By Richard Durrett
ESPNDallas.com
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ST. LOUIS — Nobody, certainly not CJ Wilsonexpected the left-handed starting pitcher to struggle in the postseason.
The 30-year-old was the Texas Rangers’ best starter during the 2011 regular season. He had 16 wins, had a 2.94 ERA and was durable, pitching a team-record 223 1/3 of innings in 34 starts. The Rangers won eight of Wilson’s last 10 starts and were 21-13 overall when he was on the mound.
But in his first three postseason starts, Wilson is 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA. He has allowed 21 hits in 15 2/3 innings and his opponents are hitting .318 against him. This is not the same Wilson who was so impressive in the regular season. In fact, he’s only had one three-game stretch that would be almost comparable. That was in late July and early August, when he had a 7.53 ERA in three starts and the team lost all three of those games.
Wilson, however, isn’t the type to let a rough patch bother him for long. Even in early August, his last outing of this streak was a quality start, and from that point on he was 6-2 with a 1.89 ERA.
Wilson isn’t worried about how long he might stay in the game. He just wants to get out of this.
“The starting pitchers on our team talked about it and said we’re here to win and no matter how we have to win, it doesn’t really matter,” Wilson said. “If we can only throw five or six innings, that’s OK because our bullpen is great.”
Manager Ron Washington always emphasizes looking at a player’s body of work when things aren’t going well. He adopted this approach with Michael Young, leaving him on the mound, and Young had a terrific Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. Washington is going to do the same thing with Wilson, saying this week that Wilson is the club’s pitching leader and nothing is going to change that now.
Since the left-hander moved from the bullpen to the rotation, the Rangers are 45-22 (in the regular season) when Wilson started, the third-best mark of any big league team in starts. ‘an individual pitcher during this period (only Roy Halladay And Justin Verlander have better records). It’s hard to ignore.
Wilson also never started against the Cardinals, and most St. Louis players have never seen him before. That’s a big advantage for the pitcher, and over the last two years, hitters facing Wilson for the first time have hit .193.
Wilson’s two years of experience as a starter suggest he doesn’t let tough times linger. He has the opportunity to set the tone for this series and do it against the Cardinals’ ace, Chris Carpenter.
And he would be ready to pitch in Game 5, usually the pivotal game of a close series. Wilson relishes these kinds of opportunities, and much like other players struggling in the postseason, he’s ready to return to being the pitcher who’s been so consistent over the past two seasons.
