In the words of former of former Ranger broadcaster Mark Holtz, “Hello win column”. The Rangers get off to a good start this spring as Yu Darvish looks very dominant and for once actually gets run support. Darvish who went two innings threw 29 pitches, 23 of them were strikes. He also struck out 4 of the 8 hitters he faced. He said, “I just feel really relaxed,”. Darvish also said it was the best spring debut he has had since joining the Rangers. Hopefully for the Rangers and Darvish he is not peaking too soon. He still has 3 or 4 more starts until the real season starts.

Prince Fielder had a solid debut as well. He grounded out in the first, but then hit a solo home run to right field to make it 3-0. He is expected to provide left handed power for the Rangers this season. Hopefully this is just a sign of things to come. The Rangers offense as a whole had 11 runs. The run production was spread throughout the lineup as seven different players drove in runs. Other notable performances included Michael Choice getting two hits against left handed pitching. Tommy Hanson got the first outing of the 5th starter candidates and went 1.1 innings. He was pulled after that, but the Rangers say they were satisfied with his performance. His fastball was sitting at 88-90 mph. JP Arencibia also drove in a run in his first game going 1-3 with a double.

Not a lot else happened for the Rangers. Justin Germano struggled in his first outing of the Spring as he went 1 inning giving up 5 runs. He is competing for a spot in the bullpen, but with performances like that it will be for the Round Rock or Frisco bullpens. Jim Adduci trying out as a first baseman struggled as well when he booted a ball and that led to the Royals getting on the board.

Today the Rangers face the Royals again at 2:05 and Alexi Ogando will be making his Spring Training debut. Ogando this Spring is thought to have one of the rotation spots locked down after finishing 2013 well. His goal this spring is just to get better every start and be ready when the season starts. That process starts today.

In non game news, Harrison had a long toss and said he felt great afterwards, said he felt some ooomph in the ball. Tanner Scheppers threw 30 pitches of live batting practice as he is trying to recover from back soreness. Both have been dealing with lingering injuries early on in camp. Scheppers at this point is probably just pitching for a spot in the bullpen, but hopefully he will ready for opening day. That’s all the Rangers news for today. We are a month away from opening day and I cannot wait.

Finally for highlights of the Fielders home run and Darvish’s performance just click on the picture above.

Daily Countdown: 31 Days.