Lynn finds his rhythm after tough 1st in debut

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Rangers right-hander Lance Lynn got what he wanted out of his first Cactus League outing in Friday's 7-2 loss to the Angels, throwing 51 pitches and pitching into the third inning as planned. Lynn, who allowed two earned runs and struck out three, thought his performance was imperfect, but just fine for February.

“My fastball command wasn’t where I liked, but I threw some [good] breaking balls,” Lynn said. “It was fun to get out there. Once I got through the first inning, I got a little rhythm after that. So it was good. I got out of it with 50-plus pitches, which was the plan. That puts me on pace for four [innings] at 60-65 next time. As long as you stay on that pace ... pitch-count wise, you’re doing what you need to do.”

Lynn yielded four hits and one walk over 2 2/3 innings. After his pitch count inflated in the first, he worked efficiently in the next two frames. He got two groundouts and a strikeout in the second, and in the third, he retired Albert Pujols on a flyout and struck out Shohei Ohtani.

In the relatively unclean first inning, manager Chris Woodward got a reliever up in the bullpen as a precaution. Lynn is proud of his ability to handle heavier workloads than nearly any pitcher in baseball these days, so he couldn’t help but notice.

“I saw that,” he said. “I think Woody was trying to get me going. I truly do. I don’t know if he’ll admit it. I think he was just trying to make sure that I knew it was time to lock in.”

Indeed, Woodward did not admit it when asked about it after the game. He merely chuckled and said, “That’s Lance.” Woodward was pleased with the outing, overall.

“That second inning was more of the typical Lance -- he executed his pitches,” Woodward said. “He actually threw some breaking balls early on. It’s good to see that, we’re trying to see him work on his curveball a little bit more and he’s worked on a little different grip.”

Lynn is known for his durability; his 107.7 pitches per game average was the second-most in the Major Leagues behind Trevor Bauer, who averaged 108.4 for the Indians and Reds last season. Lynn pitched 208 1/3 innings last season, tied with Mike Minor for the Rangers' lead, and Lynn is one of nine MLB pitchers to start 29 games or more seven times since 2012.

Lynn is the first member of the Rangers’ starting rotation to pitch in a Cactus League game this season. Corey Kluber will pitch on Sunday against the Dodgers, with Kyle Gibson slated to go on Monday against the Indians. Jordan Lyles will likely follow soon after. Minor, who is dealing with tightness in his left hamstring, will pitch a simulated game on Saturday.

Whatever his rotation mates do this spring, it would be no surprise if Lynn led the Rangers in Cactus League innings pitched as he did in 2019, when he threw 16 2/3 innings.

“I like to throw, I like to pitch, I like to compete,” Lynn said, “So as long as they let me go out there, I’m going to keep doing it.”