A lonestar in california

Author’s note: This piece was supposed to be out Thursday morning, but for some reason it didn’t publish correctly and the site sat un-updated through the entire off day, for which you have my apologies. I hope you don’t mind reading my now-redundant post for time being - later today or tonight I hope to dig into some of the trade rumors that have been flying around lately and give you some fresher thoughts.

Going into yesterday’s game, all that was missing from the Rangers post all-star break slump was a bullpen meltdown. After already getting shutout once and blown out twice, it almost seemed as if you could hear the distant scream of the incoming trifecta that hit the Rangers like a mortar round shortly after Ron Washington called CJ Wilson out of the bullpen in the 8th inning yesterday.

Up until that inning, the Rangers had been enjoying a pretty good day at the ballpark. After being down 3-1 early, they had rallied to chase White Sox rookie Clayton Richard after just 4 innings, scoring 5 runs off of him on 7 hits. The Rangers 1-2 hitters provided most of the punch, as Ian Kinsler broke out of his post-ASB slump by going 2-5 with a 2 run double in the second, while Michael Young homered and racked up 2 RBI in the first 4 innings. They also got 4.1 innings of superb one-hit relief from Josh Rupe and Warner Madrigal after Kevin Millwood left with a reaggravated groin in the second inning. Madrigal, despite giving up a solo homer to Carlos Quentin, was especially spectacular, throwing 23 of 34 pitches for strikes and K’ing 5 in his 2 innings of work. When the Rangers headed into the bottom of the 7th, the score was 8-4 and they seemed to have the game well in hand. That of course, was when the trouble started.  

Ron Washington brought in Jamey Wright, whom he recently identified as his designated 7th inning man (despite the fact that he had given up a run in 3 of his last 4 appearances), but the electrician couldn’t duplicate the success of Rupe and Madrigal, giving up a run on 2 hits and a walk before escaping the inning. With it now a 3-run ballgame, Ron Washington went to normally reliable setup man Eddie Guardado.

Guardado didn’t seem to be himself however, allowing a leadoff double and an RBI single to the first two batters.After a popup, that was followed by another double and a walk, cutting the Texas lead to 8-7. That’s when Ron Washington brought in closer CJ Wilson in an attempt to get out of the jam – and that’s when Carlos Quentin jacked Wilson’s first pitch out to left-center for a three-run homer and a 10-8 White Sox lead. I can’t even begin to tell you how deflating that moment was. According to CJ himself, the pitch (a 94 MPH fastball right down broadway) was simply a meatball: 

“It was a meatball,” Wilson said. “Call it a meatball. … We have a big series against Oakland. We have to regroup and get everybody focused and get set up for that.

“I don’t make excuses. It had nothing to do with warmups. Me throwing a meatball and he hits a home run, that has to do with me throwing a meatball and a guy hitting a home run.”

Well, at least CJ wasn’t afraid to admit his mistakes this time – but personally, I have to say I’m more irritated and puzzled at why Ron didn’t bring in Frankie Francisco to get out of that inning than I am mad at CJ for making that pitch. The opposition is hitting a miniscule .129/.270/.226 (695 OPS) against Frankie with RISP and 2 out and as a result, he has bailed us out of many a jam this year, stranding 79% of baserunners. By contrast, the opposition is hitting .240 against CJ with 2 out and RISP - but with a .424 OBP and a .520 SLG% (a .944 OPS). Also, Frankie has held right-handers to a .222 average this year, almost 40 points lower than CJ (.260). It should be noted that Quentin does have a reverse split in that he’s only hitting .207 against lefties this year, but he’s still slugging .500 with an 836 OPS against them - and CJ has really struggled of late, opposing batters having lit him up to the tune of .321/.457/.536 (993 OPS) so far in July.

So regardless of that reverse split, I just don’t know why you’d bring your struggling closer into the middle of a jam when you’ve got your best “clutch” pitcher fully available on one days rest in the bullpen – yeah, from a fundamental standpoint your closer is supposed to be your best reliever and therefore capable of handling that situation, but nothing about CJ is fundamental. He’s been far from the most effective pitcher in the bullpen this year, and when you start exposing him in the wrong situation at the wrong time like that you’re just begging for matters to get worse.

As for Kevin Millwood, his next start on Monday is now “up in the air” after the recurrence of his groin issue in the second inning:

“It got sore to where I couldn’t push off and I couldn’t throw any strikes when that happened,” Millwood said. “I felt it at the beginning of the second inning.”

“It’s annoying; it’s frustrating,” Millwood said.”I just want to get it taken care of and be able to pitch without worrying about it.”

“It just seems like little things all over the place. I don’t know what to do or what to say … just try to get through it.”

If Millwood can’t make his next start, Scott Feldman will likely get the call in his place – and considering Millwood’s current 5.40 ERA and 1.735 WHIP, I’ve got to admit I don’t think I would mind that at all.

Quick hits: Gerald Laird is expected back on Saturday once he finishes his rehab assignment with AAA Oklahoma - he has played 3 of the 4 games so far and is 0-9 at the plate… Brandon McCarthy made his first rehab start with Oklahoma on Tuesday and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits and a walk in 3.2 innings, but hey – at least he pitching in real games again… Eric Hurley is on trackto make his start on Sunday against the A’s, saying his arm feels better after throwing off flat ground… Milton Bradley is listed as day-to-day after being hit by a pitch in the 7th inning Wednesday… the Rangers have signed 5th round and 7th round draft picks Clark Murphy (OF) and Matt Thompson (RHP).

The Rangers head into Oakland now to take on the second-place A’s – we’re only a half-game out of behind them in the standings, so if we take 2 out of 3 we’ll also take second place in the standings. Not that it matters, mind you – both the A’s and us are 10 games behind the Angels, so moving into second shouldn’t delude the Rangers into making any rash trades to try and jump back into the race. First up is Vicente Padilla vs. Sean Gallagher – Vinny of course went 7 scoreless last time, so here’s hoping for a duplicate performance.