Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Chris Davis, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Josh Hamilton, Matt Harrison
I’m afraid I don’t have time for my normal game recap this morning (a prior engagement at church may have to have to preclude my beloved Rangers somewhat today) so we’re gonna try something a little different here by seeing if I can formulate a quick post without turning it into a long one. So, without further adieu, here’s a few thoughts/stats from yesterday’s 9-4 win you might find interesting:
- Chris Davis is awesome. If there’s one guy in the lineup who wasn’t slowed down by the all-star break, it was Crush – he’s 12 for 31 (.387/.387/.871) since baseball’s midsummer interlude, with 4 home runs, 3 doubles and 7 RBI. As his bash buddy Josh Hamilton points out in Evan Grant’s game story, the thing about Davis has been his ability adjust, and adjust quickly – officially one month into what should be a great Major League career, Chris has 10 homers and 20 RBI in just 89 at-bats, which is nothing short of amazing.
“He’s got to be in the top 15 of players I’ve ever seen when it comes to raw power,” Hamilton said. “He’s young and strong, but he’s also learned how to make adjustments pretty quickly. That’s a dangerous combination.”
- That leads us to Josh himself, who even though he’s not hitting much for average right now is sure hitting for power with three home runs in his last 5 games. And credit Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (the #9 hitter of late) for getting on base in front of him, too – all three of those homers have been multi-run jobs, giving Hamilton 8 RBI’s to up his season total to 103. The top of the order has started clicking again, and that’s been the key to the Rangers takeoff in the last two games.
- I thought Matt Harrison was pitching okay yesterday before he left with a blister on his index finger after 86 pitches in the 5th. 3 runs (one earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks isn’t spectacular, but it’ll get the job done when you have an offense like ours behind you – in any case, it was important for him to rebound after the two tough starts preceding yesterday.
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia (who went 2-3 with a walk, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored yesterday) has hit .364/.440/.545 in his last 6 games for an 985 OPS, but is now going to be relegated to backup catcher unless he or Gerald Laird is traded in this coming week. I like the him (as everyone knows) so I might sound biased saying this… but does it seem to anyone else that every time he finally starts to find a groove, something has happened to disrupt it (i.e. playing in a sporadic platoon, groin problems, and now being religated to backup catcher)? He hasn’t performed anywhere near his potential this year, but the circumstances sure haven’t helped him any either.
Eric Hurley comes off the DL this afternoon to take on A’s lefty Dana Eveland – Kevin Millwood was put on the DL yesterday to make room for Gerald Laird, but Hurley’s activation means that Max Ramirez should be going down to AAA today to get some regular playing time (and he could use it too, he hasn’t started since July 19th).
So, make sure you’ve got your brooms handy this afternoon folks – provided the offense can handle the left-hander today, we’ve got our best shot at a sweep in months.
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: Chris Davis, CJ Wilson, Eric Hurley, Kevin Millwood, Matt Harrison, Michael Ballard, Vicente Padilla
You know something? Matt Harrison is pretty good.
Called upon to help fill in for a Rangers starting rotation currently ravaged by injuries and bad performances, the 22 year-old lefty from Durham, SC didn’t seem fazed at all by the spotlight or any of the circumstances surrounding his Major League debut last night. He just went out there and hit his spots, providing the Rangers seven strong innings of work – and making every one of the three runs the Rangers offense squeezed out of all-star pitcher Joe Saunders count as they picked him up for his first Major League win in a 3-2 Rangers triumph.
The game got off to a late start thanks to 56 minutes of rain, but neither Harrison nor his opponent Saunders would seem fazed by it, although Harrison had to overcome an initial hiccough in the first inning when the leadoff batter Chone Figgins grounded one to Michael Young, who saw it go off his glove for an error. Not exactly the way you want to start a ballgame with a rookie on the mound, but what followed may have been the key play to the entire ballgame.
When Harrison ran the count to 3-2 on Gary Matthews Jr. (the Angels #2 hitter), Mike Scoscia decided to put on the hit-and-run with the speedy Figgins at first. But Harrison struck out Matthews with a high fastball, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia gunned down Figgins at second – a textbook strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play. As Harrison later said, that seemed to set the tone for the rest of his outing:
“That really helped a lot. That gave me a boost of confidence to go after guys and be aggressive and get the nervousness out of my system.”
And that’s exactly what he did, running in and out with a sinking fastball that topped out at about 92 MPH, and a high 70’s change that kept the Angels guessing the entire night. The only inning he had any real trouble in was the 5th, when he surrendered the only walk and extra-base of the outing and Garret Anderson blooped a seeing-eye single back up the middle to score 2 runs.
That gave the Angels a very short-lived 2-1 edge, but Chris Davis responded for Texas by jacking a no-doubt homer to right in the bottom of the frame, his 5th in just 37 at-bats since being called up from the minors, and his fourth in 4 starts at the RBiA this year. While his average may be dipping right now (.111 through his last 5 games) you can’t say the raw tower-to-tower power has gone anyplace.
The Rangers took the lead back for good in the bottom of the 6th when Ian Kinsler led off with his 31st double of the season (extending his hitting streak to 20 games) and Josh Hamilton singled him home for his 87th RBI. Matt Harrison breezed through the 6th and 7th innings, getting up to 97 pitches before ending his night with a line of 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB and 1 K. I don’t think you’ll find very many Major League debuts with lines like that one – as Ron Washington put it, that’s just an outstanding debut.
“It’s everything I ever worked for in my life and coming up through the Minor Leagues,” Harrison said. “I can’t explain how happy I am to be here. I talked to a few of the pitchers before the game and they just said, ‘Be aggressive and throw strikes.’
And that’s exactly what he did – he kept his cool, threw strikes and stuck to his gameplan. Which is a lot more than can be said for quite a few other Rangers pitchers this season (that’s right, I’m looking at you, Luis Mendoza). If that performance doesn’t warrant at least one more start this weekend, I don’t know what does.
The game wasn’t over of course – the Rangers still had to survive another CJ Wilson near-meltdown en route to the save. Just when we thought CJ was getting his act together after ticking off four consecutive perfect outings between June 29th to July 5th, CJ allowed 2 home runs in Baltimore on Sunday. And last night, after Eddie Guardado tossed yet another seemingly effortless 1-2-3 8th inning, it was time to break out the Tums and charge up the defibrillators again for the 9th inning.
After an easy groundout to start the inning, Vlad Guerrero smashed a ball through the overshift and into LF for a single. Then CJ walked Torri Hunter in 5 pitches, before getting a comebacker to the mound off the bat of Howie Kendrick that should have been a game-ending double play. But not only did CJ double-clutch before throwing to second, he made a girly throw too – it was low, and nearly had to be dug out of the dirt by Ian Kinsler. Kendrick reached at first, and the game continued. After Kendrick took second base on what was ruled defensive indifference, the decision was made to walk Garrett Anderson and face pinch-hitter Juan Rivera with the bases loaded. Fortunately, CJ was able to get Rivera to ground one sharply to Ian Kinsler to end the ballgame, and escape the abyss of the blown save once again – but I must admit, I’m tiring of CJ’s little routine of putting the tying run in scoring position every time before he closes out a ballgame. I know, I know – I should probably just be happy he’s not blowing saves, but… this isn’t the way a closer pitches. Considering Frank Francisco has been pitching like his old 2004 self lately I think it may be high time to tell CJ that he’s going to start splitting save opportunities with Frankie, at least for a little while. If nothing else, it might motivate CJ to just go out and mow people down instead of trying to be Jamie Moyer in the 9th inning.
In other news, it has been announced that the merry-go-round that has become the Rangers starting rotation will make another turn tomorrow, as Frisco left-hander Michael Ballard will be called up to take Vicente Padilla’s place in the rotation. Padilla is still nursing a sore seck that has apparently hampered him his last two starts, and Eric Hurley was already placed on the DL yesterday to make room for Harrison, so the Rangers didn’t have any other choice than to bring up a green arm from the minors – and with all the options in OKC tapped out, they apparently felt Ballard, their former 14th round pick in the 2006 draft was the best option, likely because he is 5-0 with a 2.17 ERA his last 7 starts (although he is 8-3 with a 3.97 ERA overall).
If you’re wondering exactly what Ballard’s repertoire is, Mike Hindman has an excellent scouting report up on him over at the DMN blog, from which the following is an excerpt:
Ballard is a soft-tosser, who often pitches backwards, and his stuff is by no means overwhelming. He keeps hitters off-balance with his assortment of a high-80’s fastball, a mid-70’s change and high-60’s 12-6 yakker
When he’s going good, he works with quickly and with confidence, throwing any pitch in any count for strikes. He’s shown an ability to miss bats (6.52 K/9), but he’s by no means a strikeout pitcher.
Ballard is an extremely intelligent pitcher who has proven that he does a better job of adjusting to a league’s hitters than they do adjusting to him, but realize this …
Don’t expect too much out of him tomorrow. Ballard’s pattern suggests that he may eventually carve out a niche for himself as a crafty, soft-tossing lefty in the mold of Jamey Moyer.
How the Rangers will get Ballard on the 25-man roster is currently still a mystery – he easy option would be to just send Harrison back down - but with Hurley on the DL you’ll need another starter this weekend, so that might be pretty stupid considering the game Harrison just threw. I think myself that Warner Madrigal or Luis Mendoza are more likely candidates to go down – or perhaps the Rangers could put Vicente Padilla on the DL, since he just doesn’t seem to be getting over this neck thing, and according to TR Sullivan “nobody is sure” when he’ll pitch again.
We’ll see what happens, but the Rangers definitely need Ballard to make this start, because there’s still more uncertainty with Kevin Millwood, who is currently dealing with a mildy strained groin (which landed him on he DL earlier this year, BTW). While he says he feels confident he’ll still make his next start, it may have to be pushed back until Saturday, which would necessitate the use of a bullpen arm like Josh Rupe in a spot start on Friday. As Millwood himself put it:
“I don’t think we have a rotation, it’s more a smorgasbord of pitchers,” Millwood said. “We throw someone out there where we can and get to the All-Star break.”
Truer words have never been said.
Quick hits: Brandon McCarthy is scheduled to throw a simulated game today in Suprise… Thomas Diamond is not going to undergo surgery on his foot after all - he’s had a cortisone shot in his ankle, and will attempt to finish the season after resting for 2-3 weeks.
Michael Ballard and the Rangers will take on Jered Weaver tonight in Arlington – and I hate to say this, but if I had a hundred bucks to blow, I’d go bet it on the Angels for this game. Weaver is 2-1 with a 2.36 ERA in his career against the Rangers, and he has a 1.89 ERA at the RBiA – oh, and there’s probably a 90% chance that Michael Ballard is going to get hit pretty hard, seeing as how he’s never pitched above AA and his stuff really isn’t all that great. So… yeah. My advice is to brace for the worst, or go see a movie or something (hey, somebody had to say it).
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Chris Davis, First Major League hit, Josh Hamilton
There’s not really a whole lot to say about last night’s Lone Star Series finale in Houston. Unable to clinch the silver boot trophy with a decisive win, or move 2 games above .500, the Rangers instead suffered though a 7-2 drubbing by the Astros to take the boot by an anticlamactic default of run differential, and also saw another possible injury to Josh Hamilton further dampen their spirits.
Kevin Millwood didn’t seem to have anything working for him in the early going last night - his command was poor, he and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia struggled to get on the same page, and the Astros rapped out 7 hits and 7 runs in the first two innings, including a 3-run triple by Hunter Pence in the top of the first. Said Millwood:
“I made a lot of bad pitches and they hit them,” Millwood said. “Even after that, I didn’t make a whole lot of good pitches. My defense picked me up the last three innings. I was coming off a game where I felt I threw the ball pretty well but tonight was the total opposite. I felt good. I felt I all my pitches were there but I didn’t locate them.”
That put the Rangers in an insurmountable hole, as Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez turned in a brilliant performance, striking out 9 while allowing just one run on 5 hits over 8 innings. The Rangers are now 8-16 on the season against left-handed starters, and are hitting just .253 as a club against them – even having both Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton back in the lineup last night didn’t help the Rangers avert their woes against left-handed pitching.
Of course, Hamilton wasn’t actually in the lineup but for one inning – in the most discouraging news of the night, he took a Wandy Rodriguez pitch off his left hand in his first at-bat, and was subsiquently pulled after just one inning. Brandon Boggs took over for the rest of the game, and Hamilton was sent for X-rays of his hand, which fortunately came up clean.
”It’s just bruised, but it’s as sore as can be,” Hamilton said. “Everything felt fine running, but my hand didn’t start hurting until I got out into the field. Must have been the adrenaline from having a ball come right at your face.”
Hamilton is listed as day-to-day, and probably won’t be playing tomorrow against the Phillies. Although right now this doesn’t appear too serious, I gotta agree with what Evan Grant said on the DMN blog – perhaps it would be a good idea to let Hamilton take most of, if not all of this series against the Phillies to fully recoop from all the dings and dents he’s been taking lately. Obviously you want to have his bat in the lineup, but he’s just 2 for his last 17 – I don’t think a couple games off here would do him anything but good.
There was one bright spot in the morass of last nights game however: Chris Davis made his Major League debut, pinch-hitting for the pitchers spot in the top of the 9th inning. Wearing Juan Gonzalez’s (and Jason Botts) old #19, Davis swung at the first pitch he saw from Oscar Villareal, and grounded it to third where Ty Wigginton couldn’t get a handle on it. Davis reached at first on an infield single to begin his career, and promptly scored from first when Marlon Byrd tripled into the gap. Considering his reputation, and god-given raw power, I’m sure that’s not exactly the way Chris (or anyone else, for that matter) envisioned his first Major League hit, but I’m sure he’ll take it – I’ve got a feeling that’ll be the first of many more, albeit probably one of the shortest.
Later tonight, Davis will get his first career start at first base with right-hander Brett Myers on the mound – in some supreme irony, it will also be Hank Blalock bobblehead night. Speaking of Hank though, according to Ron Washington, the Rangers are still dead set on moving him to first base and playing him there when he comes off the DL:
“When Hank comes back, Hank is going to play,” Washington said
Based on that, it pretty much sounds like Davis’ callup is indeed only going to be a cameo, unless he immediately tears the cover off the ball. Which he could very possibly do - and if he does, it’s going to be quite a juggling act for the Rangers if they have to find Davis, Blalock, and Max Ramirez AB’s while still using Milton Bradley as the primary DH.
In the meantime though, the plan is going to be for Davis to start primarily against right-handers while seeing time against select lefties. For example, Ron says he’ll sit Davis on Saturday against the Phillies ace lefty Cole Hamels and play Max Ramirez instead, but he will be out there on Sunday against Jamie Moyer. And Davis is perfectly fine with that arrangement – he’s just happy to be here:
“They told me I’m here and that I will play against right-handers and some lefties,” Davis said. “They said that when Hank comes back there will be a decision that will have to be made. He’s a good player. They need his bat in the lineup. They told me not to worry about that and just focus on playing. I’m going to worry only about the things I can control. I’m very excited about this opportunity.”
So am I.
Quick hits: Chris Davis, Taylor Teagarden, Max Ramirez and Elvis Andrus have all been chosen for the All-Star Futures game at Yankee Stadium July 13th – Davis and Teagarden would be on the US Team, and Max and Elvis would be on the World team. Only thing is, Davis and MaxRam will likely be with the Rangers as they play the White Soxthat day, so they’ll most likely be unable to appear there – but given the choice, I’d bet they’d both rather be playing the White Sox anyway. And finally, Tom Grieve will return to the booth tonight for the first time since his prostate surgery.
Kason Gabbard vs. Brett Myers and the Phillies today – this could be a pretty tough series, despite the fact that the Phils are slumping badly coming into Arlington. They’ve lost 11 of their last 15 games, and scored 4 or fewer runs in 12 of those last 15, but they still rank second in the NL in runs scored, and their lineup features such threats as Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell. Gabbard’s gonna have to be on top of his game tonight, but he is coming off two pretty good starts since being recalled from AAA.
On the bright side though, Brett Myers is 1-8 with a 6.03 ERA in his last 12 starts – and he has a 7.54 ERA on the road this year. Perhaps he can be the tonic for our offensive woes, no?
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 Losses | Tags: Bad Managing, Chris Davis, Hank Blalock, Joaquin Benoit, Milton Bradley, Ron Washington
Every once in awhile, you just have a game where you really get your ass kicked. This isn’t the first time it has happened to the Rangers this year (far from it) but there really isn’t much more to say about Friday night’s 7-1 loss to the Mets.
Scott Feldman got lit up for the first time this season, allowing 7 runs over 5+ innings of work, and the Ranger offense just could not solve Oliver Perez, who held them to just 3 hits in 7 innings and striking out 8. Two of those hits where by Josh Hamilton, who went 2-3 with a home run in the first, and the other was by Feldman himself – the rest off the offense though, got utterly owned.
Despite this, the Rangers did manage to bunch together a couple hits and a walk in the 6th to give them a shot at turning the game in their favor, but they failed to get the job done. Feldmanlead the inning off with his first career hit, after which Ian Kinslerand Michael Young each flew out. But Josh Hamilton kept the inning alive with a single, and Milton Bradley drew a walk to load the bases. That brought up #5 hitter David Murphy, who struck out on 3 pitches to end the inning.
After the game, Lone Star Ball’s Adam J. Morris pointed out the folly of Murphy even being in that situation. Murphy has scuffled badly against left-handers this year, and is now hitting .233/.255/.344 after going 0-3 with 2 K’s last night before he was removed in a double switch in the 6th. Despite those numbers though, Ron Washington keeps running him out there against left-handed pitching – and batting him 5th, no less.
It made no sense last night with Oliver Perez, a lefty who had allowed just 8 hits all year against lefties coming into the game (a line of .123/.284/.231) on the mound, and it has not really made any sense at any point this year when you’ve got Brandon Boggs, a switch hitter who has put up a .995 OPS against left-handers this year (and has killed lefties in the minors), and Marlon Byrd who has a .282 career average against lefties on the bench. When you look at this situation, and when you remember how Ron Washington threw Ben Broussard, a career platoon player with a .225 career average against LHP’sout there against both lefties and righties earlier this season, it really makes you wonder: does Ron not know what split stats mean? Or does he just not care? Either way, the man seems quite ignorant when it comes how he utilizes the players his roster, and this is another fine example of it.
But enough about that crappy game, we’ve got better things to discuss.
Something I mentioned in my last entry, but didn’t get the chance to revisit yesterday was the Milton Bradley/Royals announcer story. Since the story first broke, Bradley has come out with his side of things, and video has surfaced with what the KC announcers really said.
Despite what was claimed initially, Ryan Lefebvre and his partner Frank White did indeed have themselves a Milton Bradley “rip session” – starting when White questioned if ”with all the things [Josh Hamilton] does right, does he balance the scale with Milton Bradley on the ballclub”. Lefebvre agreed, and went on to say Hamilton would make a good role model for Bradley “who clearly has no control over himself”. Lefebvre also said that Bradley had refused to allow himself to be liked by fans or rooted for by fans, and White piled on by calling Bradley an “unpredictable teammate” and suggesting he makes it hard for players and coaches to work with him. There probably would have been more, too, had a base hit up the middle not halted their joint rant.
Bradley, for his part, caught the comments while he was in the clubhouse going over video of an AB. He said he became concerned because he new his mother was watching the game, and he felt he had to set the record straight. So after the game, he headed up to the KC broadcasters booth, but it wasn’t to cause a problem.
“He never met me, so, when the game was over, I wanted to introduce myself to him,” Bradley said. “Because it’s amazing when you actually meet somebody how different they become.”
I have to admit, at first I myself doubted Milton’s intentions due to his reputation. But after actually seeing the comments the KC announcers made, I’d say Bradley was 100% justified in what he did - and that the KC announcers seriously need to learn to keep themselves in check when it comes to personally degrading players. They should know better than that, if not only for the sake of common sense, but because they’re the ones with they Jose Guillen, and his reputation for HGH use and ego problems on their team.
In other news, Hank Blalock now has a timetable for his return – he expects to be back in action by next Friday against the Nationals. The incision on his hand from his Carpal Tunnel syndrome surgery has healed and he is now taking batting practice again – once he gets back, Ron Washington has said he’ll slide him right back into the #5 hole in the lineup. Which, should he hit David Murphy 6th, won’t be the most ideal lineup – that’ll give the Rangers 3 left-handed batters in their 3-4-5-6 combo, meaning opposing teams with a left-hander in their bullpen would have the perfect spot to use their LOOGY’s in. So hopefully, Ron will grow a brain and bat Murphy 7th instead when Hank gets back… but I wouldn’t count on it.
Now if you want a reminder as to why it was stupid to move Blalock to first base, here you go: Chris Davis is tearing AAA apart, and at the rate he’s going should be ready for a callup long before September. In fact, MLB.com’s Shawn Shroyer even suggests in that peice that Davis’ play of late might have the Rangers “rethinking” the move of Blalock to first. Interesting.
With Kason Gabbard due to be activated for tonight’s start, the Rangers are going to have to make a roster move today – the two obvious options are to send down Josh Rupe or drop Robinson Tejeda. Both pitched last night, Rupe going an inning and Tejeda going two – Rupe allowed 2 inherited runners to score, while Tejeda didn’t give up a hit and struck out 2.
There could be another option for getting Gabbard on the roster though: putting Joaquin Benoit on the DL. Apparently Benoit has complained of shoulder pain of late, and said he was “not ready to pitch in a Major League game” before yesterday. Obviously, this would explain his recent ineffectiveness, but apparently this is also the same shoulder soreness that has plagued him since he came to spring training not having thrown in three months this year. Which is kinda concerning to me, at least – I mean this is June, I’d think his arm should be back in shape by now - hopefully we won’t be finding out there’s a deeper problem there anytime soon. Whether he goes on the DL or not, it’s been quite a fall from glory this year for the Rangers 2007 pitcher of the year – I guess he’s paying the price for not taking care of his arm this winter.
Kason Gabbard vs. Pedro Martinez tonight. Pedro’s coming off the DL (where he has spent most of his time since the Mets signed him) and Gabbard’s coming back up from AAA, so this game will likely either be very well pitched, or be a slugfest. According to Mark Connor, Gabbard was able to regain his fastball command in Oklahoma – I sure hope that’s true as he’s gonna need it tonight.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Chris Davis, Hank Blalock, Josh Hamilton, Scott Kazmir
As a baseball fan, there are some pitchers I like to watch work, irregardless of what jersey they wear. Among those pitchers are Josh Beckett, Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, and Cole Hamels. Monday night, I think I may have just added one to that list: Scott Kazmir. Even though it was my beloved Texas Rangers he was mowing down, I couldn’t help but sit in awe of his mastery as he sent the Rangers to a 7-3 loss in game one of this three game set in Tampa.
Kazmir was clearly locked in from the start, as he fanned 7 of the first 9 Texas batters, including the first four of the game, Kinsler, Young, Hamilton and Bradley. The Rangers didn’t even put a ball in play until David Murphy grounded out in the second inning, and didn’t register a hit until Michael Young hit a line drive off the glove of Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura in the fourth for a single. His final line would be 1 run allowed in 7 innings, on just 3 hits, no walks and 10 K’s. I may be a dedicated Ranger fan, but unless you’re up against a team you really hate (i.e, Angels or Mariners), theres no way you can’t be awed by a performance like that.
Sidney Ponson meanwhile, was anything but fun to watch pitch, despite the fact that he was just 5 days removed from tossing a complete game against the Twins last week. He just didn’t seem to have much of anything for the Rays, as he gave up a slightly astonishing 12 hits in 5 innings along with three walks, to see his WHIP balloon to a slightly bloated 1.50. If there was anything impressive at all about Ponson’s outing, it was the miracle that he only surrendered 5 runs for all those hits (three of them on an Eric Hinske home run). Tampa Bay would leave a grand total of 15 men on base by the time the game ended, but with Kazmir out there on the mound, they could afford it.
The Rangers did piece together a rally against Kazmir in the 6th, when Marlon Byrd lead off with a single, and Ramon Vazquez doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Ian Kinsler hit a sac fly to score Byrd and put Texas on the scoreboard, but with Michael Young batting, Vazquez made an ill-advised attempt to steal third. Instead, he got gunned down by Dioner Navarro, running the Rangers out of their rally, and Young flew out to end the inning.
The only real bright spot of the night the Rangers would come in the 9th inning, when Ian Kinsler launched a 2-run homer off of Rays reliever Gary Glover, giving him 3 RBI for the game. That extended an 11 game hitting streak for Ian, and gives him 7 HR and 31 RBI for the year.
Other than that though, this game was pretty bereft of highlights for the Rangers – Josh Rupe should get a mention for some solid relief work, as he gave up 2 runs in 3 innings after Ponson exited, allowing the Rangers to conserve their bullpen, and a call should be given to Ramon Vazquez, who after last night now has 7 hits and 6 doubles in his last 11 AB’s. But the Rangers need not hang their heads over this one – Kazmir was just too good for them.
Hank Blalock is still out with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and will not be back till Friday at the earliest. He’s going to get a cortisone shot today in Dallas, as apparently his oral anti-inflammatories aren’t knocking down the pain. If he’s out much longer, the Rangers may have to send him on a rehab assignment once is is able to play again, although Blalock disagrees.
Josh Hamilton made his much heralded return to Tampa Bay last night, and got a mixed, but mostly positive reception by the fans at the Trop. According to Evan Grant, about 25 percent of the fans where on their feet applauding, although there where a few boo birds. As Grant mentions, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to boo Josh in that situation – anyone who did is a douchebag extraordinaire in my book.
Chris Davis made his AAA debut yesterday up in Iowa, and went 2-4 with an RBI single while batting 5th for the Redhawks. Micah from Baseball is My Boyfriend was actually at the game, and had some insight on Davis’s debut, as well as the rest of his teammates, along with a few photos - she also has some great photos up from earlier in the weekend too, so be sure to check that out.
Other stuff: Max Ramirez bagged Texas League player of the week again for AA Frisco, and is hitting .388 for the Roughriders overall… if only the Rangers had an opening on the big league club, I think Max would be ready to debut now. Adam J. Morris over at LSB notes that the Rangers next 19 games will be critical in defining the 2008 season… and Joey Matschulat gives us his opinion on the recent insinuations that Texas might draft RHP Andrew Cashner in the first round this year based solely on Nolan Ryan’s opinion of him, and says that such an occurence might be an indicator of a “potentially catastrophic flaw” in the Rangers front office hierarchy.
Today it’s Vicente Padilla vs. the Rays Andy Sonnastine - it’s going to be important for the Ranger offense to rebound after being held in check by these three consecutive left-handed aces they’ve faced the last three days.
As predicted, Cliff Lee presented a huge obstacle for the Ranger offense yesterday. And despite their best efforts in working the count and drawing walks, they couldn’t beat him, as one critical mistake by Scott Feldman turned out to be the difference in a 5-2 loss.
Early on, it looked as if the Rangers would have a chance against the red-hot Cleveland lefty, who came into the game with a 6-1 W/L mark, and an AL-leading 1.37 ERA. David Murphy came up with a 2-out RBI single in the top of the first to put the Rangers up 1-0, and Ian Kinsler knocked in a second run in the second with a broken bat roller up the middle.
That 2-0 advantage was short-lived, however, as Scott Feldman was victimized by some shoddy defense (which has been a recurring theme in the games in which he has started) in the bottom of the second. After a leadoff double by Ben Francisco, Indians first baseman grounded one toward the left of Ian Kinsler – and Kinsler flat out missed the play, the ball going under his glove. That allowed Francisco to score, but Marlon Byrd, the right fielder made a second error on the same play, airmailing the throw home to allow Aubry to advance to second. Byrd would atone for his mistake the next chance he got, however, as he gunned down Aubry trying to score on a Jhonny Peralta single to keep the lead at 2-1.
It would ultimately be Feldman’s control, which didn’t seem to be at it’s best on this particular night, that was his undoing. The very next inning, he gave up a 3 run homer to Ben Francisco on a mistake pitch that was supposed to be a sinker outside, but wound up a meatball in the LF seats.
Peralta tacked on a solo shot in the 6th, which was Feldman’s last inning, and that was all the Indians would require, as Cliff Lee allowed just 2 hits from the 3rd inning on (after allowing 7 of the first 13 Rangers to reach), and the Indians bullpen capped the night off with scoreless outings by Rafael Perez and Joe Borowski. Even though Feldman took the loss though, and beat himself up a bit over it, Ron Washington is still impressed with what he’s seen from “The Swan” so far:
“He’s still progressing,” manager Ron Washington said. “He just had trouble with his command. He’s still progressing, and he always finds a way to get into the sixth inning. He still has a ways to go, but once he gets his command together, he’s going to be tough. Tonight, he had Cliff Lee. He had to be really, really, really good.”
Getting through 6 innings was enough of an accomplishment for Feldman last night, as it meant the Rangers bullpen (namely Eddie Guardado and Joaquin Benoit) only had to throw 21 pitches in the 7th and 8th innings, and should be fairly well-rested for today. That could be important, considering rookie Doug Mathis (who lasted just 21. innings his first start) will be on the hill.
This loss drops the Rangers a game back of .500 again – twice in the past week now, the Rangers have pulled even with .500, but they have yet to find a win to actually put themselves over the mark. Rangers baseball: sometimes, it’s like banging your head on the ceiling.
The Rangers did get some good news today on Kevin Millwood though: the Rangers #1 starter threw 65 pitches in his simulated game yesterday with no problems, and has been cleared for action against the Oakland A’s this Friday in Arlington. Said Millwood:
“My groin feels good, I didn’t have any problems with it,” Millwood said. “I felt my stuff and location was as good or better than it has been all year.”
Wondering if Kason Gabbard’s horrendous outing on Friday might have been the result of some physical ailment? Well, according to Mark Connor, it’s not. Connor said he queried Gabbard about it after the game, and got an “unequivocable positive answer” from the left-hander. Actually, to tell you the truth, in one way it might have been a consolation of an injury had been responsible for the way Kason looked Friday. Because otherwise, it means he just flat-out sucked.
Some other notes from that article on the Rangers pitchers who reside in the mythical land known as the disabled list: Luis Mendoza is being assigned to AAA for his rehab assignment, and should start for OKC Monday. The Rangers say it’ll take 3-4 rehab starts before he’s ready to come back though… Brandon McCarthy has been cleared to start throwing again… at this point, I’ll believe any progress re: his recovery when I actually see it… and John Rheinecker (remember him?) had “cleanup” surgery on his shoulder Saturday, but should still return sometime after the all-star break.
Also worth noting is the fact that the Rangers future first baseman, Chris Davis, has been promoted to AAA Oklahoma. He’s still got some kinks to work out with his K/BB ratio, but I imagine this means that we’ll see him at first base by September for certain now. Which is why moving Hank Blalock to first base was a stupid, knee-jerk move.
Doug Mathis goes today against CC Sabathia – I hate to be negative, but all I really have to say is, it will be a small miracle if we win this game.
