Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Luis Mendoza, Bold predictions, FAIL, Pitching moves
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse… the Rangers got absolutely blasted tonight in Detroit. Again, I don’t really have much to say about this game, except that I think it’s a testament to my will and endurance that I sat through the entire 3 hour, 33 minute affair, listening to Eric and Victor an Gameday audio here at my computer. Seriously, I should get free tickets or something, as should any other Ranger fan who stuck out the entire “game” (and I use that term loosely – very loosely).
The Rangers did shell Kenny Rogers early, scoring 5 runs in the first two innings, but in the bottom of the second, Luis Mendoza staged an epic meltdown, and blew the entire lead. Apparently, Mendoza was trying to pitch through a sore shoulder (more on that later), but instead all he did was embarass himself and the team, and put an unnecessary load on the bullpen.
Frank Francisco took over for Mendoza in just the third inning, and allowed a go-ahead homer to Jacque Jones, making it 6-5 Detroit. The Rangers rallied in the 4th however, as a leadoff single by Gerald Laird (who has seemed to wake up offensively of late) and a walk to German Duran got things going. But the Ron Washington inexplicably decided to bunt with Ian Kinsler (only Ron Washington would bunt in the 4th inning with 2 on and nobody out, in a game that had slugfest written all over it). While the sacrifice worked, it may have cost the Rangers a big inning. Rogers, who would not make it out of the inning, then walked Michael Young (semi-unintentionally) to load the bases, and then walked Josh Hamilton to plate the tying run. Carlos Rapada then relieved the Gambler, however, and got Milton Bradley to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, and from there, well, I think this picture sums up the rest of the night for the Rangers:
Image credit goes to the FAIL blog, of course.
If you’re actually curious about the rest of the game and who got shelled and who didn’t, here is the box score, complete with play-by-play.
Now, as to Luis Mendoza’s aforementioned arm trouble: apparently, it started after last Friday’s disasterous start in Boston, in which he gave up 7 runs in three innings. According to Mendoza, his arm feels okay warming up, but weakens once he gets to the mound and starts to unleash his stuff:
“When I warm up, it’s good but when I’m out there it’s weak,” Mendoza said. “I’m worried about it. I’ve never had an injury before. I’m wondering what’s going on.”
Pitching coach Mark Connor meanwhile, was livid at the fact Mendoza kept his problem to himself.
“I had to drag it out of him,” Connor said. “I’ve been doing this 20 years and I can tell you I’m not seeing the guy that I saw last year or the guy I saw early in Spring Training. I’ve been asking him off and on the past couple of weeks if anything has been bothering him and he said, ‘No.’”
…
“He’s a good kid with a great future, but he’s got to protect his career and he’s got to protect the ballclub,” Connor said. “He put us in a bad position. He’s too valuable to the organization. He has to learn to be honest.”
I couldn’t agree more. After the way the bullpen got rocked in this game, the Rangers are in quite the predicament with Scott Feldman, a guy who will be making just his second big league start going tomorrow (more on that later). Frank Francisco threw 52 pitches, Jamey Wright 38, Wes Littleton 31, and Joaquin Benoit 35. More than likely none of them will be available in tomorrows day game, along with Josh Rupe, who threw 56 pitches Tuesday night. That leaves Franklyn German as the only fresh pitcher in the bullpen, and closer CJ Wilson, who threw 10 pitches tonight, as the only other available pitcher in the bullpen.
With basically 80 percent of the bullpen unavailable or questionable, the Rangers have to make a roster move here to get at least one, preferrably two fresh arms up from OKC. Let’s break down the possibilites, shall we?
Luis Mendoza is likely headed for the DL, and Rupe and Littleton both have options, so thats three possible spots. Eddie Guardado was supposed to come off the DL Friday (after his activation was delayed again today) when Scott Feldman was sent back down from his spot start, but Mendoza’s injury likely changes that. He’ll probably be activated tommorrow instead, and theres also three pitchers on the 40-man who could be recalled from the Redhawks (who just had an off-day wedensday) - Kaz Fukumori, Kameron Loe, and AJ Murray. Of those three, I’d say Kaz Fukumori is most likely to get the call, as by my count, his 10 days since being optioned to the minors have just passed, and he has not allowed a run in 5.1 innings in OKC.
Another note: with Mendoza on his way to DL-land, one would think that Scott Feldman just stays on the roster for and in the rotation for now. The Rangers can go with a 4-man rotation and an 8-man bullpen until May 3rd, when we’ll need another 5th starter again (Monday is an off-day for the Rangers).
If the Rangers put Mendoza on the DL retroactive to April 18th, when he supposedly first had his problems, he could be off in time to make that start on May 5th. But there’s no garuntee he’ll be ready (shoulder problems never seem to turn out well for pitchers), and if he’s not, things could get interesting. That of course leaves AJ Murray, Doug Mathis or Sidney Ponson as the guys available, and of those three, only Ponson would really be in line to make the start, if you go by the OKC schedule. He’s set to go on May 2nd (Murray and Mathis should go on the 30th and 1st, respectively) - all you have to do is call him up, and move him back one day.
You still have to make room on the 40-man roster for Ponson though, and as I mentioned yesterday, Adam Melhuse would be the most likely guy to get knocked off, which means… you know. Let me put it this way: I’m predicting that May 3rd, 2008 is your due date for Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s callup. Mark it down.
Speaking of predictions, it appears my prediction yesterday that Ron Washington would be gone by Friday if the team didn’t improve it’s play is already moot – JD and Nolan Ryan have announced their plan of action to improve the Rangers crappy play, and that is: sit back, do nothing, and see if the team improves. Great plan, guys. A+++ for creativity and daring. Seriously, take a few days off – your brains must be tired after all that planning. I’ll take over while you’re away, hows that sound???
Scott Feldman opposes Jeremy Bonderman tomorrow – tough pitching matchup for a team looking to stop a 6-game losing streak. Even if we loose, it will have to be considered a huge sucess if Feldman just makes it through 5-6 innings, and takes a load off the bullpen – it’s been three consecutive days now that out starting pitcher has not made it past the third inning. With the bullpen as gassed it is, we just cannot have another early inning meltdown – if we do, brace for the sweep. Oh wait, that’s right – with the way the last 6 games have gone, you’re already braced for the sweep. Never mind.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Bold predictions, Errors, Frank Francisco, Roster moves
It’s only 21 games into the 2008 season, and already Rangers fans have had to endure two 5-game losing streaks. And with this latest one, they have dropped to a new low at 7-14, and they now alone hold the distinguished title of worst record in the AL. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2008 Texas Rangers: we’re below the cellar.
It wasn’t much a game yesterday, and as such, there’s not much worth saying about it. Some highlights: Frank Catalanotto hit a home run in the top of the 2nd, that gave the Rangers a short lived lead. But the very next half inning Ben Broussard booted an Edgar Renteria ground ball hit straight at him at first base, which went as a double, and wound up allowing two runs to score. The play should have been scored as an error, according to both Victor Rojas and Eric Nadel, the KLRD announcers, but instead both runs where earned, and the play (or lack thereof) may have rattled the exciteable Vicente Padilla, as he promptly gave up three homers and 5 runs the next inning. Josh Rupe replaced Padilla in the 4th, did turn in 4 strong innings of relief, but got charged with three runs when he ran out of gas in the 8th, and loaded the bases with nobody out for his replacement Wes Littleton, who promptly allowed all three runs to score by walking three batters. The Texas offense meanwhile, left another 10 men on base (including 4 men in the first two innings), the only other run coming on a Josh Hamilton sac fly.
Overall, it was just another horrible game, that is not even worth anymore space or words of this blog entry. Blech. Lets move on.
The Rangers announced some interesting developments concerning the pitching staff yesterday, the first of which was the placement of Dustin Nippert on the 15-day DL. After Monday’s horrid outing in which he gave up 8 runs in 2.1 innings, you had to know something like this was coming – Nippert clearly needs some time in the minors to polish his game, and since he has no options, stashing him on the DL, and sending him on a “rehab” assignment is the only way to do it.
Frank Francisco replaces him – a logical choice, as Frankie Frank was mowing through the AAA hitters in OKC, as he had not allowed a run in 8 appearances and 9 innings, accumulated 5 saves, and had struck out 16 to just three walks. That’s some absolutely filthy stuff from the 6′3″ right-hander, as his infamous splitter (which was so good in 2004, before he had to undergo TJ surgery), a pitch the Rangers wanted him to work on after it failed to fully materialize during spring training, seems to have returned.
“Pretty much everything is better,” said Francisco, who had a 5.63 ERA in Spring Training. “I’ve been throwing my [split-fingered fastball] for strikes, my curveball for strikes and my location is way better on my fastball. I’m getting ahead in the counts with my fastball and my splits and late in the counts I’m throwing my offspeed pitches, not necessarily for strikes, but where I want them.
Eddie Guardado is also scheduled to come off the DL today (Wendensday), so the bullpen should look a lot better this week, with both him and Francisco in there. A roster spot will have to be made for him, of course though, which means somebody goes to OKC. Josh Rupe and Wes Littleton both have options, and are therefore the prime targets to go down, while Franklyn German is the weakest link in the bullpen - he just doesn’t have any options.
Rupe is probably the most likely candidate, since his ERA sits at 6.00, but without him, the Rangers lack a long-reliever – Jamey Wright is the only other pitcher in the Texas bullpen that can really go past 3 innings if needbe, and he’s been moved to more of a late-relief role lately, thanks to the great effectiveness of his power-sinker this year.
Wes Littleton has been used for multiple innings in three of his four outings this season though (getting up to 2.2 innings against Toronto April 16th), so my guess is, Rupe gets the the demotion, and the Rangers just wing it with Littelton/Wright as the guys they’ll use for multiple innings if needed. What I would like to see is Franklyn German put on waivers, but the Rangers still seem to be in love with his radar gun readings, and since he hasn’t truly melted down yet, I doubt they’ll put him on waivers. Of course, I’ve been incorrect in my predictions of who would go up or down every time this year, so I suppose you never know – I could get my wish.
Speaking of up and down, Kason Gabbard’s back problem now appears more serious than the Rangers first admitted – the rotation’s lone southpaw is now termed “in question” for his next start. They’re now saying the Gabbard has a strained muscle, rather than the back spasms they initially diagnosed him with, and while they’re not making any decisions until Kason has his scheduled bullpen session today, TR Sullivan lists Sidney Ponson and AJ Murray as the favorites to take his place. He also mentions Doug Mathis, who is 4-0 with a 3.12 ERA for OKC, but leaves out Scott Feldman, who has already been called up to make a spot start earlier this month.
Ponson is probably the guy the Rangers would like to have make the start, because they seem to enjoy throwing worthless “veterans” out there on the big club, and where convinced Ponson had something when they signed him in the spring, but he’s not on the 40-man roster – neither is Mathis, who I would personally like to see make the start (although that isn’t likely). Murray is on the 40 however, which seems to make him the frontrunner, despite the fact that he has a 5.16 ERA so far in OKC.
If however, the Rangers did decide to go with Ponson, there could be a huge upside to it. A massive one. About the only guy whop can be knocked off the 40-man is Adam Melhuse – and if you knock him off, you necessitate the callup of – guess who – yep, Salty. So despite the fact that we’d have to watch Ponson pitch for the duration of Kason Gabbard’s DL stint (which probalby wouldn’t be more than two or three starts at the most), I’m rooting for Sir Sidney. He could very well be Salty’s ticket to Arlington.
Speaking of Salty, he had the day off today (they didn’t want to start him in a day game after a night game). The Redhawks wound up losing, 5-1, as Iowa’s Sean Gallagher (whom you may remember was one of the pitchers Jon Daniels was pushing the Cubs for when trying to trade them Marlon Byrd this winter/spring) held them to just 3 hits over 7.2 innings.
Tomorrow, the Rangers send Luis Mendoza out to the hill to try and stop this latest 5-game slide – the Tigers are sending a familiar face in Kenny Rogers to the hill. It’s noted in the game notes that Marlon Byrd had his MRI, and has been diagnosed with a bone bruise, for which they gave him a cortisone shot. I guess this means will see him as soon as his 15 days on the DL are up – I’m trying to decide whether that’s a good thing or not. Good I guess, for the OF defense at least.
I’ll close out this morning’s post with a bold prediction: if the Rangers lose the next two games, I’m betting Ron Washington will be fired when we get back to Arlington on Friday. I don’t want to see the Rangers lose the next to games of course, but I think you all know what I think of Ron. If nothing else, that’s just what I’m telling myself right now to avoid getting too depressed over the teams play of late.
