Rangers Exercise Option on Lewis, Tateyama

{fshare id=1812}

The Texas Rangers announced today that the team has exercised the club option on right-handed pitcher Colby Lewis for the 2012 season. The club option for next season was part of the contract he signed with Texas prior to the 2010 campaign.

Lewis, 32, has posted back-to-back seasons of at least 12 wins and 200.0 innings, the first right-handed pitcher to accomplish that feat for Texas since Rick Helling in 1998-99-2000-01. He has also gone 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA (13 ER/50.0 IP) over 8 postseason starts the last two years.

Originally selected by Texas in the 1999 June draft, Lewis pitched for Hiroshima in Japan in the 2008-09 seasons.

The Rangers also announced this evening that the team has exercised the club option on right-handed pitcher Yoshinori Tateyama for the 2012 season. The club option for next season was part of the contract he signed with Texas prior to the 2011 campaign.

“Yoshi stepped up in the bullpen at a time the club really needed it,” commented Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels. “He’s a veteran strike thrower with outstanding makeup and we’re happy to have him back.”

Tateyama, 35, made 39 appearances in his major league debut with Texas in 2011, going 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA (22 ER/44.0 IP). He recorded 43 strikeouts against just 11 walks for a 3.91 strikeout-to-walk ratio, the 8th-best figure among American League relievers. He did not issue a walk to his first 57 batters faced in the major leagues.

Tateyama was on the Texas roster for the 2011 American League Championship Series against Detroit, making his lone career postseason appearance in ALCS Game 3 at Detroit on October 11. He was not on the club’s roster for the American League Division Series or World Series.

He came to the United States after an 11-season career in Japan for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.