Colby Lewis will get a chance to prove himself at the major league level for the Texas Rangers come mid-April.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers will add Lewis to their rotation for a start against the Houston Astros on April 11 thus avoiding any chance Lewis will leave the team via the April 10 opt out date in his contract with the team.
Colby Lewis update via @gfraley: Can opt out of deal on April 10. Expect him to start vs. Houston on April 11: http://t.co/TCSQ8yWuAp
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) March 28, 2014
Lewis tossed five scoreless frames versus the Mariners Wednesday and will pitch in two minor league outings prior to his call up to the majors.
“If you judge by what he did against Seattle, he’s ready,” said manager Ron Washington. “But this guy just came off hip surgery. We want to make sure there is no issue, because once he goes into our rotation, we want every start we can get.”
Lewis, 34, is 32-29 with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP since returning stateside from a three year stint in Japan.
The right handed Lewis had been hoping to return to the majors after being out since 2012. Six months ago he underwent hip resurfacing surgery. Prior to that Lewis had surgery on his right flexor tendon.
“I expect myself to go out there and perform at a big league level,” Lewis said in late February. “I want to go out there and win a job. I don’t want to go out there and be overly patient and get put on the back burner and not looked at for a spot in this rotation. I’ll compete to win a job, plain and simple.”
