Inside The Rangers

Hearn's 'Maturity' And 'Trust' Has Paved The Way Back To Starting Role With Rangers

Taylor Hearn has done a lot of growing this year. His manager and coaches have praised his maturity, and now the 27-year-old left-hander has a starting role for next season within his grasp.

Chris Halicke

ARLINGTON, Texas — On April 25, 2019, Taylor Hearn had one of the most forgettable Major League debuts. He gave up five runs (four earned) and lasted only 1/3 inning against the Seattle Mariners. To pour salt on the wound, he was injured in the start and didn't pitch again for the rest of the season. For well over a calendar year, Hearn had to be content with a career ERA of 108.00.

Fast forward to 2021, Hearn is nearly through his first full, 162-game season in the big leagues, and now he has a permanent starting role within his grasp.

This season has been a year of evaluation for the Rangers as they try to determine who they have internally that can be part of a winning team in Arlington. Unfortunately, not many names have truly stood out. But after Hearn turned in a sensational outing against Houston on Sunday — the first quality start of his big league career — Rangers manager Chris Woodward gave Hearn high praise.

"Taylor is probably one of our biggest bright spots of the year," said Woodward. "Just everything that he's done, coming into the year not being a starter but pitching really well. Just his composure that I talk about a lot, his demeanor, you feel like he belongs. He's got confidence. He's throwing the ball with a ton of conviction.

"There's been a maturity to Taylor. He's always wanted to start, and now he's getting the opportunity."

Hearn entered the 2021 season having success out of the bullpen in 2020. He was one of the more reliable arms at Woodward's disposal, posting a 3.63 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 17 1/3 innings over 14 appearances. He pitched well enough to earn consideration for the starting rotation this season, and won a spot as a piggyback starter out of spring training, coming into games after Dane Dunning, who has been on an innings limit this season.

Pitching successfully out of the bullpen was step one for getting a crack at a starting role. Earning a tandem role was step two. All that was left was getting a chance to start once again, and not give Chris Woodward or the coaching staff any reason to put him back into a relief role.

Hearn had his ups and downs early in the season, but got his shot at starting on June 22 against the Oakland Athletics at home. It wasn't going to be a traditional start since he was not built up to a starter's workload, but it was an opportunity to get his foot in the door.

It did not go well.

Just like his first Major League start, Hearn didn't make it out of the first inning. He only recorded two outs and was charged with four earned runs. But unlike that dreadful day in Seattle, Hearn maintained his health.

Unlike most big leaguers, Hearn doesn't set personal goals for himself. He doesn't look to post an ERA under a certain mark or lead the team or league in strikeouts. He used to. But once he stopped putting that pressure on himself in the minor leagues, it freed him up and allowed him to be successful.

He's carried that over into the big leagues, and he knew that there was still a lot of baseball left after that start in Oakland.

"To be honest, I'm not trying to prove anything," Hearn said earlier this month. "I'm just trying to do the best I can. Honestly, I'm just trying to better myself. My mentality every year, no matter what role I'm in, I never want to prove [anything to] anybody. I just want to make sure — physically and mentally — that I'm a different guy than I was at the beginning of the year."

Since that start against Oakland, Hearn has gone to another level. He made some changes, including the addition of a sinker to his three-pitch mix of a four-seamer, slider and changeup, as well as pitching exclusively out of the stretch. On Sunday, Hearn threw a different slider, one that is a tad slower, but has more horizontal movement. He still maintains that he may throw his harder slider, or turn it into a cutter.

Three pitches to five pitches. That's growth.

The changes he's implemented have produced fantastic results. Since the Oakland start, Hearn has a 2.40 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 41 1/3 innings over 14 appearances, including five starts. Opposing batters are only hitting .189 off him during that stretch, and most importantly, Hearn has vastly cut down on his walks. Over the last 14 outings, his walks per nine innings (BB/9) is 3.1, which is down drastically from a mark of 5.7 in 2020 and 5.3 in all of his outings through June 22. The league average in 2021 is 3.3.

Cutting down on the walks? That's significant growth.

Now, Hearn is not yet gifted a guaranteed spot in the rotation next season. With or without any additions that could be made this winter, Hearn still has to prove he can do this for more than a couple of months. As we've witnessed so much this season, a six-month season is a grind, especially for younger players going through it for the first time.

However, Hearn has done exactly what he's needed to do this season. He's already become a better pitcher, both physically and mentally. Both Chris Woodward and pitching coach Doug Mathis have publicly praised Hearn for his growth this year. And now with how he's pitching as a starter, he might have as good of a chance as any pitcher internally to win a spot in the 2022 rotation.

Sunday was a critical part of step three.

"I think it was huge," Hearn said. "I'm just continuing to try and grow. More so, I'm just trying to impose my will on people ... Just trying to be aggressive. It's something I've learned in the big leagues, mainly in the bullpen, continuing to be aggressive against guys. I'm just trusting my stuff; everything I've worked on; everything we've added, all the pitches and stuff like that — just continuing to trust it."

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Chris Halicke
CHRIS HALICKE

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