A Look Back: Texas Rangers 2023 Pitching Leaders

Who started the most games for the 2023 Texas Rangers? Who finished the most? Who had the most saves and lowest ERA? Here's a look at the Rangers 2023 pitching leaders.

Stefan Stevenson | Nov 13, 2023

A Look Back: Texas Rangers 2023 Pitching Leaders /

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Texas Rangers

ARLINGTON — The 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers will likely be remembered as an offensive juggernaut. That's probably appropriate because the club was led by two Silver Slugging MVP candidates Corey Seager and Marcus Semien.

But the pitching staff, which battled injuries and other challenges, came up huge when it mattered in the postseason to help bring home the club's first title.

Of course, any diehard Rangers fan knows the 2023 regular season wasn't always the smoothest of rides. Anyone remember August? Yeah, that's best left in the dustbin of history. The Rangers pitching staff led by pitching coach Mike Maddux overcame major injuries to key members of the roster at various points in the season, including the expected ace Jacob deGrom and later Nathan Eovaldi and Max Scherzer, to name just three starters.

The bullpen started strong but then hit a wall and it was an ugly crash. At least until the group, chiseled down to a few arms, rose to the occasion to help secure the team's first title.

Here's a look at the team's pitching leaders, including some of the less flattering aspects of the staff's eventful ride to a World Series championship.

Dane Dunning and Nathan Eovaldi led the club with 12 wins apiece. Andrew Heaney and Martin Perez were the others with 10 or more wins for the Rangers in 2023. Dunning finished 12-7 and Eovaldi finished 12-5.

Innings Pitched :: Joe Rondone/The Republic/USA TODAY NETWORK

No one threw more innings for the Rangers in 2023 than Dunning, with 172.2. Jon Gray was next with 157.1 innings. Three others threw more than 140 innings, including Heaney, Eovaldi, and Perez.

Earned-Run Average / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

Dunning was the only pitcher on the club to pitch enough innings to qualify. He led the club with a 3.70 ERA, but other starters who didn’t qualify had lower ERAs, including Eovaldi (3.63), Jordan Montgomery (2.79), and Max Scherzer (3.20).

Quality Starts / Jayne Kamin-Oncea and Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Dunning and Jon Gray led with 12 quality starts. Eovaldi was next with 11. The Rangers ranked 10th in the majors with 66 quality starts.

Reliever Will Smith led the club with 60 appearances. Jose Leclerc and Brock Burke were next with 57 and 53 games out of the bullpen

Games Started / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Gray led the staff with 29 starts. Four other pitchers made 20 or more starts, including Heaney (28), Dunning (26), Eovaldi (25), and Perez (20).

Complete Games :: Rob Schumacher/The Republic /USA TODAY NETWORK

Eovaldi led the staff with two complete games, tied for second-most in the majors. Gray was the only other to throw a complete game for the club.

Strikeouts / Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports

Heaney led Texas with 151 strikeouts. Gray and Dunning followed with 142 and 140. Eovaldi was the only other with at least 100 strikeouts with 132.

Will Smith led the bullpen with 22 saves, 11th most in the A.L. Jose Leclerc and Aroldis Chapman each had four.

Blown Saves / Kevin Jairaj and Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers blew an American League-high 33 saves, third-most in the majors. Their 48% save percentage was tied for the lowest in the majors with the Rockies. Leclerc and Smith led the club with five blown saves each. Josh Sborz, Jonathan Hernandez, and Grant Anderson each added four, and Aroldis Chapman had three.

Holds / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Sborz led the club the with 14 holds, with Brock Burke and Jonathan Hernandez adding 12 and 10. Leclerc and Will Smith each had eight and Chapman had six.

Games Finished / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Will Smith led with 41 games finished, tied for 17th most in the majors. Leclerc was the only other pitcher on the staff in double digits with 24.

WHIP and Batting Average Against / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Dane Dunning is the only pitcher on the roster who qualified for both Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched (1.26) and Batting Average Against (.250) categories.

Wild Pitches :: Rob Schumacher/The Republic /USA TODAY NETWORK

Aroldis Chapman led the club with seven wild pitches (he also threw two with the Royals before joining the Rangers). Dunning had six wild pitches and as primarily a starting pitcher he threw 2,212 more pitches than Chapman.

Wins Above Replacement (pitchers only) / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Eovaldi edged Dunning 3.1 to 3.0 to lead the Texas pitching staff in WAR. Gray was the next closest pitcher with a 2.2.

Texas Rangers 2023 Batting Leaders

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Published Nov 13, 2023

STEFAN STEVENSON

Stefan Stevenson worked as a journalist and editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for 25 years, covering sports, concerts, and general news. His beats have included the Dallas Cowboys, the Texas Rangers, and Texas Christian University football.