Category Archives: 2015 Texas Rangers Weekly Roundup

Texas Rangers Week 3 Roundup

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As I type this it has been made official that Josh Hamilton will be apart of the Texas Rangers. That will be the most interesting story once he is activated off the DL in mid-to late May. If you want to read all my thoughts on this trade I wrote about it on Friday night once it looked like this was going to happen. As far as this past week is concerned the team went 2-3. They split their series with the Arizona Diamondbacks and lost 2 of 3 to the Angels. They ended the week on a high note by coming back to win an extra innings affair with the Angels to finish the 8 game roadtrip 3-5. It was an inconsistent week. The offense for the most part struggled mightily with runners in scoring position. They only had 1 hit till Mitch Moreland’s single with two outs in the 9th that tied the game. It was glaring to watch this past weekend the team come up multiple times in key spots and only be able to score when the Angels made a mistake like a walk, hit-by-pitch, or a wild pitch. This is going to have to change if the team is going to win games moving forward. The Josh Hamilton trade may or may not help, but this offense needs to get better all around. It is up to the players to improve.

A player that could change the entire look of the offense is Shin Soo Choo. He started to draw more walks this past weekend, which is a positive. Hopefully that means that he is seeing the ball better. If that is happening then it may mean he is not too far away from reverting back to the gap hitter that the Rangers thought they were hitting. It seems like he has come up in numerous spots and not been able to come through. I feel like the offense is a consistent Shin Soo Choo away from really exploding. Elvis Andrus went 4-12 over the weekend, which constitutes a little bit of hot streak for him. Mitch Moreland and Leonys Martin have been hitting well now for the last two weeks. Prince Fielder has been consistently good all season. Adrian Beltre is starting to warm up. If Choo can join these guys this offense can be good even before Hamilton gets here. Then Hamilton doesn’t have to be looked at as the savior of the team. He can just do his thing and be another contributor to the offense.

Top 5 Players of the Week

  1.  Leonys Martin. I have got to go with Martin. He may not have the highest batting average (BA) for the week or the highest of other categories, but he is helping to drive this team. Nearly every rally this past week was either started or involved at some point Martin. He came through with the go-ahead HR yesterday against the Angels. He stole 3 bases, drove in 4 runs, tied for most hits on the team for the week, tied for most total bases, and saw more pitches in his plate appearances than anyone on the team. He is starting to become what the Rangers need in their leadoff hitter. It has been great to see him take that next step. Manager Jeff Banister demoted him after a slow start in the first week and a half. Since being reinserted as leadoff hitter he has been more patient, he has used the bunt more, and he has been hitting well against both left-handers and right-handers. That is why he was my top player for the week.
  2. Mitch Moreland. It was a tossup in my mind between him and Martin. I guess what swayed me was the home run yesterday afternoon and the fact that Moreland only had pinch hitting appearances in Arizona. Moreland in only 13 at-bats had 5 hits, 2 doubles, 3 rbi’s, and a .438 OBP. He was outstanding over the weekend. Martin had the go-ahead hit, but it would not have got to that point unless Moreland has the game-tying hit with two outs in the 9th inning. It was the exact opposite of what the team had done all weekend. Instead of flying out or grounding out, Moreland hit a hard single through the infield. Moreland, finally healthy for the first time in a few years, is starting to figure it out. He is able to hit it to all fields now. It seemed prior to this season that he was strong. His home runs to right field were bombs, but he was just that a dead pull home-run hitter. That cannot be counted on consistently. That is why he would struggle with a low .200 BA. Banister feels like he can hit him wherever he needs him as well. He is providing consistent production and that is what this team really needs.
  3. Nick Martinez. He continues his hot start to the season. He went 1-0, but the team went 2-0 in his starts this past week. He finally gave up an earned run against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. That was it though. He pitched 12 innings this week with only 1 earned run. Overall he has 26 innings with only 1 earned run and a 0.35 ERA. He has not been a dominant starter such as Yu Darvish, but he has been able to make the right pitch when needed. He has the ability to run his fastball in on right-handers and cause them to hit easy grounders or pop-ups. He will not pitch like this all season, but he will be good. He does not fold when the pressure is on, that is often times when he pitches his best. He gave up 3 base hits to Kole Calhoun yesterday, but was able to always get out of the jam. That was especially difficult with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols being the next two hitters in the lineup. Right now the team is also 4-0 in his starts compared to 3-11 in everyone else’s. It has been great to watch such a young pitcher make drastic improvements in such a short period of time. I am looking forward to seeing what else he can do this season.
  4. Adrian Beltre. Beltre went into Arizona in the middle of a drought. He was in the middle of a 4-33 slump. That changed though this week as time off and time in the cage helped to improve his batting average. He had a .316 BA, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 10 total bases, and played some stellar defense at 3rd. He started double plays off of line drives on both Saturday and Sunday. He also stole his first base of the season. He is starting to look the Adrian Beltre that we have come to know and love these past 4 seasons.
  5. Prince Fielder. I have had Fielder higher in past columns this season, and it is not that he has been bad, it is that other players are starting to play well too. Fielder had a week like any other. He hit .300, had his first home run of the season, 4 RBI’s, 10 total bases as well, and contributed, and had a .864 OPS. He was himself. Those numbers are very similar to what he has been doing. He is still hitting it to all fields and still providing consistent production from the number 3 hole.

A Look Ahead

  • This week they will face two 3 game series against the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A’s. Both of these teams are what many considered the preseason favorites to win the AL West. If the Rangers want to contend these are teams that they are going to have to beat to be real contenders in this division.
  • The pitching matchups in the Mariners series will be Yovanni Gallardo versus Taijuan Walker on Monday night, Ross Detweiler against J.A. Happ on Tuesday night, and Felix Hernandez against Wandy Rodriguez on Wednesday night. No easy matchups in this series. Hopefully Detweiler has used his time off to work on his fastball command. He was too often leaving it up and over the plate in his first 3 starts. He said after his last start that he had seen something on video that was causing his ball to stay up. The key will be keeping the ball down and getting ground balls.
  • The pitching matchups in the Angels series haven’t been determined yet. For the Rangers it will likely be Colby Lewis on Friday, Nick Martinez on Saturday, and Yovanni Gallardo on Sunday. The Rangers will have to get hits with runners in scoring position and be able to pitch well if they want to play well in this series.
  • The homestand starts with the Rangers looking for their first winning streak of the season. I know it sounds incredible that in 18 games they have yet to win two in a row, but it is true. They are 0-6 following a win this season. Hopefully that can change tonight with a win against the Angels.
  • The standings in the AL West look like this
  1. Houston 11-7  0 GB
  2. LA Angels 9-10 2.5 GB
  3. Oakland 8-12  4.0 GB
  4. Seattle  7-11 4.0 GB
  5. Texas   7-11  4.0 GB

Finally the GIF Of the week

 

 

 

Texas Rangers Week 2 Roundup

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Time once again for the Texas Rangers Weekly Roundup. It was a disappointing week for the team. The week saw them lose 2 of 3 at home to the Angels and 2 of 3 on the road to the Mariners. The week also ended poorly as the Rangers blew a 5 run lead to the Mariners on Sunday to lose the series. Their record stands at 5-8 overall and they are 2 games behind the Astros for first place in the AL West. Thankfully for them and everyone else in the division no one has gotten off to a hot start like the Tigers have. If the Rangers can just survive this tough stretch and keep picking up games they should be able to stay in the race.

Top 5 Most Valuable Players of the Week

  1.  Prince Fielder. He still lacks power, but one has to think that it will come eventually. The one thing he is doing is racking up hits. He is doing it with men on base and without men on base. This last week saw him hit for a .368 BA, .850 OPS, and 2 RBI’s. The Rangers after Saturday night’s game against King Felix the team was hitting a league low .201. The only thing keeping them above the mendoza line is Prince Fielder and his .368 BA. One of things I did notice as well in both series was that neither team employed much of a shift on Fielder. That allowed him to be able to get some hits where normally a second baseman or shortstop would be. He has gotten rid of that shift by showing a willingness to hit it to all fields. If he can supply power with this average then he might be able to have a really great season.
  2.  Robinson Chirinos. This may come just on the basis of one game, but that one game was really good. On Tuesday night against the Angels his bat finally came alive. He came into the game 1-13. He left the game with 5 rbi’s, courtesy of a two run double and a 3 run home run. He followed that up on Friday with a solo home run that got the Rangers on the board and helped them to a 3-1 win. He played a big part in helping the Rangers get both wins on the week. Overall for the week he hit .364, wtih 6 rbi’s, and slugged 1.091. That will help solidify his role as starting catcher for this team.
  3. Nick Martinez. He may have only made one start but he was very good in that one start. He pitched another 7 innings against the Angels and allowed only 1 run, but 0 earned runs. That ups his streak to 14 innings without an earned run.  He showed veteran poise in those first two innings as the Angels threatened to blow it open early, but he maintained control and was able to get out of two difficult jams in the first two innings. After that he was able to coast through his last 5 innings. He has been a revelation so far this season and is helping to stabilize the rotation. His next start comes tonight against the Diamondbacks.
  4. Yovanni Gallardo. Each start he is throwing better. He struggled on opening night against the A’s and lost. He got better and picked up a win against Astros at home. Last week he pitched 6 scoreless innings on the road in Seattle and helped the Rangers to a hard fought 3-1 win. He was the pitcher the Rangers thought they were getting when they traded for him. A guy who is not overpowering, but pitches down in the zone and induces a lot of groundballs. In that start he got 14 groundball outs to be exact and 3 double play grounders. He also showed better control and never allowed the game to get out of control. Pitching like that he will win a good number of starts for the Rangers.
  5. Jeff Banister. I know he is not a player, he is the manager. I have to say I like that he is willing to try different lineups and not just stick with the same one over and over again. The Rangers have played 13 games and used 13 different lineups. He is using April to find out what works best. He has remained positive and is communicating with the players about what he expects. Finally, I liked that on Sunday he went for the win in bringing in Feliz in the 8th. Some managers will not be flexible and bring in their closer earlier than the 9th, but Banister wanted the win. It didn’t work out unfortunately, but he went for it and I like that in him. I think as long as he continues with that attitude he will be very successful.

Look Ahead to the Coming Week

The Rangers will finish up their 3 city, 8 game road-trip this Sunday. They will start the week tonight against the Arizona Diamondbacks for a quick two game series. It will be Nick Martinez going up against former OU Sooner righty Chase Anderson. Anderson has no decisions so far this season with a 4.09 ERA in his 11 innings pitched so far this season. The Diamondbacks have won his last 3 starts at Chase Field and are 6-2 in his last 8 starts there. The series will conclude with a game tomorrow night. It will be Yovanni Gallardo going for win number 3 going up against Oklahoma native Archie Bradley. Bradley will be facing his 3rd opening day starter. He already has beat Clayton Kershaw on Opening Day, was in line for the win against World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner, but the bullpen faltered late. He has been pitching very well so far this season. He has a 1-0 record with a 1.42 ERA. The Rangers will have their hands full with both of these starters. The start time for both of these games will be at 8:40.

They will then be off on Thursday before resuming play with a 3 game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The starters for the Angels have not been announced. It looks like it will be Colby Lewis on Friday, Ross Detweiler on Saturday, and then likely Nick Martinez on Sunday. The Rangers will be looking to try to steal 2 out of 3 in this series and even up the season series with the Angels in their 3 game set.

Not a lot of games this week, but an opportunity to rebound and try to get back to winning baseball games. That will be the team’s mission going forward to Arizona and Los Angeles.

Top GIF’s Of the Week