Rangers right-hander Matt Bush is not going to make it back to the MLB roster this season, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter. Elbow issues forced him to the disabled list in the middle of June.
Though Bush is said to be working through a throwing progression, he says that there simply won’t be time for him to ramp up fully during the month of September. It certainly doesn’t help that he wouldn’t be able to utilize the club’s minor-league affiliates for rehab work.
Most of all, the Rangers likely see little reason to push it in the midst of a cellar-dwelling campaign. Things have gone about as well for the 32-year-old Bush as they have for the rest of the roster. He carries only a 4.70 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 5.5 BB/9 in 23 innings.
Needless to say, that’s a disappointing set of results for the 2004 first overall pick, though his story remains fascinating. Bush had derailed his career with off-field choices, but remarkably reached the majors with the Texas club in 2016.
From an on-field perspective, though, there’s now reason for the Rangers to wonder what contribution they’ll receive from Bush in 2019. He was outstanding in his first MLB campaign, turning in 61 2/3 innings of 2.48 ERA pitching. Despite some downturns in his output in the following season, Bush still showed many of the same skills (12.3% swinging-strike rate, 97.9 mph average fastball). In his limited action in 2018, Bush lost a tick on his heater, saw his swinging-strike rate drop to 9.4%, and gave up a whopping 52.1% hard contact rate.
From the organization’s perspective, the silver lining of this lost campaign is what it means for Bush’s cost. He’ll enter the offseason with 2.143 years of service. We don’t yet know where the Super Two line will land, but Bush would be a likely candidate to exceed it based upon recent outcomes. Despite his 2016-17 output, this meager platform season will likely lead to quite a manageable arbitration salary, which not only ought to make Bush a cheap player to keep in 2019 but will also make for a lower salary floor to build off of in future seasons.
Of course, the Texas club would surely rather have paid up for a version of Bush that looked like a healthy, high-quality, high-leverage relief pitcher. Whether he can return to that form remains to be seen, thus adding another question mark to the Rangers’ pitching staff as the offseason approaches.
Maybe a non-tender candidate?
Doubtful. He has way too much upside and potential for a Texas time with barren pitching.
Yet Bart marches on!
His tats and off field issues kinda make him look like a thug. His face doesn’t though lol. It’s like, naaa that’s too baby face to be such a punk lol
Cocaine is a helluva drug
Someone who should have been banned for life. Much rather have ped players all over my teams roster then bush play even a third of a inning at the lowest level.
Wow, you’re the perfect MLB fan.
If you weren’t a Texas fan you would have the same opinion as him. Just as Mariner fans defend Cano, and Astro fans defend Osuna. People only care when it’s not their team.
There is a reason that three teams just released him.
Wow. Why can no one in our society make any kind of mistake anymore. Once you own up to your mistakes and serve your punishment, It’s supposed to give you a clean slate. No one is perfect.
Glass houses people
There are major differences between saying something stupid as a teenager like hader and driving drunk multiple times beating on people and running over someone’s head and running.
One should’ve forgiven. The other shouldn’t be given millions
So he cant earn millions. Hes then precluded from earning tens or hundreds of thousands? Maybe even hundreds and thousands,. So now he’s a homeless beggar draining our tax money.
And what of his family? He might have children? They are now disbarred from having a parent bring home a decent wage to pay for college and university?
Why not take his ability to have children as well?
Hell why did we even let him out of jail?
Love that euphemism: “off field choices.”
Fans who don’t realize that recreational drug use is rampant are just ignoring realities. Mostly it’s harmless, but sometimes it’s not. It permeates all of our lives, so why shouldn’t it spill over into athletics? Frankly, when I hear of all these mysterious “viral infections”, my first thought is always a drug issue.
Years ago, I had business dealing with the Rays’ SS-A franchise in Hudson Valley. The running joke was which “injury” Josh Hamilton suffered from that day.
Like every other industry, MLB has to confront those realities. They’re doing a better job than the NFL, for instance, since opioid abuse has been part of the football landscape for decades, maybe longer. But it’ s a constant battle.
Jeff Banister’s previous three closers: Shawn Tolleson, Sam Dyson, Matt Bush… Anyone notice a trend? No wonder Texas had to ship off Kela, they needed to get something for him before his arm became rump roast. Banister Circle of Trust – Career Spiral of Death…