Cody encouraging.


Kyle Cody (left) led the parade of promising Rangers rookie pitchers yesterday, including John King (upper right) and Wes Benjamin (lower right).

That’s two encouraging starts in a row from two young pictures. Kyle Cody on Friday and Kolby Allard on Thursday.

And even though they both resulted in losses, that’s not important at this point. What is important is finding out who can play major league baseball, and who can’t. You pretty much know who can or can’t on the offensive side. Now the Rangers have to identify starters for next year.

Kyle Cody has been drafted three times. In the sixth round by the Phillies in 2012 out of high school, in the second round by the Twins in 2015, and in the sixth round by the Rangers in 2016.

He pitched a total of just thirty-seven minor league games, never above A-Level. He missed the last half of 2018 and all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. Yet, he’s appeared in four games so far this season and has yet to allow an earned run (yesterday’s run was unearned, due to his throwing error) and has allowed only two hits in 7.1 innings pitched. He’s walked five batters, though.

Yesterday, making his first-ever major league start, he went three innings. He wasn’t knocked out of the game by the Mariners, but because pitch counts. Not having had a minor league season in order to prepare, he simply hasn’t built up the arm strength. Just like spring training, a pitcher has to build up an inning or two each start.

Cody certainly earned another start. Lucky for him, the Rangers really don’t have anyone else to give it to anyway.

Brooks Baseball ranks his slider as his best pitch, saying it has, “exceptional depth, generates a high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers’ sliders and results in more flyballs compared to other pitchers’.”

Cody won’t go his entire career with an ERA of 0.00. But you have to like what you’ve seen so far from the twenty-six-year-old right hander, and want to see more.

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TODAY’S GAME:

Kyle Gibson (1-4, 6.16) vs. Justus Sheffield (2-3, 4.75)

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