Heaney struggles in final '24 start, Rangers pick him up in comeback win

ANAHEIM -- It’s only right that the Rangers offense picked up Andrew Heaney for once.

Heaney entered Saturday’s matchup with the Angels having received two or fewer runs of support in nine of his last 10 starts and 22 of his 30 total starts this season. His team-low 3.46 run support average as a starter is the seventh-lowest qualified mark in MLB.

But Heaney struggled on Saturday, giving up a season-high seven runs in four innings of his final start of the season. He left the game in line for yet another loss. But instead, the Texas offense scored six runs in the final two innings, propelling the Rangers to a 9-8 victory over the Angels to take the final series of the year.

“It was definitely eventful, that’s for sure,” Heaney joked postgame. “Yeah, very eventful. … Obviously you’re never happy to give up seven runs on 10 hits in four innings. That’s not exactly how you draw it up. I’m kind of annoyed at myself. I just had a good year and wanted to finish good, to put an exclamation point on it. I kind of don't feel like I did that. So just a little frustrated about that, but also just it's part of the game.”

The seven runs Heaney gave up on Saturday were by far the most this season. He had only given up as many as six runs on two other occasions: April 8 against the Astros and July 31 in St. Louis.

Entering the day, Heaney’s career-high 14 losses in 2024 (previous: 10 in 2018 with Angels) are tied for the fourth-most in MLB. It’s also the most by a Ranger in a single season since Colby Lewis in 2014 (also 14).

He did not have to add one more loss to his ledger on Saturday.

“We got down pretty good there, and they just kept fighting,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “It was a very entertaining game, a little sloppy on both sides at times. Andrew, he's been so good, and we had some dribblers we couldn't handle that added to the runs he gave up. It's good to see the team pick him up tonight.”

Heaney finished his season with a 4.28 ERA for the Rangers. But that final start and his final ERA doesn’t really feel indicative of what Heaney has meant to the Rangers this season. Every Texas starting pitcher -- even Michael Lorenzen, who was dealt to the Royals at the Trade Deadline -- has spent time on the injured list this season except Heaney.

Heaney made a team-high 31 starts in 2024, becoming the first pitcher to log 30+ starts in a season for the Rangers since Martín Pérez (32) in 2022. This is also a career high for the southpaw, surpassing his previous high of 30 in 2018 with the Angels.

“He's provided stability, making every start, even at times that we could not give him an extra day,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Heaney pregame. “He always said he was good to go, and he made those starts. He's been consistent in giving us a chance to win. That's a shame his record is what it is, because he's been so much better than that. That's the biggest thing. He's provided stability to this rotation.”

Heaney, who is a free agent this winter, reflected on his time with the club after the game. The southpaw was part of a trio of veteran starting pitchers the Rangers signed going into the 2023 season, along with Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi.

The three of them were meant to anchor a rotation that could potentially lead the Rangers to the World Series, which they accomplished last season, even as deGrom went down in May with an elbow injury.

Heaney was the only one of the three to not spend time on the injured list, as he pitched 301 1/3 total innings over his two years in Texas.

“I signed here because [general manager Chris Young] sold a vision on what he believed this team could be and could do,” Heaney said. “I believed in what he said, right? You sign with a team, you don't know what you're going into. It's been everything that he promised, that I could imagine. I had amazing things happen in my life in the two years here. I had my girls, I won a World Series, got to play with these guys who just thoroughly enjoyed getting to play with. To sum it up, it's just been surreal.”