run to add the icing on the cake. Darvish was soon traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after his worst career pitching performance.
2018 Regular Season
Cole Hamels - 5 IP 9 H 7 ER 2 BB 5 K vs Oakland A’s
Exact same situation as Darvish. The Rangers were struggling with a losing record and in obvious rebuild mode. Hamels was the only good piece the selling Rangers had and he did not deliver on his final start before the deadline. In the top of the second, Rangers former catcher Jonathan Lucroy hit a grand slam after a walk and two singles from the bottom of the A’s order. Fast forward to the sixth inning and another earned run and Stephen Piscotty hits a bomb to left field to make it 7-2. Hamels was dealt to Chicago four days later.
I sadly cannot find a video of this start, so here is the box score
Both pitchers will forever be apart of Texas Rangers’ history. Both were one considered the team’s ace, but failed to come through in the big time playoff moments when it was needed the most. Hopefully the Ranger fans will welcome Cole and Yu back into the ballpark with a friendly reception, showing that we did appreciate the good times.