Russell Wilson signing autographs at Rangers camp today.

A lot has happened since I have last written. A massive thundersleet snow-ice storm hit Oklahoma City and the Rangers have continued to play games in Arizona. After starting off with a win last Thursday the Rangers have went 0-2-1. They tied the A’s and lost to the White Sox and Indians. There have been some negative and positive things to take away from these losses,, but we have to start with Russell Wilson being in camp today.

Just over a month ago Russell Wilson was busy helping the Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos. Today, he was sharing those lessons he learned in pursuit of the championship with the Rangers younger players and prospects. He was mainly brought in to help inspire and show these younger players what it takes to win. That you not only have to win on the field, but off of it as well with your preparation for that day’s game. Others players picked up on that winning attitude as well. Alex Rios said, “His desire to win, it’s something that’s noticeable, and his dedication to what he does makes him what he is,”. He also took part in an early morning workout with Ron Washington and then suited up and delivered the lineup card for the game this afternoon. Wilson performed all his duties, signed several autographs, and then was done for the Spring. His presence brought a lot of attention and extra excitement to camp. MLB Productions and the NFL Network were there to cover Wilson’s every move. The 12th man did travel as well as Wilson was serenaded with Seahawks chants throughout the game this afternoon. Wilson did really enjoy his time in camp, “It was just an honor to be in the locker room with those guys. I look up to them. I watch baseball all the time.” Others Now it is over and it is time to get back to Spring Training.

The other big story from today was Colby Lewis’ first appearance of the Spring. Washington has been telling people to not read too much into results and to be patient. Lewis still hasn’t pitched in a regular season game since August of 2012. News also came out that he is working in a longer stride in his delivery. Taking all of that into consideration it should have been of  no surprise that he struggled in his first appearance. Lewis was scheduled to only go 1 inning, but after 32 pitches and 2 runs allowed with 2 walks and a strikeout he was pulled. Washington didn’t want to get his pitch count too high in his first appearance. Lewis’ on his appearance today, “It’s just the inconsistencies. I’d hit it good one spot and the next time it would be off six to eight inches or a foot. People say it’s the first one and get it out of the way, but I expected more out of myself.” Lewis will go back to work and will be back on the mound later this week.

One good thing that came out of today’s game was Nick Tepesch. Tepesch came in for Lewis in the first inning and proceeded to be the first starter to go 3 innings this Spring. He was so efficient with his pitch count Washington allowed him to go back out for the fourth inning. He only gave up 2 hits in those 3 innings and was able to keep his pitches down and his pitch count low. Tepesch was very impressive today and said about his start, “Overall, I was pretty happy with my command. It’s not where it needs to be completely, but I was down in the zone and commanded four pitches for strikes.” Being early in Spring for a pitcher you can’t really ask for anything more.

Now that we are about 5 games into Spring Training lets take a look at the candidates for the 5th rotation spot. Let’s start with Tommy Hanson. Hanson came in on Thursday and pitched 1 and 1/3 inning and didn’t allow an earned run and walked one and struck out one. He showed decent velocity, but was hurt by his defense. Contreras followed that up on Friday with 1 inning and 4 runs allowed on 6 hits. On Sunday Robbie Ross and Tanner Scheppers went the first four innings of the game. Ross went the first two innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits and throwing 33 pitches. Scheppers followed that up with 2 innings and no runs allowed on 1 hit and 29 pitches. They almost had identical outings except Ross was not able to get out of the first without allowing a run. They both hit their first batter and both walked a guy in their first inning, but Ross with 2 outs gave up a run scoring single to Mike McDade. They both also came back in their second inning and pitched much better only allowing 1 baserunner. I would say between them that Scheppers gets the slight edge. They both hit batters and allowed baserunners, but Scheppers was able to keep a run from scoring. Then today it was Colby Lewis and Nick Tepesch. Lewis struggled through his 2/3 of an inning, but the Rangers are thinking more long term with him and are thinking he will get better as the Spring goes along. Tepesch though needed to make a splash today to remind people that he wasn’t that bad last year in his rookie season. He accomplished that in his 3 innings of work today. Through the first rotation cycle no one has really separated themselves. I would say all of them are still in the running. If I were to rank them I would say Hanson, Tepesch, Lewis, Scheppers, and Ross. Lewis is third because of his experience and because of the faith the Rangers have in him.

Finally, so that it is not all about pitching, Michael Choice has really been mashing so far this Spring and turning some heads so far. Choice was acquired in the offseason trade with the Oakland A’s for Craig Gentry. People are just impressed with how hard he is hitting the ball and just how fast a start he has gotten off to. It was thought going into Spring that unless there was an injury that he would be in triple-A.  The thought was that Engel Beltre is out of options and the Rangers will not want to lose him, so they will give him the job as fourth outfielder. Choice so far has been the talk of camp and if he continues to perform he might make it impossible to send him down. I can’t wait till some of these games are on TV, with all of the talk I want to see if he is the real deal. I want to see what his approach is at the plate and if he has that patient approach that is preached throughout the Oakland A’s organization. Choice so far has been the most intriguing player in camp not named Russell Wilson. The competition between him and Engel Beltre will be one to watch as we go through these next 3 and a half weeks. In the end the Rangers might decide to keep both of them, but we will see. Tomorrow will see Rangers ace Yu Darvish make his second start of the Spring. Darvish is thought to be going 3 innings. His last time out he went 2 innings and 4 k’s. He will continue to build on that as he gets ready to start on opening day .

Countdown to Opening Day: 27 Days