The Texas Rangers have won 7 straight games. They are now 10-2 against the division. They have yet to lose to either the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim, or the Seattle Mariners. Clutch hits, and comeback wins have been a delightful feature. After back to back walkoff wins against Seattle, we had a thrilling sweep of the Angels, in 3 close games. Our biggest problem within the division at this point is last place Oakland, who we are 2-2 against. I'm quite sure we will get to them next time we play with our potent offense against their inexperienced pitching staff.
We've had a team ERA of 3.10 in the month of May. That's the best in the Major Leagues. I feel this has been due to Matt Harrison. He is leading the Rangers in all the pitching triple crown catagories in May, with a 0.78 ERA, 3 wins, and 15 strikeouts, in 23 innings. The 23 year old had Taylor Teagarden, rather than Jarrod Saltalamacchia, catching his last start in April. Harrison had failed to win a game with Salty behind the plate. After getting off to his usual rocky start, giving up 4 runs in 2 innings, Teagarden came out to the mound, and told him to relax. After which Harrison threw 5 shutout innings, holding down the Baltimore Orioles, as Texas rallied to get him his first win. Since then he won each of his starts, going all 9 innings in his last 2. Also pitching well so far in May are the setup men Darren O'Day, and C.J. Wilson, who are sharing the closer role with San Frankie on the DL, they have combined for 3 saves, 1.20 ERA, and 12 strikeouts, in 15 innings. I am also pleased the we have both lefties and righties for any pitching role. Derek Holland (L) or Jason Jennings (R) for long relief, Eddie Guardado (L) or Kris Benson (R) for mid relief, O'Day or Wilson for closing and setup, and Warner Madrigal (R) can pitch in just about any situation.
Ok today I set up a new MLB division layout. One day when I'm commisioning baseball these will be the Divisions.
AL East
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Phillies
Boston Red Sox
Tampa Bay Rays
Baltimore Orioles
Expansion team in Charlotte
NL East
New York Mets
Pittsburgh Pirates
Toronto Blue Jays
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals
Atlanta Braves
AL Central
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
Minneasota Twins
Chicago White Sox
Expansion team in Memphis
NL Central
Expansion team in Indianapolis
Cincinnati Reds
Saint Louis Cardinals
Milwaukee Brewers
Chicago Cubs
Expansion team in New Orleans
AL West
Texas Rangers
Expansion team in San Antonio
Seattle Mariners
San Diego Padres
Oakland Athletics
Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim
NL West
Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros
Expansion team in Portland
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles Dodgers
The playoff system has 20 teams. The 12 1st and 2nd place teams gets a bye round, while 3rd Place teams and the 4th place Wild Card from each division play. The winners of that round go on to face the top seeded teams outside their own division. After that it's just like how the playoffs are setup now.
Tonight Texas will face the struggling Dontrelle Willis on the hill in Detroit for the Tigers. Michael Wilbon on PTI (yes I watch PTI) said that Texas would lose and tonight will be the night things change for Willis. I'm gonna wait and see how it turns out, and hopefully Willis is struggling with his mechanics tonight. My pick for player of the game is Brandon McCarthy, if he can go deep into the game, and the offense can get to Willis we should have no problem.
Showing posts with label Rangers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rangers. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Intro Blog
Ok I'm gettin' this blog started. If you wanna know about me look at the bio I'm pretty sure I filled it out. So The Texas Rangers (my team) just swept the Seattle Mariners (Big Brothers team) in a 2 game series putting us only 0.5 games out of first place behind them. It was a very well played series, compliments go out to Erik Bedard holding Texas to 1 run through 7, Russell Branyan for two great extra basehits in the series, and Franklin Gutierrez who played some great outfield defense cutting off hits, and getting some of his own.
Right now most things are going great. Kinsler appears to be regaining the stroke he had the first 3 weeks of the season, Elvis is flourishing since he's moved to the 2 spot in the lineup, Michael has some new found pop in his classic opposite field swing, Cruz is finding his power again, Millwood still isn't slowing down, he just needs to keep the ball down to righties, Padilla has has 2 good starts in a row, we haven't made a call to the bullpen before the seventh inning in a week, Salty is proving his eye problems are behind him, Byrd is staying hot, Jones couldn't have worked out better thus far, Benson is ready to comeback and pitch long relief, and Murphy is finally starting to get hits.
Some things that aren't looking as well include Chris Davis's intent to swing at any pitch below his nose and above his ankles, he needs to take the low throws unless he is sure they're fastballs and he needs to develop a straighter swing. I feel he is striking out because his swing is much to vertical, the same with Hamilton they both have great strength they can stroke a ball deep without an uppercut swing especially in Rangers Ballpark, I hope Rudy is telling them that. Even if they can't, I prefer a contact doubles hitter (vintage Michael Young), to a strikeout homerun hitter anyday (what Michael Young is becoming). An uppercut swing also covers less of the strikezone with the bat than a straight swing, thats why they strikeout so much. This may also be why Taylor Teagarden has struggled early on.
Tonight were going to Oakland, hopefully to redeem themselves for screwing up their last game with the Athletics in Texas. We were down by 2 going into the 8th and with 2 on when Kinsler knocked a flyball over the wall but into the glove of one Ryan Sweeney for the innings 3rd out. In the ninth still down by 2 Michael Young is called out trying to stretch a double into a triple. The next batter Andruw Jones homered. He would've been the tying run. Instead we lost the game by one run. Now though we will be in a pitchers park in Oakland with a pitching staff thats improving not diminishing over the first month of the season.
Pitching Matchup: Scott Feldman (TEX) vs. Dan Giese (OAK)
Assessment: Making his third start in a row taking the place of Kris Benson, Feldman has earned the spot permanently. His first two starts have gone well, inducing many ground balls, and no homeruns in 10.2 innings vs. 3 homeruns in 6.2 bullpen inning.
Spot starting for the struggling Dana Eveland, Dan Giese is making his 4th career start 1st of the year. In 3 starts for the Yankees in 2008 Giese was 0-2 but averaged over 3 strikeouts every 4 innings and had an ERA under 4. This season at the collesium in only relief Giese has an ERA just over 2 in 4 innings, an opponents batting average of .294, and only 2 strikeouts.
Last thing...
If the Season ended after April
1 All-Stars
AL
2B Ian Kinsler TEX
CF Adam Jones BAL
3B Evan Longoria TB
1B Kevin Youkilis BOS
LF Jason Bay BOS
C Victor Martinez CLE
RF Nick Markakis BAL
SS Jason Bartlett TB
P Zack Grienke KC
C Jorge Posada NYY
C Kurt Suzuki OAK
1B Miguel Cabrera DET
1B Carlos Pena TB
2B Aaron Hill TOR
2B Robinson Cano NYY
3B Brandon Inge DET
3B Mike Lowell BOS
SS Derek Jeter NYY
SS Marco Scutaro TOR
OF Torii Hunter LAA
OF Nelson Cruz TEX
OF Nick Swisher NYY
P Armando Galarraga DET
P Roy Halladay TOR
P Felix Hernandez SEA
P Mark Buehrle CWS
P Jarrod Washburn SEA
P Joe Nathan MIN
P Mariano Rivera NYY
P Brad Ziegler OAK
P Joakim Soria KC
P Jonathan Papelbon BOS
P Frank Francisco TEX
NL
SS Hanley Ramirez FLA
2B Chase Utley PHI
LF Ryan Braun MIL
1B Albert Pujols STL
CF Raul Ibanez PHI
3B Aramis Ramirez CHC
RF Andre Ethier LAD
C Yadier Molina STL
P Chad Billingsley LAD
C Bengie Molina SF
C Jeff Baker FLA
1B Adrian Gonzalez SD
1B Joey Votto CIN
2B Orlando Hudson LAD
2B Freddy Sanchez PIT
3B Ryan Zimmerman WAS
SS Yunel Escobar ATL
SS Jose Reyes NYM
OF Ryan Ludwick STL
OF Carlos Beltran NYM
OF Adam Dunn WAS
OF Alfonso Soriano CHC
P Kyle Lohse STL
P Dan Haren ARI
P Johan Santana NYM
P Josh Johnson FLA
P Wandy Rodriguez HOU
P Jason Grilli COL
P Matt Capps PIT
P Francisco Cordero CIN
P Jonathan Broxton LAD
P Ryan Franklin STL
P Heath Bell SD
2 Awards
MVP
AL
Aaron Hill TOR
NL
Albert Pujols STL
Cy Young
AL
Zack Grienke KC
NL
Johan Santana NYM
Rookie
AL
Elvis Andrus TEX
NL
Jordan Schafer ATL
Relief Man
AL
Frank Francisco TEX
NL
Heath Bell SD
3 Playoffs
Detroit loses ALDS@ Boston
Toronto wins ALCS@ Boston
Toronto wins ALDS@ Seattle
Florida wins WS @ Toronto
Florida wins NLDS@ Saint Louis
Florida wins NLCS@ Los Angeles
Pittsburgh loses NLDS@ Los Angeles
4 Homerun Derby
Adrian Gonzalez SD W
Albert Pujols STL L 2nd
Raul Ibanez PHI L 1st
Alfonso Soriano CHC L 1st
Carlos Pena TB L Final
Torii Hunter LAA L 2nd
Carlos Quentin CWS L 1st
Ian Kinsler TEX L 1st
comment please
Right now most things are going great. Kinsler appears to be regaining the stroke he had the first 3 weeks of the season, Elvis is flourishing since he's moved to the 2 spot in the lineup, Michael has some new found pop in his classic opposite field swing, Cruz is finding his power again, Millwood still isn't slowing down, he just needs to keep the ball down to righties, Padilla has has 2 good starts in a row, we haven't made a call to the bullpen before the seventh inning in a week, Salty is proving his eye problems are behind him, Byrd is staying hot, Jones couldn't have worked out better thus far, Benson is ready to comeback and pitch long relief, and Murphy is finally starting to get hits.
Some things that aren't looking as well include Chris Davis's intent to swing at any pitch below his nose and above his ankles, he needs to take the low throws unless he is sure they're fastballs and he needs to develop a straighter swing. I feel he is striking out because his swing is much to vertical, the same with Hamilton they both have great strength they can stroke a ball deep without an uppercut swing especially in Rangers Ballpark, I hope Rudy is telling them that. Even if they can't, I prefer a contact doubles hitter (vintage Michael Young), to a strikeout homerun hitter anyday (what Michael Young is becoming). An uppercut swing also covers less of the strikezone with the bat than a straight swing, thats why they strikeout so much. This may also be why Taylor Teagarden has struggled early on.
Tonight were going to Oakland, hopefully to redeem themselves for screwing up their last game with the Athletics in Texas. We were down by 2 going into the 8th and with 2 on when Kinsler knocked a flyball over the wall but into the glove of one Ryan Sweeney for the innings 3rd out. In the ninth still down by 2 Michael Young is called out trying to stretch a double into a triple. The next batter Andruw Jones homered. He would've been the tying run. Instead we lost the game by one run. Now though we will be in a pitchers park in Oakland with a pitching staff thats improving not diminishing over the first month of the season.
Pitching Matchup: Scott Feldman (TEX) vs. Dan Giese (OAK)
Assessment: Making his third start in a row taking the place of Kris Benson, Feldman has earned the spot permanently. His first two starts have gone well, inducing many ground balls, and no homeruns in 10.2 innings vs. 3 homeruns in 6.2 bullpen inning.
Spot starting for the struggling Dana Eveland, Dan Giese is making his 4th career start 1st of the year. In 3 starts for the Yankees in 2008 Giese was 0-2 but averaged over 3 strikeouts every 4 innings and had an ERA under 4. This season at the collesium in only relief Giese has an ERA just over 2 in 4 innings, an opponents batting average of .294, and only 2 strikeouts.
Last thing...
If the Season ended after April
1 All-Stars
AL
2B Ian Kinsler TEX
CF Adam Jones BAL
3B Evan Longoria TB
1B Kevin Youkilis BOS
LF Jason Bay BOS
C Victor Martinez CLE
RF Nick Markakis BAL
SS Jason Bartlett TB
P Zack Grienke KC
C Jorge Posada NYY
C Kurt Suzuki OAK
1B Miguel Cabrera DET
1B Carlos Pena TB
2B Aaron Hill TOR
2B Robinson Cano NYY
3B Brandon Inge DET
3B Mike Lowell BOS
SS Derek Jeter NYY
SS Marco Scutaro TOR
OF Torii Hunter LAA
OF Nelson Cruz TEX
OF Nick Swisher NYY
P Armando Galarraga DET
P Roy Halladay TOR
P Felix Hernandez SEA
P Mark Buehrle CWS
P Jarrod Washburn SEA
P Joe Nathan MIN
P Mariano Rivera NYY
P Brad Ziegler OAK
P Joakim Soria KC
P Jonathan Papelbon BOS
P Frank Francisco TEX
NL
SS Hanley Ramirez FLA
2B Chase Utley PHI
LF Ryan Braun MIL
1B Albert Pujols STL
CF Raul Ibanez PHI
3B Aramis Ramirez CHC
RF Andre Ethier LAD
C Yadier Molina STL
P Chad Billingsley LAD
C Bengie Molina SF
C Jeff Baker FLA
1B Adrian Gonzalez SD
1B Joey Votto CIN
2B Orlando Hudson LAD
2B Freddy Sanchez PIT
3B Ryan Zimmerman WAS
SS Yunel Escobar ATL
SS Jose Reyes NYM
OF Ryan Ludwick STL
OF Carlos Beltran NYM
OF Adam Dunn WAS
OF Alfonso Soriano CHC
P Kyle Lohse STL
P Dan Haren ARI
P Johan Santana NYM
P Josh Johnson FLA
P Wandy Rodriguez HOU
P Jason Grilli COL
P Matt Capps PIT
P Francisco Cordero CIN
P Jonathan Broxton LAD
P Ryan Franklin STL
P Heath Bell SD
2 Awards
MVP
AL
Aaron Hill TOR
NL
Albert Pujols STL
Cy Young
AL
Zack Grienke KC
NL
Johan Santana NYM
Rookie
AL
Elvis Andrus TEX
NL
Jordan Schafer ATL
Relief Man
AL
Frank Francisco TEX
NL
Heath Bell SD
3 Playoffs
Detroit loses ALDS@ Boston
Toronto wins ALCS@ Boston
Toronto wins ALDS@ Seattle
Florida wins WS @ Toronto
Florida wins NLDS@ Saint Louis
Florida wins NLCS@ Los Angeles
Pittsburgh loses NLDS@ Los Angeles
4 Homerun Derby
Adrian Gonzalez SD W
Albert Pujols STL L 2nd
Raul Ibanez PHI L 1st
Alfonso Soriano CHC L 1st
Carlos Pena TB L Final
Torii Hunter LAA L 2nd
Carlos Quentin CWS L 1st
Ian Kinsler TEX L 1st
comment please
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
