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Texas Rangers Rotation: Andrew Heaney Sharp In Latest Outing

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Rangers
By Stefan Stevenson | Last updated 3/14/24

Andrew Heaney is ready for the real thing.

The Texas Rangers left-hander looked very sharp in his latest Cactus League start on Tuesday.

He struck out three and walked one in five scoreless innings against the Cleveland Guardians at Surprise Stadium. He allowed four singles and a fourth-inning, two-out double before striking out Kyle Manzardo to end the threat.

"I feel good; my mechanics feel like I'm in a good spot, [my] body feels pretty good, and my stuff felt a little bit better today," Heaney told reporters. I felt good trying a couple of new things, so I'm happy about that. I probably faced more lefties today than I will the rest of the year, but it was good."

Heaney has looked good in three official spring training starts, striking out 12 in 10 innings. Along with his backfield appearances, the 32-year-old is ready for Opening Day. The Rangers host the Chicago Cubs at 6:30 p.m. on March 28 at Globe Life Field.

The Rangers' starting rotation currently consists of Nathan Eovaldi, Heaney, Dane Dunning, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford. Eovaldi is likely to start on Opening Day, but the rotation schedule after that is unknown.

In 2023, Heaney was better than his numbers suggest. He was 10-6 and was relegated to long relief in the final months of the regular season, but in 28 of his 34 appearances, he allowed three or fewer runs. All but six of those 28 appearances were starts. In six appearances, including five starts, Heaney allowed 36 earned runs, more than half of his total 68 earned runs allowed the entire season.

Andrew Heaney, March 1 (0:34)

"I think everybody's just kind of starting to round into a little bit more of that compete mode," he said. "I think this is kind of the time that guys want to stop tinkering and start competing and treating [appearances] more like a regular season game. Right now, I think everybody's in a good spot."

Heaney was pleased with his latest outing. He threw about 70 pitches, including a short bullpen stint after leaving the game. He threw fewer changeups against the left-hitting heavy Guardians lineup but was would be content "trying to repeat more of what I did today."

"That's pretty good," he said. "I got beat on a couple of fastballs that caught too much plate, but they're all decent enough pitches, and if you throw enough heaters, they're going to get hit hard. [Hitters] are good at that. So maybe mix it up a little bit more, but kind of try and repeat what I did today."

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Rangers and was syndicated with permission.

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