By Jared Sandler | @SandlerJ

SURPRISE, AZ (105.3 THE FAN) -- Colby Lewis' importance to the Rangers became heightened with the loss of Yu Darvish. He's a big mystery to this team because 35-year-old pitchers typically do not get better or healthier.

Lewis' 2014 season was about as jekyll-and-hyde as can be with the turning point for the better coming after his July 10 outing, one of the worst in MLB history. After, though, he bounced back and pitched very well for the Rangers the rest of the way.

The optimistic view is that Lewis, who missed the previous year with a career-threatening injury to his hip, demonstrated what he has left in the tank in the second half when he was truly "healthy."

That theory, which is very plausible and highly likely, suggests that the first part of the season was essentially an extended Spring Training and acclimation period for a veteran pitcher whose body no longer functioned the way it had previously.

Let's go BY THE NUMBERS with the middle of the Rangers rotation, Colby Lewis:

2

The number of pitchers who have given up at least 13 runs and 13 hits in less than 3 innings of work in MLB history. Colby Lewis was one of them last year. Hugh Canavan also did it when his Boston squad lost to Pittsburgh in 1918.

-.102

The difference in opposing hitters' batting average against Lewis prior to his fateful start versus the Angels and thereafter. If you looked at his numbers on the morning of July 11, you'd see a pitcher with a 6.54 ERA with an opposing batting average of .353 (think about that for a second...opposing hitters held a .353 batting average against him). That's like Colby facing a lineup full of Albert Pujols' in his prime.

Following that outing, Lewis posted a sub-four ERA, holding hitters to a .251 clip.

7

The amount of times Colby Lewis went 7+ innings over his last 13 starts, compared to zero over his first 16 starts. This is one of many indicators, including an ERA that was cut in half over the post-Angels-massacre period of last season, that Lewis truly got stronger and, seemingly, more healthy, as the year progressed.

(©2015 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)