I decided to create a whole new post for this, simply because I didn’t think it would be fair to try and contain the awesomeness of this announcement within the awesomeness of Max Ramirez’ game last night, or vice-versa. It wouldn’t be fair to either one to steal their thunder – they both deserve their own headline today.
As you may have heard by now, multiple sources are reporting that Chris Davis, the Rangers slugging first base prospect, has been called up from AAA Oklahoma, including Smoaky.com, Davis’ hometown paper, and the DMN’s Evan Grant. In the words of Chris himself:
“I was just so excited with a bunch of different emotions and feelings,” said Davis, who called his parents first upon receiving the news. “It’s unbelievably exciting to get something you’ve worked for your whole life. Since I’ve started playing professional baseball, this was the goal. It is so awesome to actually see it happen.”
“It feels good and I’m real excited, but I don’t think it will sink in until I hit the field tomorrow in uniform…This is real.”
The move comes as a result of Hank Blalock’s latest setback, as he has now developed pain and swelling in his right hand (which he bruised on Sunday during a rehab game in OKC) and is now expected to be out till the all-star break.
With Blalock out for a little while longer, the Rangers apparently felt it was time to have a look at the left-handed masher Davis, who has an overall line of .333/.402/.685, with 10 homers and 31 RBI in his 31 games with Oklahoma this season. He had also hit another 13 homers and drove in 42 in AA Frisco earlier this year before his promotion to AAA. Although he was currently in an 0-12 mini-slump in OKC, he seems to be right on the cusp, if not already at the point of being ready for The Show.
Even so, this might not be a permanent move for Davis because as Jon Daniels explains it, the Rangers (for some reason) still plan on moving Blalock to first base, and playing him there once he gets back:
“We’ve been patient up to this point expecting Hank to be back for the Houston series,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, he had his latest setback. I don’t expect it to be long-term and we expect to send him on a rehab assignment in the near future. But we felt this was an opportunity to give Chris a chance to see what he can do and see if we can’t get more production out of that position.”
“More than likely, I would expect Hank to play [if he comes back by the all-star break],” Daniels said. “We’ve had discussions about Chris some time ago, but we hoped Hank would be back by now. Rather than continuing to wait, this is a chance to look at Chris. I said before the season that the key to our season would be the health of our veterans and the continued development of our young players.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see whether this is going to be a cameo appearance for Davis until Blalock gets back, or if it will indeed be permanent – of course, the final determination will probably rest with Chris Davis himself, and how well he plays. If he comes out of the gates swinging, I don’t see how the Rangers could send him back down – it would be pretty stupid to send down one of your top prospects in favor or a guy whose 2009 option you might not even be picking up anyway.
As far as roster ramifacations go, Chris Shelton is likely the player the Rangers will drop to make room on both the 40 and the 25 man roster for Davis – Shelton has hit .216/.333/.330 in 97 AB’s as a Ranger, a pretty worthless line for a first baseman. I don’t think anyone will be sorry to see him go, save for maybe Ron Washington, who liked to use him as a late-innings defensive replacement/pinch hitter.
The guy who’s really going to feel the squeeze as far as playing time goes though is Frank Catalanotto, whose his left-handed bat will now likely be reduced to pinch-hitting since he really can’t play the outfield anymore, and the DH spot is going to be taken by Milton Bradley and Max Ramirez. Of course, it’s not like Cat has any real value as anything but a pinch-hitter anyway, so that’s not really too much of a loss, not when you look at the raw power Chris Davis will offer the lineup – in fact, I’d be fine with it if the Rangers just traded Catalanotto to some NL team for a a bag of peanuts, and where done with it. I still say his contract is the worst signing Jon Daniels has ever made.
Davis should join the team tonight in Houston, although Max Ramirez was originally scheduled to start at first base tonight against lefty Wandy Rodriguez – we’ll see if the Rangers want Davis to make his debut against a left-hander, or if they wait until Friday when Brett Myers goes for the Phillies.
No matter what they do though, just remember this: expect some strikeouts, especially the first few games. Davis is a guy who will probably strike out 150 times in the Majors – he projects to be kind of like an Adam Dunn, only with less walks and a (hopefully) higher batting average. His main tool is his raw power, which is expected to make up for his K’s and lack of walks, so if he comes up and just starts slugging homers, even if he’s hitting .250 he’ll be in fairly good shape.
Anyway, congrats to you, Chris Davis – I wish you many happy home run trots, buddy, and I hope you kick some serious ass so you don’t have to go back to AAA.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: First Major League hit, First Major League homer, Luis Mendoza, Max Ramirez
Wednesday was a dreaded day for Texas Ranger fans. For the first time this season, the Rangers found themselves without either of their 3-4 hitters, Milton Bradley or Josh Hamilton in the lineup, and as a result, the batting order almost looked like something out of a bad dream. Facing off against the Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt, the Rangers needed some new heroes, fast - and they may have found them in Max Ramirez and Luis Mendoza, whose timely contributions would carry Texas to an improbable 3-2 victory.
Of course, you’ve got to give a some credit to Rangers starter Scott Feldman, too – Feldman may have had his shortest outing of the season last night, throwing 99 pitches in the span of just four innings, but he set the tone for the Ranger pitchers by keeping his head and working out of almost every jam he got into. Of the 8 baserunners allowed by Feldman(on 6 hits and 2 walks), only 2 scored, and they both came on a 2-run homer in the second by Michael Bourn. Other than that, Feldman fought hard to get the key outs he needed to, and that set the stage for the pitchers who followed him, and for Max Ramirez.
The 23-year old Ramirez was making just his second Major League start, and his first as a catcher last night but it sure didn’t seem to phase him any. He picked up his first Major League hit with a single in the top of the second and looked solid behind the plate as well, earning praise from manager Ron Washington for his handling of the pitchers:
“We certainly weren’t at full strength but that kid behind the plate did a great job,” Washington said. “Not only swinging the bat but handling our pitching staff. The kid knows how to swing the bat, but the thing I wanted to see was him handling the pitching staff and get them through nine innings. He did just that. That’s what matters most and he did an excellent job.”
The big moment for Ramirez however, came in the 4thinning. With the Rangers down 2-1, Frank Catalanotto rapped an innocent 2 out single to right to keep things going for Max. Roy Oswalt, who had struck out the first two batters of the inning, fell behind 3-1 to Max, and then tried to challenge “the new guy” with a fastball in the zone.
408 feet later, the score was 3-2 Rangers.
“I can’t believe it,” Ramirez said. “It was so exciting. My first home run, my first game behind the plate, a really good game. I felt good behind the plate. I tried to do my best job.”
Even though the Rangers would not score again for the rest of the game, neither would the Astros, as the Rangers managed to keep them in check from the second inning on.
Scott Feldman left after the 4th innning of course, meaning he would not be eligible for the win - but if he wasn’t eligible for it, the guy who replaced him most certainly would be. Four days after earning his first Major League save by tossing three scoreless innings against the Nationals, Luis Mendoza turned in some more superb relief, this time when it really counted. He went three sharp innings, giving up just 2 hits and striking out 2 – an absolutely huge, huge performance, as it allowed the Rangers to go straight to setup man Eddie Guardado, and skip their inconsistent and shaky middle relief corps altogether.
Guardado turned in a scoreless 8th, thanks to a little help from Frank Catalanotto, who turned a spectacular double play to help Eddie get around a leadoff double, and all that was left was for CJ Wilson to close it out in the 9th. Of course, that hasn’t been an easy proposition for CJ these days, and last night was really no exception. He allowed a leadoff double to Ty Wigginton, and then walked Michael Bourn with2 out (which may or may not have had more to do with the umpire than CJ’s pitches). Ramon Vazquez then bobbled a grounder at third which should have ended the game, but instead loaded the bases for Miguel Tejada. But Tejada grounded harmlessly to short, a perfect example of the Astrosfrusteration in this game – they went 0-9 with RISP, and left 10 men on base, a testament to how lucky and good the Rangers pitchers where last night.
This win all but nails down the Silver Boot Trophy for the Rangers - unless they lose by more than 11 runs tomorrow, the boot will be coming back to Arlington for another year. I think though the two most important things to take away from this game however, are the performances of MaxRam and Mendoza.
MaxRam’s defense last night looked pretty serviceable to me, quite contrary to his reputation as a poor defensive player. Of course this is only one game (hello sample size) but if Max can prove just adequate defensively while displaying the hitting prowess he did last night, he is going to assert himself as just as strong a candidate for the role of our future starting catcher as Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden, instead being limited to the duties of primary DH and backup catcher as many people (including myself) have projected him as due to his reputation. Of course, some might think it premature to say that after only one start, but after what he displayed last night in his game calling abilities, I am willing to believe it is at the very least a possibility.
As for Luis Mendoza, I’ve mentioned this before, but I really think he may have a great future in the bullpen. This latest performance should earn him a few more innings in some key middle-relief situations – and if he continues to excel, I could see him possibly becoming our 7th inning guy with that turbo-sinker of his. Once things for certain, he seems to have better stuff than just a long man – but the rotation seems to be full up right now, so the Rangers might not have much choice in the matter if they want to truly get the most out of his abilites.
