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?
Filed under: Ranger Wins | Tags: First Major League hit, First Major League homer, Luis Mendoza, Max Ramirez
Wednesday was a dreaded day for Texas Ranger fans. For the first time this season, the Rangers found themselves without either of their 3-4 hitters, Milton Bradley or Josh Hamilton in the lineup, and as a result, the batting order almost looked like something out of a bad dream. Facing off against the Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt, the Rangers needed some new heroes, fast - and they may have found them in Max Ramirez and Luis Mendoza, whose timely contributions would carry Texas to an improbable 3-2 victory.
Of course, you’ve got to give a some credit to Rangers starter Scott Feldman, too – Feldman may have had his shortest outing of the season last night, throwing 99 pitches in the span of just four innings, but he set the tone for the Ranger pitchers by keeping his head and working out of almost every jam he got into. Of the 8 baserunners allowed by Feldman(on 6 hits and 2 walks), only 2 scored, and they both came on a 2-run homer in the second by Michael Bourn. Other than that, Feldman fought hard to get the key outs he needed to, and that set the stage for the pitchers who followed him, and for Max Ramirez.
The 23-year old Ramirez was making just his second Major League start, and his first as a catcher last night but it sure didn’t seem to phase him any. He picked up his first Major League hit with a single in the top of the second and looked solid behind the plate as well, earning praise from manager Ron Washington for his handling of the pitchers:
“We certainly weren’t at full strength but that kid behind the plate did a great job,” Washington said. “Not only swinging the bat but handling our pitching staff. The kid knows how to swing the bat, but the thing I wanted to see was him handling the pitching staff and get them through nine innings. He did just that. That’s what matters most and he did an excellent job.”
The big moment for Ramirez however, came in the 4thinning. With the Rangers down 2-1, Frank Catalanotto rapped an innocent 2 out single to right to keep things going for Max. Roy Oswalt, who had struck out the first two batters of the inning, fell behind 3-1 to Max, and then tried to challenge “the new guy” with a fastball in the zone.
408 feet later, the score was 3-2 Rangers.
“I can’t believe it,” Ramirez said. “It was so exciting. My first home run, my first game behind the plate, a really good game. I felt good behind the plate. I tried to do my best job.”
Even though the Rangers would not score again for the rest of the game, neither would the Astros, as the Rangers managed to keep them in check from the second inning on.
Scott Feldman left after the 4th innning of course, meaning he would not be eligible for the win - but if he wasn’t eligible for it, the guy who replaced him most certainly would be. Four days after earning his first Major League save by tossing three scoreless innings against the Nationals, Luis Mendoza turned in some more superb relief, this time when it really counted. He went three sharp innings, giving up just 2 hits and striking out 2 – an absolutely huge, huge performance, as it allowed the Rangers to go straight to setup man Eddie Guardado, and skip their inconsistent and shaky middle relief corps altogether.
Guardado turned in a scoreless 8th, thanks to a little help from Frank Catalanotto, who turned a spectacular double play to help Eddie get around a leadoff double, and all that was left was for CJ Wilson to close it out in the 9th. Of course, that hasn’t been an easy proposition for CJ these days, and last night was really no exception. He allowed a leadoff double to Ty Wigginton, and then walked Michael Bourn with2 out (which may or may not have had more to do with the umpire than CJ’s pitches). Ramon Vazquez then bobbled a grounder at third which should have ended the game, but instead loaded the bases for Miguel Tejada. But Tejada grounded harmlessly to short, a perfect example of the Astrosfrusteration in this game – they went 0-9 with RISP, and left 10 men on base, a testament to how lucky and good the Rangers pitchers where last night.
This win all but nails down the Silver Boot Trophy for the Rangers - unless they lose by more than 11 runs tomorrow, the boot will be coming back to Arlington for another year. I think though the two most important things to take away from this game however, are the performances of MaxRam and Mendoza.
MaxRam’s defense last night looked pretty serviceable to me, quite contrary to his reputation as a poor defensive player. Of course this is only one game (hello sample size) but if Max can prove just adequate defensively while displaying the hitting prowess he did last night, he is going to assert himself as just as strong a candidate for the role of our future starting catcher as Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden, instead being limited to the duties of primary DH and backup catcher as many people (including myself) have projected him as due to his reputation. Of course, some might think it premature to say that after only one start, but after what he displayed last night in his game calling abilities, I am willing to believe it is at the very least a possibility.
As for Luis Mendoza, I’ve mentioned this before, but I really think he may have a great future in the bullpen. This latest performance should earn him a few more innings in some key middle-relief situations – and if he continues to excel, I could see him possibly becoming our 7th inning guy with that turbo-sinker of his. Once things for certain, he seems to have better stuff than just a long man – but the rotation seems to be full up right now, so the Rangers might not have much choice in the matter if they want to truly get the most out of his abilites.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Bad Managing, Chris Shelton, First Major League hit, Jason Botts, Jason Jennings, Ron Washington
After Tuesday night, the Rangers are 0-6 in games Jason Jennings has started this season. And Jennings himself is now 0-5. He only lasted 2 innings and 53 pitches, and he managed to give up 5 runs on 8 hits and a walk in those two frames – reminiscent ofso many starts before, when he buried the Rangers by allowing runs early. But this time, he wasn’t pulled because of his performance, or lack thereof – this time, he at least had a valid excuse for leaving early. He was in the midst of sparing us all to death with the same flat, slow “sinking fastball” that has gotten him tattooed so many time this season, when he “felt a twinge” in his elbow after allowing a leadoff single to Ross Gload in the third. It appears Jennngs has aggravated his ulnar nerve, and is now “uncertain” as to when he’ll pitch again.
Really, considering the way he has been pitching, it’s hard to get too upset about this development – Jennings is only here on a 1-year, $4 million dollar contract, and means absolutely nothing in the Rangers long term plans. It’s always unnerving to lose a starter, but Jennings has been more of a liability than anything for the rotation so far – this probably means that Sidney Ponsonis now a new mainstay in the rotation, but other than that, I’m actually having a hard time coming up with a downside to this injury. I hesitate to say I’m happy about losing one of our own players, but still…
As for the rest of the game, Jennings craptasticperformance before he hurt himself, along with some crappy first-inning umpring pretty much buried the Rangers for the entire night. Home Plate asshole – er, umpire, that is, Bill Welke was on a roll when the game got started, and that roll went against the Rangers in a big way.
In the top of the first, Welke absolutely blew a call at home plate, when Jose Guillen groundedinto a fielders choice with one out and runners on the corners. Ian Kinsler fired Guillen’s grounder to the plate, and as replays would later show, Jarrod Saltalamacchia applied the tag to runner Mark Grudzielanek in time - but Welke called him safe, and the Royals scored twice more in the inning to take a 3-0 lead. This would have been a fine time for Ron Washington to get himself tossed, and perhaps make a point to Welke (not to mention motivate the team, perhaps) but he didn’t – and things where about to get worse.
In the bottom of the first, Welke called leadoff man Ian Kinsler out on a 3-2 pitch that appeared to be outside, again, according to replays. Kinslertook issue with the call (small wonder) and wound up getting tossed by Welke, who made a huge show out of the entire affair.
This was where Ron Washington needed to step in and get in Welke’s face. You’ve got to protect your players, and taking the previous half-inning into consideration, a statement clearly needed to be made by somebody. Of course, we’ll never know whether it would have done any good or not, because Ron chickened out again, and trotted back to the dugout with the defeated Kinsler.
It never ceases to sicken me, how much Ron lets his players get trampled on – he was only ejected once in 2007, and he hasn’t been ejected yet this year, either, despite having ample chances like last night. Now I’m not necessarily saying we need a Lou Pinella-type managing this team, but as a major league manager, you just cannot let your players get shit on like that. In my opinion, doing so is inexcusable for a guy who’s supposed to be leading a baseball team.
The rest of the game wasn’t really much to write home about – Josh Hamilton picked up his AL-leading 28th RBI, and the Rangers did manage to rally back to within two, but Saltalamacchia pulled a Gerry Laird move when he fouled out to the catcher with two men on in the bottom of the 7th, and Joaquin Benoit allowed the Royals to put the game away when he gave up a 2-run triple to Mark Teahen in the top of the 8th – the Royals would win by a final of 9-5. Perhaps the real highlight of the game was Brandon Boggs, who made his Major League debut pinch hitting for Frank Catalanotto in the bottom of the 5th, and collected his first two big-league hits, in his first two big-league AB’s. Congrats, Brandon – always encouraging to see something like that.
More important where the roster moves the Rangers made before the game. The aforementioned Boggs was called up to take over Hank Blalock’s roster spot, as expected, but in a suprise move, Jason Botts was DFA’d for Chris Shelton. Bottshad only been hitting .158 with 18 K’s in 38 AB’s so far this season, but this was the guy that the Rangers wanted to give once last chance at a real shot at the big leagues, because of his stellar minor league record - a guy who even got an endorsement from Jon Daniels in spring training.
Now, I completely agree with bringing Chris Shelton up – he was hitting a stellar .354 with 3 HR and 18 RBI in OKC, and his ability to act as a third catcher if needed adds much-needed versatility to the bench, and will allow the Rangers to get Jarrod Saltalamacchia much-needed AB’s at DH on days Gerald Laird catches. But the guy DFA’d should have been Ben Broussard, who has been almost totally worthless this season, as he is hitting .173 with a .244 OBP in 75 AB’s – that’s a .537 OPS. Not to say that Botts was really doing any better, but at least he had even that slight chance to factor into the Rangers long-term plans – something that can’t be said for the 31- year old Broussard.
Another case of the Rangers not finishing what they started – they put Botts on the roster with the intent of finding out if he could hit, once and for all, and yet they only gave him 38 at-bats before deciding to chuck him. Not a very good sample size – this just illustrates the Rangers propensity to overvalue their spares with “major league experience” and trod on the players who are supposed to be getting a chance to prove themselves. Not encouraging, regarding the Rangers player management skills, although it admittedly was probably too late for Jason Botts, whose career was mismanaged by the Rangers right from the start – he should have gotten a real chance a couple years ago, before it came down to a lack of options and roster space.
With all the players that have cleared waivers lately (Shelton, Robinson Tejeda, Nelson Cruz) I imagine it’s very possible that Botts makes it through, if he’s not traded first, but if he does, he’s not gonna see the Majors again anytime soon – and, it might be a little awkward, considering the potshot at the organization he took when he got the news:
“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.”
Asked if he thinks he’ll get back to the majors?
“I don’t know. I think there’s plenty of examples of people leaving the Texas Rangers and going on to really great things. There could be something huge in my future. Kind of an exciting moment.”
I feel for ya, Jason – at this point, I just hope you wind up with an organization that will have a place for you.
Anyway, I’m running out of time for this entry already (I’ve got to start writing these things a little earlier), so I’ll just do a few quick hits here: Ron Washington is makingthe team take infield practice before games… it’s also noted in there that Scott Feldman is still likely to start on Saturday against the A’s, despite throwing 68 pitches last night… Ron also finally had his meeting with JD about the state of the team – it appears Ron’s not gonna be axed for a little while yet, which bums me out, of course… and Michael Young wants to start the all star game this year. Good luck with that, Mr. No-range-at-shortstop-whatsoever.
Tomorrow it’s Kevin Millwood vs. Brian Bannister – Bannister has a 2.48 ERA and a .195 opponent average – but he has given up 7 runs and 13 hits in his last 11.2 innings. If the Rangers are gonna win a game in this series, I’ve got a feeling they’d best do it now – Zack Greinke, who starts for the Royals on thursday is 3-0 with a 1.25 ERA so far this season.
Filed under: Ranger Losses | Tags: Eddie Guardado, First Major League hit, Gerald "Superstar" Laird, German Duran, Jason Jennings, Joaquin Benoit, Left on Base, Salty vs. Laird, Why I hate knuckleballers
You had to know it was going to be a tough series for the Rangers in Boston, taking on the defending World Series champs. But it’s always exceedingly frustrating to see your team blow a late lead, even if it is against the Red Sox.
That’s exactly what happened on Saturday night, as setup man Joaquin Benoit had his second consecutive rough outing to blow a 3-2 Ranger lead in the 8th inning.
Jason Jennings, who got rocked in his first three starts of the season, managed to battle to his first quality start of the season, despite possessing sub-par control against the loaded Boston lineup. Jennings threw 100 pitches over 6 innings of work, but only 57 went for strikes, and he was 9-9 in groundball/fly ball outs, but he managed to shut the Sox out for 5 innings after giving up 2 runs in the first.
According to TR Sullivan’s post game write up, Jennings relied on a cut fastball to keep the Sox from pulling the ball over to the green monster.
“It was good I finally gave us a quality start and give us an opportunity to win the game,” Jennings said. “From that aspect, I was pleased. But coming away with a loss is a little frustrating.
“I felt like I was able to get the ball down in the zone and hit my spots more consistently. But I have to build on it. One game is not going to get it. I have to repeat it.”
Even so, Jennings seemed to go deep into the count on almost every batter, and sure didn’t pitch with the efficiency of someone who was having his best start of the season so far. But perhaps last night, that worked to his advantage, as there’s no denying the results.
The Rangers lead 3-2 after scoring a single run in each of the first three frames. Josh Hamilton launched his fourth homer of the season, a green monster shot of lefty Jon Lester in the top of the first to get the scoring started. After the Red Sox answered in the bottom of the first, Adam Melhuse tied it up with an RBI single to plate David Murphy. German Duran, making his first ever start in LF, bagged his first career hit, a single to right center that put runners on the corners for Ian Kinsler, but Kinsler flew out to CF. That was the first of three consecutive innings the Rangers would leave a man standing on third base.
Jason Botts doubled in Josh Hamilton to give Texas the lead with one out in the top of the 3rd, but the Rangers would leave Hank Blalock stranded at third base when David Murphy and an Gerald Laird struck out to end the frame. They did it again in the 4th, when Michael Young’s 2 out single got Ian Kinsler to third, but Josh Hamilton grounded out to end that scoring chance for the Rangers as well. The inability to come through in those situations would later come back to haunt the Rangers, as their slim one-run lead would not hold up in the 8th inning.
After Jamey Wright got through a scoreless 7th, Joaquin Benoit came in for the 8th inning. Benoit, who struggled his last outing in Toronto, getting charged with three runs on a hit and three walks, started the inning by getting Jacoby Ellsbury to pop out. But then Dustin Pedroia doubled off the monster, and the rally was on for the Red Sox. David Ortiz was up next, prompting the Rangers to swing the infield around to the right, the standard defensive book against Big Papi. Ortiz smashed a ball right into the shift, to the right of Ian Kinsler, who was playing on the RF grass. Kinsler dove, and managed to get his glove on it, but could not stop the hot smash. It skipped into right field, and Pedroia motored home with the tying run. With Ortiz on first, Manny Ramirez was next, and the result was almost predictable. On an 0-1 count, Benoit threw a fastball at the knees, but Ramirez crushed it over the moster for the go-ahead 2-run homer, making it 5-3 Sox. Benoit retired the next two in order, but it was too little, too late.
After that, Jonathan Papelbon came on in the 9th to close the game out with a few 96 mph heaters, and the Sox comeback win was complete. To add to the deflating feeling at the end of this one, Milton Bradley even saw his 13 game hitting streak snapped, as he flew out to deep center in a lone at-bat as a pinch hitter for Gerald Laird, making the final out of the ballgame. Pretty lousy way to see a hitting streak like that come to an end.
There’s not too much you can say when your best setup guy gets clobbered by one of the best offenses in the game, but the real dissapointment of the night was the lack of offensive support. Including the aforementioned three consecutive innings in which the Rangers left a man at third, the Rangers left 13 men on base overall. Josh Hamilton and David Murphy left four men apeice, and Michael Young and Ian Kinsler three. But the biggest dissapointment of the night offensively was Gerald Laird.
In perhaps the joke of the season, Laird started the game at DH (for the first time in his career), and proceeded to go 0-4 with three strikeuts and 6 LOB, lowering his season average to .218. Never mind what horrible decision it is for a manager to have his offensively-challenged catcher DHing, but this, people, is why this offense needs Jarrod Saltalamacchia in it. Aside from striking out with a runner on second and one out in the 2nd inning, Gerald’s other three outs where all inning-enders, in the 3rd, the 5th, and perhaps most critically in the 8th, when he blew the Rangers last chance to score before Benoits meltdown, and struck out with runners on first and second. There’s no denying that this game might have been a lot different if you had had Salty up at the plate instead of Laird, but it’s not about just this one game. This is just a fine example of how bad Laird has been at the plate so far this year.
How bad has Laird been? Well, in 55 AB’s this year, he has 12 hits, which as I mentioned above, is a .218 average. That’s bad enough. But if you take out his mirage performance on April 6th against the Angels, when he went 4-5 with 2 HR and 6 RBI, he has 8 hits in 50 AB’s, which is a .160 average, and only 2 RBI. In fact, out of all AL starting catchers, only Kenji Johjima of Seattle has a worse average (.212).
With numbers that bad, it really makes you wonder exactly how much longer the Rangers can let Saltalamacchia sit in AAA. Laird’s throwing may be an asset, but his overall defensive game, such as his wandering glove, and average range at the catchers position, is really nothing that can make up for an almost total lack of offensive value. According to Jon Daniels preseason plan, Laird was supposed to be building up his trade value by playing full-time, while Salty honed his defensive skills, at OKC. Well, thanks to his crappy play, Laird’s trade value is going in the wrong direction right now, as he’s picked up right where he left off offensively last season. And Salty is tearing it up in AAA, impressing those who actually watch him play every day.
So how long is it gonna be before Daniels wakes up, and realizes this little love affair with Gerald Laird is getting the Rangers nowhere? When you’re rebuilding, the idea is supposed to be remaining ready to play your young, promising players when they are ready - and Salty looks to be Major-League ready, both offensively, and now defensively. I don’t think it can be denied much longer: Gerald Laird’s time as the Rangers starting catcher is coming to a close. The only question before the Rangers is whether to drag it out, and subject us to more craptastic displays of offensive inability, or get started with the future. What’s it gonna be, JD?
In other Ranger notes, Eddie Guardado is not coming off the DL on Sunday, as I reported yesterday, after all. Guardado says his sore shoulder is still “weak” and he doesn’t want to rush himself back into action. He” throw a bullpen session on Monday, and the Rangers will go from there. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer till Guadardo is back - right now, with the way Joaquin Benoit has performed his last two times out, it certainly would be nice to have that extra late-inning option in the bullpen.
Tomorrow, Kevin Millwood goes for the Rangers against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. I’m dreading this game, because I really hate it whenever I have to watch/listen to a game in which Wakefield is on the mound – wild pitches, passed balls, 3-2 counts – watching him pitch always seems to be a real drag. He makes a 2 1/2 hour game seem like a 4 1/2 hour game even more efficently than anyone else in baseball. Hopefully the Rangers can square up a few of those knuckleballs, and at least provide us with some moonshot home runs for entertainment, eh? We’ll see.
