Taylor Hearn Ready for Rangers Bullpen Role

Taylor Hearn’s 2022 started with him in the Texas Rangers starting rotation and ended in the bullpen.

His role looks clear in 2023, after an offseason in which the Rangers spent nearly $100 million on six veteran starting pitchers. Hearn will work in relief.

Hearn, the Royse City product who grew up a Rangers fan, has a mandate from new pitching coach Mike Maddux.

Don’t change a thing.

“He told me that he liked what I did last year,” Hearn said. “He said, ‘I want you to take that in into this year.’ He wants me to take it up a notch.”

Heard had two seasons in one in 2022. He began the year as a starter but truly never got comfortable. His command and pitch count prevented him from getting deeper into games, and by mid-June he was 4-5 with a 6.25 ERA. The Rangers sent him to Triple-A Round Rock and, aside from being an opener a few times in late June and early July, Hearn didn’t start.

In August, with some members of the bullpen starting to wane, Hearn came in and gave the group a jolt of energy. Former manager Chris Woodward wanted Hearn to focus less on trying to manage a pitch count and more on unleashing his live fastball for as long as he could.

It worked. In his final 15 games as a reliever Hearn went 2-2, recorded his first career save and dropped his ERA to 4.25, nearly two points below his ERA as a starter. Batters hit .212 against him as a reliever, a steep drop from the .300 average as a starter.

If Hearn had designs on rejoining the rotation, those designs are done after the Rangers re-signed Martín Pérez, traded for Jake Odorizzi and signed Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi. Jon Gray rounds out the six veteran candidates for the rotation.

He seems content with the new role, whatever that may be.

“Everybody came into their own roles last year and we kind of figured it out,” Hearn said of the bullpen. “It’s one of those things where we have a lot of guys that are selfless and don’t really care what role they’re in and can kind of do whatever.”

Hearn’s role was as a set-up man. Since the Rangers have made no move to re-sign Matt Moore, Hearn could inherit that role. Moore and Brock Burke made a highly productive left-handed tandem last season.

Hearn spent most of the offseason in the Arlington area, aside from a short trip to the Caribbean for a vacation. That allowed him to work out at Globe Life Field this offseason and get plenty of time with Maddux, who is in his second stint as Rangers pitching coach. Maddux guided the staff from 2009-15, during which the Rangers made two World Series appearances.

Hearn has learned quickly that Maddux has clear goals in mind for him, which includes pounding the strike zone. He’s also learned that with Maddux what you see is what you get.

“I’ve gotten a chance to get to know him, we’ve been talking a lot and I’m just really excited to work with him,” Hearn said. “So far he’s been a really easy guy to work with, and from all of the people that I’ve talked to about him, that’s what everyone said.”

As Spring Training is on the horizon, Hearn is ready to roll, no matter his role.

“I can do whatever they need me to do,” Hearn said. “They need me in the ’pen, so I’m all for that.”

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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