Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Ben Broussard, Jason Botts, John Patterson, Luis Mendoza, Michael Young, Ron Washington
So far, this series in Seattle has had a bit of everything for everybody. The first two games saw one club chase the opposing starter early, and effectively put the game away before the 5th inning. Last night’s contest, however, saw a classic low-scoring, nail-biting pitchers duel between Seattle’s ace lefty Erik Bedard, and the Rangers revitalized Vicente Padilla.
Bedard, who came into the game with a 4-1 career line, and a 2.42 ERA against the Rangers, pitched a pretty good game, but the story of the night was Vicente Padilla. Already the author of a complete game shutout this season (back on April 27th against the Twins) Padilla tossed another brilliant gem, putting goose eggs on the board for 7 innings, surrendering just two hits and two walks and striking out 8. At one point, he retired 12 Mariners in a row. To say he was brilliant might have been an understatement. Filthy is probably a better adjective.
The Rangers offense managed to get just two runs off Bedard, but the way Padilla was pitching, it turned out to be enough. Brandon Boggs ripped an RBI triple to plate Milton Bradley from first win 2 out in the 4th to break the scoreless tie. Bradley, who scored both the Ranger runs, later hammered a solo shot to left in the 6th, and that was all the Rangers needed.
Things did get a little hairy for Padilla in the 7th, when he walked Raul Ibanez and Adrian Beltre to lead off the inning. But thanks to some blazing upper 90’s fastballs, and some excellent framing by Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Padilla rebounded to strike out the side, getting Jeff Clement and Yuniesky Betancourt looking, and Wladmir Balentien swinging to end the threat.
That was Padilla’s most brilliant inning, but also his last, as he was pulled by Ron Washington in the 8th, despite only being at 91 pitches. Joaquin Benoit took over, and worked though a nailbiter inning, walking the first batter he saw, and later giving everyone a scare by giving Jose Lopez a pitch that was jacked all the way back to the corner in deep LF, but hauled in by Brandon Boggs for the third out. Even though he got out of the inning unscathed, Benoit can just count himself lucky that it was Jose Lopez he served up that last pitch to, and not someone like Adrian Beltre, or he would have been looking at a blown save. But it wasn’t, and CJ Wilson came on for the 9th, and worked around a walk of his own to pick up his 8th save of the season, slamming the door on the shutout, and the Rangers 15th win of the season.
There was some bad news coming along with this one though, as shortstop Michael Young tweaked a flexor muscle in his left hip during his at-bat in the top of the first inning. Right now he’s listed as day-to-day, and there hasn’t been anything said about how serious his problem is, but from what I gather, flexorinjuries can keep a guy out anywhere from a few games to over a month. Needless to say, if Young is out for an extended period, it will be very bad, because the Rangers don’t have many options to replace him. German Duran and Ramon Vazquez are already splitting time filling in for Hank Blalock, and there’s no other infielder on the 40-man roster besides Joaquin Arias (who has so far been limited to playing second base in OKC, as he rebuilds arm strength from a shoulder surgery last year) who is eligible to be called up to the majors. Even if Young is only out for a few days, and the Rangers wait for him to recover, they’ll still be in a dangerous predicament, as they’ll have no backup infielder on the roster.
I’m afraid I have more discouraging news, too – John Patterson has suffered a setback in his recovery from his 2007 elbow surgery. He has been shut down after his second start in extended spring training, thanks to soreness in his right forearm.
“He was not happy with the way the ball was coming out of his hand, and he had some pain in his forearm again,” Rangers pitching coach Mark Connor said. “Everything was going well until that second start.”
I guess this means Sidney Ponson is now undoubtedly here to stay, be it for better or worse.
Luis Mendoza, who is on the DL with shoulder pain, is not close to returning to the rotation either. According to Mark Connor, he is making progress, but the Rangers still want to play it safe, and let him build up his endurance, as he’s scheduled to throw a simulated game Saturday, and then make 2 or 3 rehab starts in the minors.
For now, that leaves the Rangers with a rotation of Millwood, Padilla, Ponson, Kason Gabbard (who comes off the DL tommorrow) and Scott Feldman, with AJ Murray being the primary fallback option.
Another interesting note though, is that Doug Mathis has now “pushed ahead” of Eric Hurley, as far as consideration for a big league callup anytime soon goes. Mathis is 5-0 with a 3.55 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP for OKCso far, whereas Hurley is 1-2 with a 7.32 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP, and has given up 8 HR – disappointing to say the least for the Rangers top pitching prospect.
A couple last notes, and I’ve got to wrap this up: Ben Broussard is a dead man walking. The Rangers have decided to platoon Frank Catalanotto and Chris Shelton at first base, pretty much making it a logical certainty that Broussard will be dropped when Marlon Byrd comes off the DL. There’s more, too: Evan Grant goes so far as to suggest that because Ron Washington was the one who lobbied for, and effectively got Broussard signed this offseason he could wind up being fired at the same time Broussard is DFA’d. While I would dearly love to see that (the very thought of seeing my two least favorite people associated with the Texas Rangers fired at the same time floods my brain with pleasure endorphins) something tells me that if Ron Washington was going to be fired, it would have been done by now. JD seems reluctant to admit he whiffed when he hired Washington in the first place, and that denial, combined with the Rangers better play of late, I think is going to save Washington’s job until the All-Star break, if not October.
Finally, Jason Botts has cleared waivers, and been outrighted to OKC, something Jason can’t be too happy about, if you remember what he had to say about his designation:
“I think I’ve been here for a pretty long time and I deserve a fresh start somewhere else. It’s not the most negative thing to me right now that this has happened. I’m excited about it.”
Unfortunately for Jason, he now must endure another season of slogging through the minors with OKC, splitting time at first base and DH. I really feel sorry for Bottsy – he may not have ever performed enough in any of his brief stints with the club to convince anyone he should stay, but he didn’t really get a fair shake at a long term chance – he got screwed out of that when the Rangers signed Sammy Sosa in 2007, and his career never recovered.
Kason Gabbard, who will be fresh off the DL, will take on Felix Hernandez today as the Rangers try to take 3 of 4 from the Mariners. Gabbard was 1-0 with a 2.18 ERA before his DLtrip – hopefully he comes back dealing, and hopefully we find out something positive about Michael Young’s hip.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Ben Broussard, Frank Catalanotto, John Mayberry Jr., Minor Leagues
How quickly the fortunes of baseball change. Monday night, the Mariners rocked Kevin Millwood in a 7-3 win, only to have the Rangers return the favor on Tuesday. This time, it was Miguel Bautista and reliever Cha-Seung Baek who got knocked around, as the Ranger offense showed some impressive plate discipline, drawing a total of 10 walks from the aforementioned pair, giving them more than enough baserunners to make some big things happen.
Ian Kinsler lead the game off with a double to LF, and Michael Young and Josh Hamilton followed with a pair of walks. Milton Braldey hit an RBI grounder to first, and David Murphy followed with a sac fly to make it 2-0 early. Brandon Boggs and Frank Catalanotto would draw walks to load the bases again, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia couldn’t come through, grounding out to second.
Even though the Rangers didn’t cash in as big as the could have, Bautista threw an astonishing 44 pitches in the first inning, setting up his own early exit. The Rangers tacked on a run in the second, on a Michael Young sac fly, but the big inning would be the top of the third.
Milton Bradley drew a walk to start the frame, and David Murphy followed by crushing a 2-run homer. Brandon Boggs struck out, but Bautista walked Frank Catalanotto with one out, after which he was pulled for Cha-Seung Baek. Baek came in and immediately got Saltalamacchia to fly out to deep right, but the Rangers put together a 2-out rally to blow the game wide open.
Baek loaded the bases by allowing Vazquez to single, and Kinsler to walk, and then Michael Young whacked a broken bat single up the middle to score two. That brought up Josh Hamilton, and he put the finishing touches on the offensive explosion by absolutely crushing a 425-foot 3-run homer to right field. That made it 10-0, and the Ranger put it on cruise control from there, as Sidney Ponson continued to impress.
Through 7 innings, Ponson gave up just one run on 7 hits and one walk. He only struck out 2, but he got 12 ground balls to 7 fly balls, and kept the Mariners off-balance the entire night. As I’ve said in the past, I’ve been one of Ponson’s biggest detractors, and in the back of my mind I still wonder how long his recent success will continue. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that he has pitched like an absolute fiend lately, and has made a fine addition to the rotation. And if his success does continue, we might actually be able to spin him for a prospect or two at the trade deadline.
On another interesting note from the game Frank Catalanottogot the start at first base, and went 1-2 with three of the Rangers 10 walks. As TR Sullivan notes, this is something we should be seeing a lot more of, as Ron Washington looks to get Catalanotto into the lineup, and squeeze some production out of the first base position (Texas 1B have a 546 OPS right now, the lowest in the AL).
It looks like my prediction yesterday about Ben Broussard’s time in Texas coming to an end may be coming true – as TR hints at in his article, and as Evan Grant puts a tad more bluntly, Catalanotto getting time at first base pretty much makes carrying Broussard unnecessary. Broussardis hitting a microscopic .159/.225/268, with a 493 OPS in 82 AB’sso far, and has just one hit with RISP all season – his grand slam against the Angels back on April 4th. Factor in his platoon weakness against LHP, and Ben starts to redefine the terms “useless” “roster clogger” and “spare”. And even though Washington nor the Rangers have yet to say it directly, they seem to have realized that they realistically cannot carry three first basemen on the roster once Marlon Byrd comes off the DL, so…
On other news, TR also has a peice up on the Rangers farm system right now on the Rangers sight, boasting about the current record of the Texas feeder clubs - whose collective .658 winning percentage is second only to the Yankees minor league clubs. There’s also some highlights on players like former #1 Rangers pick John Mayberry Jr., who is ripping up AAA Oklahoma (to the tune of a .500 average) since he got a promotion from Frisco around the same time Brandon Boggs was called up to the Majors last month.
The emergence of Mayberry, who has had a lot of struggles with his complicated swing in the minors since he was drafted over players like Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury in 2005, is certainly a huge development. Back when he was drafted, he was supposed to be the Rangers RF of the future, but his stumbles though the system made him one of the Rangers most unpopular draft picks – now, according to Rangers farm director Soctt Servais, he could even be considered for a late-season callup if he continues his success:
“I’m really excited about [Mayberry],” Servais said. “You didn’t know what you’d get, but I’m most happy his strikeouts are down. At Frisco he was having some of the best at-bats. I’m not talking about hits but just staying on the ball and using all fields. This is a big year for John Mayberry. Hopefully he’ll settle in, put up good numbers and maybe by August or September he’ll get big league consideration.”
There’s also notes about Max Ramirez, the young catcher acquired for Kenny Lofton from the Indians last year, who recently won the Texas League Player of the Week award, and his hitting an insane .390/.475/.700 for AA Frisco so far, the health of Joaquin Arias, who could factor in as a short-term replacement at SS should the Rangers decide to move Michael Young to another position late this season, and on the development prized first base power prospect Chris Davis, about whom Servais has the following to say:
“The switch to first base has been very good for Chris,” Servais said. “He’s very athletic, and I’ve seen him make some very good plays. He’s making adjustments at the plate, trying to cut down his strikeouts and use the whole field. We know he can hit the ball five miles, but there is still plenty of development time needed.”
I don’t know about you, but the more I go on about the young guys, the more pumped I get. The farm system is truly the highlight of the Rangers organization right now – though I don’t often make many notes about it in this space, since I can only focus on the big-league club with my currently limted writing time, keeping up with the kids in the system via blogs like Mike Hindman’s or EMC’s, which are up on the sidebar, and other sources like Baseball America should be a required activity for Ranger fans right now.
Tomorrow, the Rangers face another left-handed pitcher in noted Ranger-killer Erik Bedard. Texas is just 1-6 this season against left-handed starters, and has not sent a lefty starter to a loss yet. Vicente Padilla goes for the Rangers, and is coming off a fairly solid performance in Oakland. Hopefully the Rangers can break the jinx lefties have on them so far, but it’ll be tough to do it against Bedard, who has held the Rangers to a .217 average in his 7career starts against them.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Bad Managing, Ben Broussard, Extra innings, Hank Blalock, Jason Botts, Kevin Millwood, Left on Base, Salty watch
Welp, it took long enough – 14 innings, and 4 hours and 53 minutes to be exact. But the Texas Rangers finally snapped their 5 game losing streak up in Toronto Wednesday night.
The Rangers lead 5-2 after 7 1/2 innings, thanks in part to 6 strong innings from starter Kason Gabbard, who allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks, while striking out 2, and the batwork of Jason Botts. Making a rare start at first base, Botts went 2-4 with a towering home run to right that broke a 1-1 tie in the 4th, and a 2 run double that broke a 2-2 tie in the 6th – the kind of performance that makes one wonder if Bottsy has finally earned a little respect in the eyes of Ron Washington.
But Botts was lifted in the 7th inning for Ben Broussard, a “defensive replacement”. As it turned out, that didn’t work out so well. In the bottom of the 8th inning, setup man Joaquin Benoit melted down, loading the bases on two walks and a single. He wound up walking in a run, making it 5-3, before Ron Washington finally decided to come and get him, bringing Wes Littleton jogging out from the bullpen. Littleton came in, and induced a grounder to first base for Broussard. Trying to turn a 3-6-1 double play, Broussard fired toward second… and threw the ball into left field. That scored two runs to tie the game at 5-5, and things would stay that way for another 6 innings, as Littleton got the next hitter, David Eckstein to roll one to second, which Ian Kinsler fired home to cut down the run, and then got Aaron Hill to ground into another force out to end the frame.
Both teams had excellent opportinites to end the game before the 14th, but both managed to squander those chances, one after the other. Like in the bottom of the 10th, when the Blue Jays put runners on first and third, with one out. The game appeared one sac fly away from being over, but Wes Littleton, still on the mound since the 8th, got Joe Inglett to ground one to Ian Kinsler, who turned the double play to keep the Rangers alive.
The Rangers, for their part, loaded the bases twice during the extra frames, first in the 11th with nobody out, but Jesse Carlson, a rookie left-hander in the Jays bullpen, struck out Adam Melhuse, Marlon Byrd and David Murphy to end the threat. Texas did it again with 2 out in the 13th, but could not score that inning, either, as David Murphy (who left 11 men on base in the game) grounded out to first. Overall, the Rangers managed to leave 19 men on-base in the contest, becoming the first team since the New York Yankees on April 19th, 2001 (who, coincidentally, beat the Blue Jays in 17 innings in that game) to win a ballgame on the road and leave 19 men.
The top of the 14th was when the Rangers finally broke the tie. With the Toronto bullpen exhausted, starter AJ Burnett had to come in and make a relief appearance. Gerald Laird lead off the inning with a single to left. After Ian Kinsler struck out, Frank Catalanotto, who had an excellent game in a return to Toronto, where he had the glory days of his career, doubled into the RF corner, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd for Michael Young. Young hit a hot smash to short, and Gerald Laird committed a baserunning blunder trying to score on the play, but got caught in a rundown between third and home. Catalanotto did make it to third, and that brought up Josh Hamilton with runners on the corners. It was then that Burnett broke off a breaking ball in the dirt, that skipped right between the legs of catcher Greg Zaun and to the backstop. Catalanotto scored easily, putting the Rangers back on top again. The inning wasn’t over, though, as Josh Hamilton jacked an RBI double into the left-center gap to plate Young and make it a 2-run ballgame for closer CJ Wilson.
Wilson came on, and needed just 9 pitches to get Frank Thomas to pop up, Gerg Zaun to line soflty to third, and Lyle overbay to ground out to second to pick up his 4th save of the season, and end the marathon contest.
It’s certainly a huge relief for the Rangers to snap their losing steak here at 5 games, even if they did almost give away the game – but the fact remains that the game still featured the defensive debacles, lack of clutch hitting, and sub-par managing that has been so prevalent lately in Rangers baseball. They got lucky this time, and pulled one out – but if Texas wants to avoid starting another losing streak on what is going to be a tough road trip, they are still going to have to play better than what they did on Wednesday night. I hate to rain on the parade, and don’t get me wrong, I’m as pumped as the next guy – but one win is not going to erase all this team’s problems.
There was some bad news though, as a result of this game: Hank Blalock was pulled from the game in the 10th due to some “tightness” in his lower back, which he felt after making a throw in the 9th inning. At this point, the Rangers aren’t saying much, other than that they’ll evaluate him tomorrow, but back problems are never good – and with the problems Hank has previously had this year, you have to wonder if this might turn out to be serious – let’s hope not.
If the Rangers where to lose Blalock, they’d lack a #5 hitter – there’s really nobody on the big-league roster who has the type of bat to replace Hank in the lineup. In fact, probably the only way they’d be able to even come close to replacing Hank’s bat in the lineup would be to call up Jarrod Saltalamacchia – and he’s a a catcher of course, not a third baseman.
On a brighter note, Kevin Millwood seems to be okay after taking a ball off his shin Tuesday, that eventually necessitated his removal from the game. Millwood says “it’s still a bit bruised and sore” but he expects to make his next start Sunday in Boston.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia watch: Salty was 1-3 with a single and a walk as Oklahoma lost a close one to Round Rock, 3-2. Robinson Tejeda made his second appearance for OKC, and went 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and striking out 2.
Today, Vicente Padilla takes on Roy Halladay in game 2 of this 2-game set – both teams bullpens are pretty well burnt out after last night, so it could get ugly if either starter falters early. Halladay of course, tossed a complete game win his last start, which was against the Rangers, so the Blue Jays can at least take comfort in that. Maybe the Rangers can do a little better against Halladay than last time, since they’re seeing him so soon, but it’s gonna be another tough game – after which, we’ll head to Boston for 4 games with the Red Sox. So buckle up – the losing streak is over, but it’s still gonna be a tough next 5 days.
