Colby Lewis, Who?

The first time I heard this name associated with the Rangers I thought nothing of it but perhaps a player of the Jason Jennings caliber.  But as the Colby Lewis train pulls into the station, rearing to load up for the 2010 baseball season, I start to hear what kind of train he is although I have not seen it.

Colby Lewis was drafted in the 1st round (sandwich pick) of the 1999 draft, 38th overall by the Texas Rangers out of North High School in Bakersfield, CA.  He made his Major League debut in 2002 going 1-3 with a 6.29 ERA in 15 games, 4 starts.  His career did not progress any better as he spent time up and down from the Majors and Minors with the Rangers, Tigers, Nationals (minors), A's and Royals (minors).

Lewis then made the decision to go play in Japan with the Hiroshima Carp taking the spot of ace which had been vacated by now Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda.  NPB Tracker Patrick Newman writes:

"Nikkan Sports and others are reporting that Hiroshima Carp ace Colby Lewis has turned down the team’s offer and will return to MLB for 2010. Lewis cited family health problems as his decision to leave the Carp.

Lewis leaves big shoes for Hiroshima to fill. He stepped in to the ace role that Hiroki Kurodawas not his strength at the MLB level. In Japan, Lewis only walked 46 over 354.1 innings pitched. Somewhat weirdly however, he did hit 14 batters in 2009. vacated, and in some ways outperformed the current Dodger. In 54 NPB games, Lewis went 26-17 with a 2.83 era, and led the Central League in strikeouts in each of the last two seasons. More impressive was his command of the strike zone, which

Lewis looks like an interesting back-rotation MLB starter to me, and could be very effective if his command makes the trip back. Please see our data site to get a feel for his arsenal."

 Craig Calcaterra of Circling the Bases writes this bit about Lewis's decision:

"Colby Lewis, a former first round draft pick for the Rangers, had an undistinguished stint in the majors.  OK, that's putting it a bit lightly.  He had a 6.71 ERA, splitting time between starting and relieving over five seasons. He then went on to Japan for a couple of years where he seemed to find himself:  He went 15-8 with a 2.68 ERA and a 183/27 K/BB ratio in 178 innings in 2008 and went 11-9 with a 2.96 ERA and a 186/19 K/BB in 176 1/3 IP last season."

So after spending two seasons with Hiroshima it seems that Lewis has found the command he had lacked in the States and could be on the cusp of a big comeback if you want to call it that.  One problem is that I have a hard time finding MLB players that made the trip from Japan to the States that aren't Japanese.  Since 2001 there have been seven Japanese players to play in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.  That is seven out of 41 players that have played at least one game in the bigs though.  Pretty good percentage considering some didn't play that much.  Obviously Japan has great players as seen in their World Baseball Classic showings.  Most Japanese players that come to the States don't make the trip until they've played considerable time in Japan as well.

What are the chances Lewis succeeds.  I'd say a former first rounder that struggled to put it together until the age of 28 while bouncing around in the Major League Baseball and then finding comfort across the world has as good of chance as any.  He is now 30 years old and signed a two year deal that will put him on the Texas Rangers' 40-man roster.