The 2014 season is officially underway. Yesterday the Rangers brought all the pomp and circumstance for opening day. Michael Young was recognized, Greg Maddux threw out the first pitch to his brother Mike, and there was the traditional opening day flyover. The weather was also picture perfect, but unfortunately the team was not. The Rangers lost 14-10 yesterday in a game that saw both starting pitchers give up 7+ runs. Surprisingly one of those pitchers was Cliff Lee. It was an eventful game that saw both teams hold the lead early and then the Phillies ran away with it late.

Lets dive into the actual game though. Tanner Scheppers got the opening day assignment as he became the first pitcher in 33 years to have his first start be on Opening Day. I think we saw why that doesn’t happen that often. Scheppers got through the first inning on 9 pitches and looked every bit like the pitcher he was in Arizona. He had good life on his fastball and his change-up was working well in conjunction with that. It was the second inning when he ran into trouble. He started leaving all his fastballs high and he couldn’t get his breaking ball over for strikes either. The Phillies picked up on this and just started teeing off on his fastball. The problem was he couldn’t locate his fastball and so he started walking guys, 3 guys total that inning. All 3 of them scored. Cody Asche hit a rbi double down the left field line just past Adrian Beltre and then Jimmy Rollins took a fastball that was down the middle out of the ballpark for a Grand Slam. Just like that it was 6-0 Phillies with Cliff Lee on the mound. So it wasn’t looking very good. Tanner Scheppers even admitted after the game, “If you miss down, it’s a lot better than missing up.” That is what he was doing was missing up consistently. The Rangers did come back in the bottom of the 2nd with 4 runs. That was highlighted by a run scoring double by Leonys Martin and a 3 run double by Josh Wilson. Just like that the Rangers were back in the game. Tanner came back in the 3rd and didn’t allow any runs and then Alex Rios hit a towering 3 run home run to deep left field that put the Rangers up 7-6. Rios had a great opening day as he went 3-5. The middle of the order all had good days as they went a combined 6-14, 3 rbi’s, and 7 runs scored. Unfortunately that lead would be short-lived as the Phillies came back with a run to tie it in the 4th and then they tacked on 2 more in the 5th and 4 more in the 6th and that was pretty much the game. ‘

Tanner Schepper’s final line was 4.0 innings,8 hits, 7 earned runs, 3 bb’s, 2 k’s, and 1 home run allowed. It was obvious that nerves got the best of him on this day. He lacked control of his fastball and breaking ball for most of the afternoon. He started to get it together in the 4th, but his pitch count was extremely high and so the Rangers decided to take him out. Unfortunately they didn’t have another Tanner Scheppers to go to in the bullpen, which could lead to him being put back into the bullpen once some of these other starters start to come back. In the bullpen the Rangers called on Pedro Figueroa, Alexi Ogando, Shawn Tolleson, and Seth Rosin. Figueroa exhibited the same control problems he has had throughout his career. He was great against lefthanders though and terrible against right-handers. Outside of Rosin there really was nothing special about any of those guys. Ogando struggled in his 1.1 innings as he gave up 2 runs. Tolleson gave up another run in his 1 inning. That is the Rangers middle relief and right now it could be an issue until either Robbie Ross or Scheppers gets back to the bullpen. Scheppers will go again this weekend against the Tampa Bay Rays and if he wants to pitch in the rotation beyond that he has to control his nerves, pitch under control, and pitch with control. The fastball is good enough that if he can just get it over the plate it should be able to get hitters out, but he also has to show that he can get his breaking ball over the plate for strikes. Make the hitters wonder about what is coming next rather than being able to sit on fastballs all day.

Finally the offense was very good. They scored 10 runs, 8 of them came off Cliff Lee. Everyone got a hit on the day except for Shin Shoo Choo and DH Mitch Moreland. Even the pinch hitters were contributing as Michael Choice and Jim Adduci both had base hits in the game. I do have to wonder though about the lineup if Mitch Moreland would have been in it had it not been Opening Day. I would think normally Wash will go with Choice against tough left-handers like Cliff Lee. Normally 10 runs is enough to win a game, but today it was not. The Rangers I am sure will be happy of the contributions they got from the middle of the order and from guys like Leonys Martin and Josh Wilson. Martin and Wilson hitting 8 and 9 in the order combined to go 4-7 with 5 rbi’s. I was saying yesterday that there was not a lot of depth in the lineup, but if Martin can produce at 8 and Wilson or Murphy at 9 then this will help the team immensely as it will help keep innings alive and help the lineup turn over.

My Final Report Card on the Game

Offense- A. 10 runs on Opening Day is great, 8 runs against Cliff Lee is very good. Each hitter was also very patient and working the count. They had good situation hitting as well. Not a lot of speed used out on the bases, but they were still able to produce runs with very timely hitting.

Pitching- D. 14 runs allowed is not acceptable. They are missing a few guys, but with the Phillies here now and the Rays this weekend they have to find a way to make it through these first few games. For this team to win they are going to need the starter to go at least 6 or 7 innings. That way you don’t have to use the bottom of your bullpen to win games or hold leads. Scheppers only being able to go 4 really hampered Wash’s plan for the game. It forced him to bring in Figueroa for multiple hitters and then Ogando to pitch before he normally would. The bullpen is something to watch these first few weeks. If it really starts to become an issue Wash might just put Scheppers and Ross back out there to help stabilize things.

Defense- C. It was not terrible, but it also wasn’t that good either. Elvis couldn’t pick up a slow grounder that ricocheted off of Scheppers leading to a run. Wilson could not corral a grounder that went by him into right field leading to one more run. The positioning of Adrian Beltre wide off the base led to 2 doubles that were cued right down the third base line. JP Arencibia allowed 2 stolen bases. It was all small things, but those are the type of things you examine in a loss.

Today the Rangers have their first night game when they face the Phillies once again. It will be A.J. Burnett against Martin Perez. The game will start at 7:05 p.m. and be broadcast by Fox Sports Southwest. Hopefully Perez will not meltdown out there and will help pitch the Rangers to their first victory of the season.