Rangers Rookie Glenn Otto Trending Up Entering Twins Start

The right-hander is among the top rookie pitchers in the AL entering Saturday.

The Texas Rangers need a good outing from starter Glenn Otto as they prepare to play the second game of their four-game series with the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

The Rangers (53-66) are coming off a 2-1 loss to the Twins on Friday.

Otto (5-8) will make his 19th start on Saturday, the second road game of the series and the first trip after the Rangers made seismic changes to their organization. He’s thrown well in August. He’s made three starts and has a 1-1 record with a 2.65 ERA, giving up just five earned runs in 17 innings. Hitters are batting just .170 off of him in those three starts.

That continues a trend that actually started a half-dozen starts ago. His 4.05 ERA in his last six starts, which includes 15 earned runs in 33 1/3 innings, helped him drop his ERA for the season from 5.50 to 4.96.

Among American League rookies, Otto has top-five numbers in several categories, including starts (tied for second, 18), wins (tied for third, five), strikeouts (fourth, 70) and innings pitched (fourth, 89).

While the Rangers lost a 2-1 game on Friday night, Otto was the winner in the Rangers’ 2-1 win over Oakland on Monday, which was his last start. In that game, Otto threw six innings of two hit baseball and gave up just one run. He did walk six — which was a career high — and struck out just one.

Still, he snapped a streak of nine straight winless starts, which began on June 26, which marked his first start back from the COVID-19 injured list (June 10-25). Plus, he became the first pitcher since Yu Darvish in 2013 to give up six or more walks and still get the win.

Otto has never faced the Twins. His only start against an AL Central team this season came on June 5 against the Chicago White Sox. Otto took the loss in that game, pitching six innings of two-run baseball.

Otto has a 2-4 record and a 2.97 ERA on the road this season. At home he’s 3-4 with a 5.98 ERA. Texas is 7-11 in his 18 starts.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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