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.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Bad Managing, Errors, Josh Hamilton, Salty watch, stupid baseball
I’m sitting here right now trying to think of ways to relay the latest demonstration of how not to play baseball by the Texas Rangers. It’s tougher than normal, because I (mercifully, perhaps) missed yesterdays game, and have to rely soley on the box score and postgame write-ups, but it’s also tough, because I’m getting tired of writing about how bad we suck right now.
In short, baserunning and defensive gaffes like Marlon Byrd stupidly holding up at third as Matt Walbeck was waving him home on what should have been a David Murphy RBI triple in 7th, and Milton Bradley overshooting a cutoff man with a throw in the 6th, or Josh Hamilton trying to take second on a ball that just barely got away from Jeff Mathis in the 9th cost the Rangers dearly Tuesday, as Kevin Millwood and Josh Rupe combined to blow a 4-0 lead, and allowed the Angels to score 7 unanwsered runs from the 4th to the 6th innings, as the Rangers lost for the 5th time in a row, 7-4.
The long version? I’m afraid I really don’t have the heart for that. Not tonight. If you want the long version, go here. Or better yet, go here.
Suffice it to say, the Rangers are still playing really bad baseball right now, and nobody seems to be stepping up to lead them out of it. Ron Washington, in fact, got called into a postgame meeting with Jon Daniels, making one wonder how much of a leash Ron will be on if the team doesn’t show some improvement soon. Actually, as EMC put it yesterday in her comment under my last entry, that may turn out to be the silver lining of all this - a manegerial shakeup might be just what the Rangers need right now, not only for the present, but for the future. At the very least, it certainly couldn’t hurt.
In other news, Ron Washington has announced a plan to move Josh Hamilton back and forth between CF and RF, along with some time at DH, throughout the rest of the year. The purpose of this is to try and keep Hamilton fresh, but I’m not really sure this is such a great idea. Hamilton may have played all three OF positions regularly last year for the Reds, but he’s already said he’s still learning the wind currents in CF at the Ballpark in Arlington, so moving him back and forth between CF and RF a couple times a week may not be the best course of action. And then of course there’s the fact that Josh is by far and away the best defensive CF on the team right now - you’re kind of short-changing your OF defense a little by putting him over in RF – which really isn’t that much less of a physically demanding position than CF anyway. Not that’s Josh’s extraordinary ability won’t allow him to handle bouncing between the two positions pretty well, but all things considered, I’m really not sure it’s worth the trouble, myself.
One thing that does seem to indicate, however, is Milton Bradley may spend more time at DH this season than was originally planned – which isn’t a bad thing really, considering his past penchant for injuries. Keeping him in the lineup is important, and it’s not like we have anyone pushing for time at DH.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia watch: Salty went 0-4 today as OKC defeated Round Rock, 6-1 behind the pitching of Doug Mathis. That snaps what had been a 5-game hitting streak for Salty, but he did play some pretty solid defense in the game, making some nice blocks behind the plate, although he was only 1-3 in chances throwing out runners.
The Rangers now head up to the Rogers Centre in Toronto for two games, as Kason Gabbard will take on Jesse Litsch. After the doubleheader against Baltimore, the rotation order is a bit out of whack, so Gabbard will start today, and Vicente Padilla will go Thursday against Roy Halladay. Ron Washington has said Milton Bradley will not play in the field in Toronto, because of the astroturf, and Josh Hamilton will only play OF in one of the two games, so that means Bradley will get one of the games, presumably game 2, off.
Hopefully, we can break the losing streak in Toronto, because after that, it’s off to Fenway Park for four games with the Red Sox, and then on to Detroit to take on the Tigers. This could turn out to be a tough road trip – if the Rangers want to win many of their upcoming games, they’re not going to have too much room for error.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Errors, John Patterson, Milton Bradley, Salty watch, stupid baseball
I’m not sure who’s more demoralized right now, the players or the fans of the Texas Rangers.
There’s not really much to be said about slumps like this. After Monday night, the Rangers have now lost 4 in a row, and have seen their momentum and drive drop to a new low.
The game started off with both teams scoring in the first inning, Jason Jennings give up 2 runs in the top of the frame, but the Rangers rallied for three in the bottom against Ervin Santana, with Michael Young hitting a sac fly, and Hank Blalock cranking a 2-run homer.
But the 3-2 edge didn’t last long. Jennings, who has been just plain horrible in his first three starts as a Texas Ranger, and was pitching on an extra days rest, still continued to show a lack of velocity and sink on his balls, as Mike Napoli clubbed a home run to lead off the inning. Vlad Guerrerro then hit an RBI double, and scored when Josh Hamilton threw to second base instead of home plate on a Garret Anderson single to center.
The Rangers did rally in the third, loading the bases with one out for Marlon Byrd, but Byrd swung at the first pitch he saw, a sinker from Santana, and rolled it to short for a double play. That pathetic excuse for an “at-bat” turned out to be the gut-punch for the Rangers on the night. After that inning, the entire team just seemed to give up. It certainly seemed like they where just half-assing the rest of the ballgame, at least.
Case in point: the 5th inning. Josh Hamilton let a catchable ball of the bat of Guerrerro get down for a single, and Marlon Byrd made one of the worst mistakes I’ve seen in quite a while in RF, overunning a a line-drive single from Maicer Izturis, and letting it skip past him for a 2-run triple. That would be the last inning for Jennings, who wound up giving up giving up 7 runs (6 earned) on 7 hits and 4 walks for the night.
The Rangers did get a rally going in the 8th inning after a throwing error by Angel shortstop Eric Aybarallowed Josh Hamilton to reach to start the frame. Milton Bradley (who was 3-4 on the night) then singled, and Hank Blalock trimmed the lead to 3 with an RBI single, but the Rangers still didn’t seem to have their hearts in it. Pinch hitter David Murphy came up as the tying run, but struck out, and Frank Catalanotto quietly grounded out to end the frame.
There where some bright spots on the night: the plate performances of Milton Bradley (3-4) and Hank Blalock (3 RBI), and the bullpen, which was excellent in relief of Jennings. Wes Littleton, fresh up from OKC, fired 2.1 scoreless innings, and Jamey Wright made an appearance, battling back after he loaded the bases with no one out to throw a scoreless frame. Franklyn German also got an inning in, and turned in a 1-2-3 frame.
The Rangers seem to be bottoming out right now – and hopefully this game was the low. They need to find something they can build around, and use as a springboard right now – last season, that something was Marlon Byrd, whose amazing hot streak after he was recalled from AAA paced the Rangers summer run. Now, perhaps Milton Bradley, who has a 9 game hitting streak, and has been known to carry a team when hot, can be that something – but of course the rest of the team will need to shape up and rally around him as well.
Moving on to other matters, here’s some encouraging news: John Patterson (remember him?) is apparently making progress in his recovery (he’s been working in extended spring training in Arizona). Patterson thinks he may be able to pitch in games sometime next week, and although pitching coach Mark Connor isn’t quite as sure, the tone is still optimistic:
“Hopefully,” Connor said, when asked if Patterson could be game-ready in a week. “He’s got to get his arm built up. He’ll have some bullpen sessions, then start spinning his curveball before he can get in game situations in Arizona. Once he can throw five innings, we’ll send him into Minor League games.”
At this point, Patterson is just another “if” on the long list of Texas “what ifs” but if he could make a comeback later this season, he could wind up being a solid addition to this staff – a top-of-the-rotation type in the past, his progress is something to keep an eye on, and it’s good to hear good things so far.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia watch: Salty was 2-4 with a triple and a walk yesterday for OKC, who lost for the first time in 7 games to Albuquerque. He’s hitting .364 with a .447 OBP, and an OPS around 1.114 – rediculous numbers to be sure. I’m starting to wonder just how long the Rangers can keep him in AAA, especially with the offense having such a tough time. But then again, you can’t underestimate the organization’s infatuation with Gerald Laird – Salty will probably be stuck in OKC till July, when Laird is finally traded.
Kevin Millwood takes the mound today for the Rangers, against Dustin Moseley - all I can say is, hopefully we can halt this losing streak at 4 games.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Errors, Left on Base, Luis Mendoza, Salty watch
It’s hard to put into words exactly how bad the Rangers infield defense has been so far this season. Before the start of Saturday night’s game against the Blue Jays, the Rangers already lead the AL in errors and unearned runs, most of which sat on the shoulders of the infield (which has made 9 of the Rangers 13 total errors). And by the time the game came to a close, they’d added an E5 and 3 more unearned runs to their total, which turned out to be the difference in a 4-1 loss.
Luis Mendoza, making his first start of the season for the Rangers, started off a little shaky, walking the leadoff man and giving up an RBI double in the first inning to Aaron Hill (the first time this season an opponent has scored upon the Rangers in the first inning), but he managed to settle down and pitch as well as you can against Roy Halladay - save for the fact that the defense behind him fell apart with 2 out in the fourth.
With Matt Stairs at first, Greg Zaun hit a grounder over to third base that should have been the easy third out of the inning. Instead, Blalock froze, getting “caught between either a short hop, or catching it in the air.” The ball went right by Blalock into LF, and put runners on first and second, and things piled on from there. Joe Inglett then singled up the middle, to score Stairs from second, on a ball that arguably should have been knocked down by Michael Young, who seems to just continue losing range at shortstop every season. Next, Mendoza hit David Eckstein to load the bases, which braught up Aaron Hill, who had done the damage in the first. Hill hit a grounder deep in the hole, and Young was late in getting to the ball again, and it went off his glove for a 2-run single.
All those runs went as unearned, and it was all the Blue Jays would need, as Roy Halladay took a shutout into the 9th inning, which was only broken up by an RBI double by Marlon Byrd (who was 2-4 on the night, perhaps a sign he may finally be breaking out of his slump). All told, Halladay threw a 109-pitch, complete game 6-hitter, holding the Rangers, who continue to struggle with men on base, 0-8 with RISP on the day.
Even so, the Rangers pitching staff matched up with Halladay fairly well, as without those three unearned runs, it could have been a tie game after 9 – Luis Mendoza wasn’t all that efficent, giving up 8 hits and walking 3 on 92 pitches, getting pulled after 5 frames, but he kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard for the most part. Josh Rupe followed with three brilliant innings of relief, holding the Jays in check while giving up 3 hits and a walk, strikeing out 2. That performance may have been on of the brighter highlights of the game for the Rangers – and it seems to have secured his spot in the bullpen for the time being (more on that later). Franklyn German also pitched a scoreless 9th, walking one.
It was still another dissapointing game however, which prompted Ron Washington to call a team meeting after the game to discuss the shoddy defense. A good idea to be sure, but some extra work with Blalock, and Kinsler (who have both committed 3 errors each) might be an even better one. As for Michael Young – there’s not much you can do about a guy who’s clearly just deteriorating range-wise (in a kind of Nomar Garciaparra-esque way). Hopefully the days of Elvis Andrus are not too far off for the Rangers – but if Young can’t seem to play the position, the Rangers could find themselves having to trade or move Young, and find a short-term fix at shortstop before the young phenom is ready.
In other news, Eddie Guardado was put on the 15-day DL to make room for Luis Mendoza Saturday. The move is retroactive to April 5th, but it will still leave the Rangers without a left-hander in the bullpen for the next week.
As for today’s roster move to bring up Scott Feldman for the start against AJ Burnett, the Rangers have now narrowed it down to either putting Jamey Wright on the DL (who has been having trouble with a strained oblique) or optioning Kazuo Fukumori to AAA. Apparently, with their brilliant outings in the last two games, Dustin Nippert and Josh Rupe seem to have played their way back into the Rangers good graces (for now at least) and since both of them have the capability to go multiple innings, I’m betting Wright will be sent to the DL.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia watch: Salty was 1-4 with a single Saturday for OKC. Not anything to write home about, but hey, how long did you think he was going to maintain the blistering pace of his last few games? Starter Elizardo Ramirez went 5 innings an earned the 5-4 win, as the Redhawks have now won 6 straight.
As I already mentioned, today it’s Feldman vs. Burnett – another pitching matchup that heavily favors the Blue Jays. The Jays have not swept a series in Arlington since 1985, but they are in just about the perfect position to do it this weekend. Hopefully Feldman will be a lot better than I think he’ll be, and the offense will wake up and start hitting with RISP – but I’m not exactly banking on it. Buckle up Ranger fans – it’s going to be quite the feat if we manage to avoid the broom here.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Dustin Nippert, Errors, Frank Catalanotto, Josh Hamilton, Kaz Fukumori, Salty watch, Spot starters, Vicente Padilla
Welp, after popping their heads above .500 for the first time in 18 months with a sweep of Thursday’s doubleheader, the Rangers didn’t let their fans spend too much time in orbit. Rather, they brought us crashing back to reality with an 8-5 loss in the first game of a weekend set with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays didn’t arrive in Arlington until 5 AM after going extra innings with the A’s on Thursday, yet it was the Rangers who looked like they had been up half the night. The defense proved to be incredibly bad, perhaps the worst it’s been all season (and that’s saying something). Texas made three errors on the night, and had other plays, such as Kazuo Fukumori failing to cover the bag on a grounder to first base in the 7th that made them look embarassingly bad - the Rangers are now leading the AL in errors and unearned runs, and last night was a seeming showcase of why.
Perhaps the worst part of it was having to watch Frank Catalanotto clank around like a broken refrigerator in left field, getting charged with one error on the night – which was lenient, considering he had two huge gaffes in the game. The critical one came in the fourth, he failed to track down a Vernon Wells fly ball that went over his head, which contributed to the Blue Jays tagging Vicente Padilla for 4 runs that frame. Later, he made his error cutting off a ball out there in LF, that wound up leading to an unearned run.
It’s times like this that I really wonder why Catalanotto is on this team – he has done nothing but suck since JD signed him to 3-year deal in the 2006 offseason. He had his career lowest batting average in 2007 (.260) and has a whopping two hits so far this season (one of them a bunt single that came last night). He’s quite obviously a defensive liability, as his range, reads, and arm strength in the OF have deteriorated to the point of making him near-worthless. He can sub at first base, but he doesn’t really have enough experience at that position to be a viable option there, either – and of course, we already have a left-handed first baseman in Ben Broussard. His offense really isn’t making up for any of it, either – and his platoon limitations as a left-hander who cannot hit LHP severely limits the value of what offense he could provide. Considering this roster is already full of left-handed batters, he really doesn’t even make a good bench bat. The bottom line is, all Catalanotto (who turns 34 this month) really is is an offensively and defensively limited platoon player who is taking up precious room on the 25-man roster.
In all seriousness, I’m of the opinion that the Frank Catalanotto signing has turned out to be the worst move Jon Daniels has independently made as GM of the Rangers - why you would give a guy like Catalanotto a long-term contract, who was setting up for the downside of his career even back in the winter of ‘06, is beyond me. You could DFA Cat right now, and it would be addition by subtraction - and yet perhaps the real kicker is, we’re giving him more playing time than Jason Botts, who is supposed to be getting his last chance at proving himself this season. Talk about a monkey wrench in the rebuilding plan – I really wish the Rangers would find a way to get rid of him. But I digress - I’ve gotten off on a tangent here – let’s get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Gerald Laird was also a big part of the defensive meltdown last night – he made two errant throws down to second base (the second of which, however, could partially be blamed on Michael Young) and allowed Greg Zaun to steal home plate when he threw down to second on a Jays double steal with runners on first and third. This is where I could throw in a snide comment about how Laird’s supposed great defense is the reason why Jarrod Saltalamacchia is in AAA, but I will refrain – it’s only one game, after all.
Of course, this loss can’t be hung squarely on the defense. The pitching had something to do with it as well. Vicente Padilla retired the first 9 batters of the game, but had the Catalanotto-aided 4 run meltdown in the 4th. Amazingly, Padilla kept his composure for the most part (although he did plunk David Eckstein after Greg Zaun’s steal of home plate in the 6th) and battled through another two innings. He would wind up taking the loss (his first of ‘08), giving up 5 runs, 4 earned, on 7 hits and three walks in those 6 innings, while striking out 5.
It was Kaz Fukumori who let the game get out of reach, however. He managed to give up 3 runs, 4 hits and a walk the 7th, while only recording one out. So far, the Rangers latest Japanese investment has yet to pay off – after a brilliant spring, Kaz is now pushing for a tuneup in OKC if he can’t start getting outs.
The late innings of the game would bring the highlights for the Rangers, though. Dustin Nippert, who has supposedly been suffering from a sore shin after getting nicked by a ground ball in his disasterous outing back in Anaheim, replaced Fukumori, and turned out to be an immediate improvement. Not only did he get out of the 7th, but he pitched the remainder of the game for Texas, in 2.2 brilliant innings of work, allowing zero runs on 2 hits, striking out 2, and throwing 27 of his 39 pitches for strikes. With that outing, I’d say it’s safe to assume Dustin has saved himself from the DFA or disabled list hatchet that the Rangers where seemingly preparing to drop on him this weekend. It’s certianly reassuring to see Nippert flash his potential after that uglyness in his first outing – here’s hoping we see a lot more outings like this one.
Another highlight was Josh Hamilton, who went 2-4, and drove in 4 of the 5 Texas runs on the night – that included a monsterous home run in the bottom of the 7th inning. Josh hasn’t exaclty been hot of late, but he’s already up to 11 RBI’s on the season – if this is how he produces when he’s lukewarm, I can’t wait until he hits a hot streak again, like the one he was on in spring training.
For some more uplifting news, let’s turn to the Jarrod Saltalamacchia watch: Salty went 2-4 with another home run against the Albuquerque Isotopes today – he’s now batting a cool .360 for OKC. He also threw out a runner stealing, as the Redhawks won 6-3. Wes Littleton and Frank Francisco also both threw 2 scoreless frames in the game, Francisco striking out 4, and picking up the save. With the way the bullpen has been performing so far, you’ve gotta wonder exactly how long it’s gonna be until those two make their way back to Arlington – I know I wouldn’t mind seeing either one exchanged for Kaz Fukumori right now.
A couple tough pitching matchups this weekend in Arlington – today, it’s Luis Mendoza making his first start of the season against Roy Halladay. A tough matchup, to be sure, but it’s worth noting that Halladay has struggled at The Ballpark in Arlington, with a career ERA of 7.00 there. Hopefully Mendoza has his best stuff, and hopefully the infield defense falls into line – we’re still gonna need both to beat Roy Halladay.
Sunday it will be Scott Feldman making the start for Texas against AJ Burnett – Jon Daniels made the announcement yesterday on the KLRD preview show that it would be Feldman who got the callup for the spot start, instead of someone like AJ Murray, or just letting Josh Rupe, who is already with the team, make the spot start. This will allow the Rangers to push Jason Jennings, who has struggled his first two starts, back to Monday against the Angels, but it’s going to require an additional roster move.
It sounds like the Rangers are leaning toward putting either Dustin Nippert, Jamey Wright, or Eddie Guardado on the DL to make room for Mendoza today, and optioning Josh Rupe on Sunday to make room for Feldman - and after Nippert’s Friday performance, it appears it would have to be one of the latter two if things do go that route. What the Rangers should do though, in my opinion, is send Kazuo Fukumori down for Mendoza today (since Fukumori pitched yesterday, and looks like he could use a tuneup), and make a decision between optioning Josh Rupe or putting someone on the DL Sunday to clear room for Feldman. Then, once Feldman has made his start, you’re free to call up a fresh arm in Wes Littleton or Frank Francisco Monday. We’ll see how things play out – it’s something to keep an eye on though, especially if the Rangers choose to put Wright or Guardado on the DL.
