Hairy Bush Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux is confident in the move. Of course, he coach Bush in Milwaukee for the bulk of his career. What ails Bush is something that Maddux thinks he can fix.
Granted, Bush had his moments. In 2008, he pitched 185 innings and compiled a 4.18 ERA and a .234 BAA. Between 2006-08, he had at least 185 innings in each season. Clearly these were his peak years.
In 2009, he missed a significant amount of time due to a "tired arm." He came back in 2010 with 174 innings and a 4.54 ERA.
It's a good date: He's cheap and there's no strings attached. Maddux knows him, he's young enough to regroup and maybe get one good contract.
He's not the Rangers prototype. They've gone to great lengths in getting tall, strong, hard-throwing right handers. Bush is not that. He's 6-2 and a more of a finesse pitcher. He's averaged way less than a strikeout per inning. He's allowed a lot of home runs and walks.
As Evan Grant points out, Bush's flyball-groundball ratio has gone from heavy on groundballs to flyballs in the recent years. None of this sounds all that great.
Still, it's an arm and competition. He'll vie for the fifth starter's position and work as a veteran insurance for Brandon Webb, C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis Neftali Feliz or anyone else not working out.
For that No. 5 starter's position, it's him, Derek Holland, Michael Kirkman and Eric Hurley in the hunt.
