2009 Season: Let's look at big right-hander Tommy Hunter. Perhaps no young pitcher in the organization showed more improvement over the last year than Hunter. He got made his major league debut in 2008 and had three struggling starts -- 20 runs allowed in 11 innings for 16.36 ERA.
So Hunter was sent to start the season at Double-A. He stood and faced a small group of media in Frisco before the season began and talked about how much he learned from those 11 innings and that he knew 2009 would be better. Hunter was right. He didn't light up Double-A by any means, but showed signs that his command was coming together. To challenge him more, the Rangers moved him up to Triple-A in May and Hunter was 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA in 49 1/3 innings.
A doubleheader forced the Rangers to call on Hunter in an emergency situation on May 29 against Oakland. He gave up three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings in a Rangers win. Hunter was sent back down for a month and continued to pitch well. When the need came up again for a starter, Hunter was called back to the majors. This time, he wouldn't allow the Rangers to ship him back to the minors. Hunter showed he could command all four of his pitches, thanks to much-improved changeup and a nice cutter, Hunter kept hitters off-balance. He said the biggest thing he learned was how to use the pitches more effectively in certain counts. All of that came with more experience.
Fatigue appeared to get Hunter in September, as his ERA was 6.55 for the month. But it was clear he had figured something out on the mound and goes into the offseason with some confidence.
2010 Outlook: Two spots in the rotation are apparently written in ink -- Kevin Millwood and Scott Feldman. If that's true, Tommy Hunter's name has to be in pretty heavy pencil. He certainly showed enough in his 19 major league starts to be a member of this rotation.
Hunter's progress is exactly what the Rangers hope to see in the rest of their young staff. Now his mission is to keep refining those pitches in the offseason and arrive in spring training in shape and ready to answer any questions about his spot in the rotation.
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Richard Durrett
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.
Ben Rogers
Ben Rogers joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2009. He is one half of the "GameNight with Ben & Skin" show, heard weekdays from 6p-9p on 103.3 FM ESPN.
