ARLINGTON, Texas — Dane Dunning didn’t pay much attention to the pain at first. He thought it was the side effects of a season’s workload on his back.
But when it became difficult for the in-game adrenaline to mask, he knew it was an issue. After a talk with team trainers and an MRI last September, his problem went from nagging to season ending. He tore his labrum in his right hip. The season was in its final month, so he began preparing himself to renter the starting rotation for the 2023 season — a chance he wouldn’t get at first.
When the Rangers signed free agent pitchers Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney for a combined $244 million in the offseason, it left Dunning as the odd man out and in the bullpen.
After deGrom tore his right ulnar collateral ligament that has left him out since April and until the 2024 season, the Rangers turned to a healthy Dunning.
He has shined when Texas needed him the most, a key figure for the Rangers who are on pace for their first winning season since 2016.
“He’s had some really, really nice games,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “I can’t say enough about what a great job he did in the bullpen early in the season. When we had put him in a rotation when Jacob went down, he’s just done a tremendous job. I think overall his work is as good as anybody’s, that’s how good I think he is.”
Now that Dunning is in the starting rotation, and with the Rangers eyeing a playoff push, he wants to make sure he can stay pitching at a high level. Last season, Dunning played some of the year injured before missing the final month. His ERA was 4.46, half a run higher than league average.
In 2023, after an offseason to recover from surgery and strengthen his body for what he expected to be an increased workload, through 99 innings he’s dropped his ERA to 2.82 with an 8-2 record.
“It’s hard to play in the Major Leagues when you’re not 100%,” Bochy said. “He probably wasn’t 100% most of the year last year. This winter, he got that fixed. You can see, he can fire to hips better and it’s going to help his command, it’s going to help the stuff on all his pitches. He’s a different guy.”
Dunning isn’t a modern-day pitching marvel. His fastball velocity is below league average and he seldom induces swings and misses for strikeouts, but he gives the Rangers quality and quantity. Since entering the starting rotation in May, he has seven quality starts: an outing when a pitcher throws six or more innings and allowing three runs or less.
On June 28, he nearly pitched a complete-game shutout in less than 100 pitches against the Detroit Tigers — while also striking out 10 —before allowing a two-run home run in the bottom of ninth with two outs. On Monday, he threw seven innings against the first-place American League East Tampa Bay Rays and only allowed two runs., both in the first two innings.
“After a couple of innings I was able to slow myself down and get in the groove,” Dunning said after the start on Monday. “I started executing my pitches and the defense helped me out.”
Before games, Dunning meticulously studies opposing teams hitters’ tendencies. When he knows how to pitch to batters, it helps Dunning know what pitches to throw to get quick outs. He has coaxed 14 double-plays this season, seventh-best in MLB, and his 45.7% ground ball rate allows him to get through innings with a low pitch count.
As a former first round pick to the Washington Nationals from the University of Florida, Dunning made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2020, then was traded to Texas in 2020 for Lance Lynn. Before this season, his career ERA with the Rangers was 4.48 with a 9-18 record across two seasons.
On pace for the most innings of his career, Dunning has been able to take a load off the Rangers’ bullpen arms and other, younger starting pitchers in the Rangers’ farm system, and give Texas’ high-scoring offense a chance to win games in place of the innings deGrom can’t throw.
“He’s handled everything extremely well,” said pitcher Jon Gray. “In every area, he’s exactly what you want. And at the time when we needed him most, he’s been there for us. He’s done everything that’s asked of him, and more. He’s been great.”
