ARLINGTON -- Dane Dunning was the Rangers Pitcher of the Year in 2023, when he posted a 3.70 ERA across 172 2/3 innings as a swingman for the eventual World Series champs.

On Saturday, Dunning was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock for the first time in his Rangers tenure following an outing against the A¡¯s in which he gave up five runs over three innings in a 9-2 Texas loss.

¡°I think, as much as anything, his stuff's probably been a tick down and to go with that, he hasn't quite been as sharp with his command,¡± manager Bruce Bochy said after the Oakland loss. ¡°He's done a terrific job there [for us] and earlier, we gave him a break, and thought he was ready. I thought tonight at times, it was good, but he¡¯s still not where he was.¡±

Dunning opened the season in the Rangers' rotation with a trio of veterans in Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle on the injured list until the second half. Through the end of May, Dunning posted a 3.94 ERA across his first nine starts.

He then surrendered 11 runs in 13 1/3 innings in his first three starts of June before transitioning to the bullpen when Scherzer returned from his first injured list stint of the season.

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Since June 25, he¡¯s posted a 6.61 ERA in 12 games, including two spot starts. In those 31 1/3 innings, opposing hitters were slashing .336/.385/.537 off the right-hander.

Bochy said that Dunning¡¯s velocity has been down a tick lately, but they never considered an IL stint for potential injury. They believe his strength and stamina is just not where it needs to be right now.

Bochy said Dunning won¡¯t throw for a few days before getting back into a routine down in Round Rock.

When talking about players getting sent down, general manager Chris Young has often said that it¡¯s a performance-based game. That seems to be the case with Dunning, who has yet to recapture what made him such an important part of the Rangers' postseason run in 2023.

¡°We want him to get back to who he is, and that's the guy that can give you length,¡± Bochy said. ¡°The dropoff was a little concerning in the third innings. Every time he seemed like he got to that point. So we want him to build up some strength and stamina. You hear me talk about [it] a lot with these pitchers, and that seems like it had gotten away from him.

¡°So what can you do? Well, sometimes you just work harder. He's been doing his work, his running and all that. We need him to pitch on a regular basis. This guy did such an incredible job for us last year, and even at times this year. We just gotta get him back to being the guy that we know.¡±