Scott Feldman
Rich Harden
Colby Lewis
Tommy Hunter
Derek Holland

Scott Feldman
What a breakout year this guy had in 2009. Starting the season in the bullpen,
and being called into the rotation only after the Kris Benson experiment
failed, Feldman eventually went 17-8 with a 3.56 ERA. He had the most wins from
the starting pitcher, even more than then-workhorse Kevin Millwood (who has
since been sent to Baltimore). Now that Feldman has his feet firmly in the
roster and is seen as the club’s legitimate ace of the staff,  he has his work cut out for him in 2010 -
something that I believe he will take quite nicely. He doesn’t necessarily have
electric stuff, but he has four pitches that he throws for strikes, and has a
low fly ball to grounder ratio, something that is almost required at the Temple
in Arlington. I expect another amazing year from Feldman, and 2010 will be the
year that he solidifies himself as the club’s true ace of the staff.

Rich Harden
Rich Harden’s acquisition from the Cubs during the Winter Meetings is a
testament to the skill and savvy of Rangers’ General Manager Jon Daniels. By
shipping off Kevin Millwood’s contract to Baltimore, he was able to free up the
money to be able to sign Vlad Guerrero and the Victoria, Canada native Rich Harden.
Though not plagued with Brandon McCarthy-style injuries, Harden has seen some
shoulder trouble in the past, but that seems to be behind him now as he started
26 games in 2009 for 141 innings. In those 141 innings, he amassed 176
strikeouts. That’s an average of around 11 K’s per 9 innings.  When healthy (which he showed last season),
he’s electric. Watch out.

Colby Lewis
Colby Lewis actually started his career with the Rangers back in the earlier
part of the decade. A first-round draft pick, he made his MLB debut in 2002,
but after a rotator cuff injury in 2004, found it hard to keep a job. In 2008,
he signed a deal with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of Japan’s Napon Professional
Baseball and in two seasons, was lights-out. In both the 2008 and 2009 seasons,
he posted an ERA in the 2′s and strikeouts in the 170-190 range. Needless to
say, it seems that Colby Lewis has “figured it out.” Now, if he can translate
that success back into the MLB, he will prove to be a devastating innings-eating
strikeout pitcher.

Tommy Hunter
Although Hunter started his first game in August of 2008 (a loss to Toronto),
he was called into the starting rotation in 2009 as a new beast. He has four
pitches that he throws for strikes and in his first win on July 3, 2009, he
recorded 1 run, 5 K’s in 5.1 innings.  Looking to capitalize on his 2009 breakout season,
in which he went  9-6 with a 4.10 ERA,
watch for Hunter  to continue his 2009
run.

Derek Holland
Holland blew through the minor leagues (including only one – that’s right, just
one – start in AAA ball) before getting the Big League call-up in April 2009.
His first game was a relief appearance in Toronto. Though the Rangers lost that
game, Holland struck out 4 in his first two innings in the majors. Though he
ended with a record of 8-13 with a 6.12 ERA, he showed flashes of brilliance,
and it seemed that he simply ran out of gas in his first major league season.
That doesn’t stop some analysts from saying that Holland may prove to be the
most important player in the AL West for 2010 and may be the impetus for the
Rangers to win 90 games. If he is as lights-out as he proved to be in the
middle part of the 2009 season, then this will be an exciting year for Holland.

Outliers
Brandon McCarthy
Matt Harrison
Neftali Feliz