Former Cy Young winner Brandon Webb is perhaps a step closer to making his debut with the Texas Rangers.
What's been a rollercoaster ride of a rehab process so far for the winter signee had a bit of a peak on Tuesday when he threw 64 pitches in a bullpen session in Detroit.
"I had competitive stuff out there," Webb told ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett. "It was really good. By far it was the best one."
Webb said his patented, trusted sinker was working for him, which is a good sign for the Rangers.
Webb, at one time, was a rare starter with one elite pitch that he can basically live on as his sinker causes opposing batters to pound the ball right into the ground, frustrating time after frustrating time.
The big plus right now for the Rangers is that they aren't counting on Webb to come back healthy and as his old self. That was a big concern heading into the season because it's no guarantee that Webb will ever return to form after his shoulder surgery, which has caused him to not pitch since Opening Day 2009.
And that's because of the way the Rangers young, inexperienced rotation has looked thus far, something of which Webb has taken notice.
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"It's awesome," Webb told ESPNDallas. "These young guys are attacking hitters and they're not backing off. Look what Ogando did yesterday. He threw 79 pitches in seven innings and got ahead of guys and that was just his second start."
If Webb can return to elite status, that might allow the Rangers to move Alexi Ogando back to the bullpen, which is struggling right now aside from Neftali Feliz. But that's a long way away from now.
