A continuing look at the Rangers 40-man roster.

DANE DUNNING 
Age: 26
Right-Handed Pitcher

The biggest return the Rangers got for trading Lance Lynn to the White Sox was twenty-six-year-old right-handed starter Dane Dunning, a first round draft choice by Washington in 2016.

After a successful three-year career pitching for the University of Florida, Dunning spent one year in the National’s organization and two in the White Sox minor league system. Three, really.

He missed all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery but came back in 2020 and was called up to the major leagues mid-way through 2020. He appeared in seven games with the White Sox, on an innings limit because of the surgery, averaging fewer than five innings per start.

He was 2-0 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.118 WHIP.

Dunning’s primary pitch is his 92-miles-per-hour sinker, an 82 miles-per-hour slider, and a 92-miles-per-hour fourseam fastball.

He comes to a Rangers team that is desperate for starting pitching. It will be curious to see how much of an innings restriction he will be on in 2021.

Dunning was the lynchpin of the Lynn trade and a pitcher the Rangers are hoping settles into the top of their rotation for the next five years they control him.