Tag Archives: Chi Chi Gonzalez

Rangers Lose Early Lead and Lose the Game Late

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The Rangers fell to 1-3 last night after a 4-3 loss in the opener of a 4-game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It was a close game, but much like the other two losses walks by Derek … Continue reading →

Season in Review: September/October

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He pitched the Rangers to the Division Series can he pitch them into the ALCS today?

Hamels pitches Rangers to division in game 162

 

Yesterday was my 100th post and in those 100 posts we have covered everything from the disaster that was 2014 to the comeback that was 2015. It has been quite the journey and I hope the next 100 takes the journey from this postseason to possibly a World Series next season. We shall see. Today is the final part of our look back at 2015. It has been a roller coaster of a season so far. The Rangers started off down and in last place in April. They rose back to 2nd place by the end of May. In June they stayed afloat despite injuries to key players. In July they fell way back of the Astros and nearly fell out of third. In August after the trades they rose back to being in 2nd place and leading the wild card. The question became as we entered in September would the Rangers fall back in this month or would they continue to surge. The answer would become both. It was a great month and stressful month of baseball that ended with a celebration.

As we start the month the Rangers are in San Diego for their last interleague series of the season. They had just lost to Tyson Ross and been one-hit the previous night. They were able to bounce back though and win the next game 8-6. The highlight of the game though was Elvis Andrus stealing home.

That was old school Elvis right there. That was a good sign for the team as September was getting started. They won the next night in San Diego in extra innings when Mitch Moreland had the game-winning RBI double. The next day was an off-day and then it got serious as the Rangers were starting a 23-game stretch against AL West teams. This would be where it would be determined what the team would be. Would they be the 2nd wild card, AL West Champion, or out of the playoffs entirely? This 23 game stretch would go a long way to determining that. As we entered into the stretch the team was still leading the 2nd wild card and were 2 games back in the division. They still were in a good position but that all could change if they didn’t continue winning games.

They began the stretch with a 3 game series in Anaheim. C.J. Cron who dominated Rangers pitching all season led the Angels to the victory in the first game and they won 5-2. Derek Holland had maybe his last good start of the season the next day when he pitched 8 innings and held the Angels to 1 run and the Rangers won the game 2-1. They lost the series though the next day when Colby Lewis had another poor start and the Rangers lost 7-0. Not a great start but at least they won one in Anaheim. The next trip took them to Seattle. They struggled all season against Seattle and were facing a 4 game series against the Mariners. The Rangers at least needed a split and that is exactly what they got. Gallardo pitched well and the Rangers won 3-0. They won the next night 9-6 in a game that Cole Hamels pitched. They really relied on the long ball in that game. Shin Soo Choo, Mitch Moreland, Roughned Odor, and Joey Gallo all went deep. Hamels did his thing where he pitched 7 innings and did well enough to get the win. The last two games did not go as well they lost 6-0, and 5-0. I think it was exhaustion from the long road trip and the fact that maybe they had got what they needed and then relaxed. They ended the 10 game road trip with a 5-5 record and were still in the lead for the second wild card ahead of the Twins by one game and still in 2nd place behind the Astros by 2.5 games.

The success of the 10 game homestand would be determined by how they fared against the Houston Astros in the 4 game series. They first had to face the Oakland A’s and could not afford to really look ahead. They did not want to lose ground any further before the 4 game series. Colby Lewis was starting the first game and had not been pitching well heading into this start. 3 straight really poor starts, but on this night he was nearly perfect. He started the game by pitching 7 perfect innings. He gave up a hit to lead off the 8th, but the Rangers were still able to win 4-0 and get the homestand off to a good start. Gallardo got beat the next night though 5-3. The Rangers bounced back in the third game and won 12-4 in the series finale behind a solid start from Chi Chi Gonzalez. Choo who has been red hot at this point continued hitting in this game getting 3 hits and a home run.

Shin Soo Choo who was signed in the winter of 2014 due to his ability to get on base and hit for power had really done neither in his time for the Rangers prior to the All Star break in 2015. He had really struggled and was often times mentioned as one of the worst contracts in all of baseball. In the first half of 2015 he expanded his zone more often than not and looked way too cautious on defense causing him not to get to a lot of balls. The thought with Choo was to just get to the offseason and maybe they can  trade him and hand right field over to Nomar Mazara next season. The story was told that during the All Star break he talked to his wife and she told him to just be himself and to not think about the contract. He had been dwelling too much on how much he was getting paid and not enough on what he did to warrant getting that contract. He came back from the break and started taking more walks, getting more hits, and going after the ball on defense. Day-by-day his average started to go up, his OBP skyrocketed, and he started to hit for more power as he saw better pitches. It was remarkable to see what happened. He hit .274 in August and then in September he may have been the best hitter not just for the Rangers, but the best hitter in the entire American League. As he hit better the team played better. The lineup with him at the 2 hole started to flow better. It gave Fielder and Beltre numerous RBI opportunities. That is why Fielder and Beltre were among the RBI leaders for the month of September and October and that is all Choo. He was getting on base in half of his plate appearances. He hit for a .387 batting average and slugged .613. It may have been his best month as a pro. It was unbelievable to watch and renewed my faith in him heading into 2016. He was the comeback player in my mind from where he was in April to where he was in September.

As the Rangers headed into the season-defining series against the Astros they had momentum and were hungry. Would it be enough to defeat a good Astros team? The Astros had to be thinking they at least needed a split, the Rangers if they wanted to make a dent needed at least 3 and maybe to sweep to really grab the momentum. In the first game the Rangers were down 2-1 against Scott Kazmir when Mitch Moreland who started at first hit a 2-run home run to put the Rangers ahead and Prince Fielder hit a 2-run home run in the 8th provided breathing room. Moreland who normally doesn’t start against tough lefties started at first base when Bannister decided to experiment with Napoli in left field. Hamilton was still being bothered by a sore knee and actually had surgery to clean out his knee. Bannister instead of starting Ryan Rua or Ryan Strasbourger opted for Mike Napoli in order to get his bat in the lineup and to keep Mitch Moreland’s bat in the lineup. It was controversial at the time but it worked and helped the Rangers be able to compete against the tough left handers down the stretch. The second game went much like the first. The Rangers were down 5-4 in the middle innings and came back with a RBI double from Adrian Beltre to score Prince Fielder and tie the game in the 4th inning. The game stay tied until the 9th. Prince Fielder led off with a single. Drew Stubbs came on to pinch-run for him. Adrian Beltre singled and Stubbs went to 3rd. Mitch Moreland then came in to face Will Harris who was a righty that fared very well against lefties. Moreland was up to bat and no outs and he did this.

He delivered the Rangers to first place in the division. The Rangers had been the chasers since the first weekend of the season. They had been as far back as 9 games at one point and looked dead in the water. They played hard, won a ton of games and with this sac fly caught and passed the Astros and were in first place in the division for the first time all season. The season was not over yet. It was great to be in first midway through September, but the journey was not over yet. They still had two games against the Astros and if Houston came back and won the next two then all of this would have been for nothing. The next night after jumping into first place they were facing Cy Young favorite Dallas Keuchel. It would not be an easy game or so one would think. The Rangers took that momentum from the previous night and scored 6 runs in the first inning against Keuchel and ended up scoring 9 runs overall. Keuchel could not get out of the 5th inning. It was maybe his worst start of the season. Once again Choo was in the middle of it as he had another 3 hits, Fielder had 5 RBI’s, and Mike Napoli had 2 hits and a home run as well. It was a stunning night and the Rangers won 14-3. All of a sudden the Rangers are in position to get the sweep and put their foot down as the AL West leader. Lewis pitched well in the finale only allowing 2 runs and after a slow start the Rangers scored 5 runs in the late innings to complete the sweep and win 8-2. Choo was again in the middle of it as he picked up another 4 hits. As the series ended the Rangers were now in first place in the AL West by 2.5 on the Astros and 5.0 games on the Angels.

The Rangers got what they needed and now just needed to hold on down the stretch. Their first test came against the Mariners and they did not fare so well as they lost 2 of 3. Thankfully this was it for games against the Mariners. They then left for a road trip against the A’s and Astros. They needed to really sweep the last place A’s and win at least one against the Astros. They did sweep the A’s in scoring 26 runs in 3 games. They had some momentum heading into Houston. This would be the final series against the Astros and they were up 3.5 games at this point. They needed to win at least one, but they would be in first place even if they got swept. Game one saw Gallardo facing Scott Kazmir. Gallardo pitched well in 4.2 innings and the bullpen was lights out after that and the Rangers won 6-2. As I keep saying Choo was in the middle of this victory as he had 3 hits and a home run. Derek Holland continued his struggles as he had little to no control and the Astros came back in the middle innings and beat the Rangers 9-7.  Choo had another 2 hits in 4 plate appearances. Martin Perez pitched well in the finale giving up 2 runs, no earned, but Dallas Keuchel pitched like the Cy Young winner he is likely to be. The Astros won 4-2. The Rangers did get the one win they needed though and were still 2.5 games up as the final week of the season was getting started.

The last week of the season saw the Rangers facing a 3 game series against the Tigers and a 4 game series against the Angels, all at home. The team likely needed to win at least 4 to secure the division. They got halfway there by winning 2 of 3 against the Tigers. They lost the first game against Justin Verlander, but Cole Hamels got a victory in a game in which he pitched poorly. Gallardo finished off the series by pitching 5.1 innings and only giving up 2 runs. The Rangers were faced with a 4 game series against the Angels with a magic number of 2 to eliminate the Angels and 2 to eliminate the Astros. The team was pushing hard to get it finished, but it would not be easy. Derek Holland again struggled with his control but pitched well enough to only allow 3 runs. Adrian Beltre had a big 3-run double to provide some space with a 4-1 lead. The bullpen held on and the Rangers clinched a playoff spot and eliminated the Angels from the division race with a 5-3 win. The Rangers needed just one victory in their final 3 to clinch the division. They could not get it done on Friday night as the Angels won in the 9th with a base hit from Mike Trout and a RBI single from Albert Pujols to win it. Jered Weaver dominated in that game. They had a chance on Saturday and held a lead in the 9th of 10-6. They had come back from a 5-1 deficit in the 5th to tie and then take the lead with runs in the 6th and 7th innings. The Angels though came back with 9th inning lead off home run from Erick Aybar and Kole Calhoun off Shawn Tolleson, then Ross Ohlendorf was brought in and he could not get outs as the Angels came back to win 11-10. It was a punch in the gut. It was not known would the team rebound on Sunday? Would they face two one-game playoffs coming up on Monday and Tuesday? They set up Cole Hamels to pitch on the last day though for reasons such as this. He was magnificent. He gave up a home run in the first, but dominated after that. He pitched a complete game in game 162 and the Rangers won the game and won the division. It was Hamels’ best start as a Ranger and it came at the most opportune time. The Rangers needed him to come up big and he came up really big on this day. With that start he delivered the Rangers to the division series for the first time since 2011. It was the 6th division championship for the Rangers as a franchise. The Toronto Blue Jays would be waiting for them. On this day the team celebrated a long journey from last place all of last season and into April this season to AL West Champion in 2015. It was a great season. The division series did not go as planned. They won games 1 and 2 in Toronto, including an extra inning classic in game 2. They lost games 3 and 4 though when the pitching did not perform as expected. The Jays outlasted them in what was a classic Game 5 that saw so many things that we had never seen happen in the 7th inning. Jose Bautista capped it off with a monstrous 3-run home run that blew the top off of the Rogers Centre and he flipped his bat all the way to Ottawa.

That disappointment should not take away from what was a great season. 2015 had no expectations, especially after they lost Yu Darvish before the season and then definitely after they lost Derek Holland during the home opener. The team did not quit though and took on the attitude of their manager. They played hard on a night-in night-out basis. Players like Roughned Odor, Shin Soo Choo, Prince Fielder, and Mitch Moreland all came back from injuries or demotions this season and produced in a big way. The no name pitching staff kept them in the race for most of the first half while reinforcements recovered from injury. Then once healthy the team thrived and played very well. Jon Daniels also had maybe his best season as he brought in Wandy Rodriguez,Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Sam Dyson, Will Venable, Mike Napoli, and Drew Stubbs and they all played a role in this team winning the division. Ross Detwiler did not work out as planned, but Yovanni Gallardo did and he pitched very well once the Rangers figured out how best to use him. Jeff Bannister in his rookie season as manager pulled all the right strings as the right time and got better as the season went along. I think he will be even better in his second season as he learns how to best use his bullpen.

There will be some changes for next season though. The Rangers will have a new coaching staff. Mike Maddux left to go to Washington. They let go of bullpen coach Andy Hawkins, and hitting coach Dave Magadan. Looks like Doug Brocail will replace Maddux and it has not been announced who will replace Magadan. They also have some free agents like Colby Lewis, Yovanni Gallardo, Mike Napoli, Drew Stubbs, and others. Next week I will be writing a full length offseason preview. I will look at possible trade candidates, positions they should look to improve, and possible free agent signings. I think now after writing this review I am finally ready to move on to 2016. Spring Training cannot get here soon enough.

Season in Review: July

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Delino returned in July from his hamstring injury.

Delino returned in July from his hamstring injury.

 

The 2015 season unlike many others was a true roller-coaster season. It was the season that saw the Rangers race to last place in the division after one month and then soar to 2nd place in the division after two months. As we pick up our season in review in series in July the Rangers have now settled into the race with the Angels for second place in the division and are in the wild card race as well. The team was able to maintain through June as they dealt with various injuries to Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, and Delino Deshields Jr. By the end of June Beltre and Hamilton had returned but Delino had not yet returned. It was during this point that we really were able to see how important Deshields was to this team. It hurt losing him more than it did Beltre and Hamilton.

Deshields, who was a Rule V pick from the Astros, had never played above Double-A before this season. He had decent minor league numbers in the Astros organization, but Houston did not have any room on their 40 man roster for Deshields. So he was left unprotected and the Rangers chose him in the Rule V draft last winter. They liked his speed and what he could possibly add to this team. He showed enough to make the team out of Spring Training, and the Rangers did not want to send him back to the Astros and so they kept him. At first Bannister did not really know what to do with him, and so he was just a late innings pinch runner. Then later in April he showed he could swing the bat, so he became the 4th outfielder. In May Leonys Martin got hurt and so he played some center field and hit really well. Bannister started hitting him leadoff and that is when the offense took off. Deshields could get on with a bunt, a softly hit ball in the infield, or he could drive it into the gap. Once on base he could make things happen with his legs. He could steal a base, go first to third, or even score from first on a ball in the gap. The offense and the lineup were rolling with him and Choo at the top of the order, but then he strained his hamstring on June 14th. That would keep him out till July 5th.During that span the team averaged just 3.1 runs per game and their record was 8-11. Deshields quietly was the MVP of this team. When he was getting on base at a good clip they would win, when he wouldn’t they would lose. Without him at the top of the order they were really struggling at this point to figure out how to produce runs. Odor, Alberto, and Choo were some of the lead off hitters used. Bannister was trying to find something that would work consistently. He put those at the leadoff and guys like Moreland and Andrus hitting second. It just was a mess. Then on July 5th Deshields came back and was immediately reinserted back into the leadoff spot and Odor was placed in the 2 hole. That seemed to work out big for the team. It did not show up in wins immediately for the team, but there was a different look that had not been there before.

The Rangers even with Deshields back in the lineup ended up getting swept at home by the Angels in a series that was not even close. That was another first half trend was that they struggled in beating teams from the AL West all first half long. They finished the first half 11-23 against the AL West. It is hard to compete for the division with such a poor intra-divsional record. That is something that would have to improve after the break. The Rangers finished up the first half with a couple of series against NL lightweights Arizona and San Diego at home. Unfortunately they lost both games to the Diamondbacks and lost 2 of 3 to the Padres. It was pretty clear at this point that the team was exhausted and running out of steam and it was pretty hard to see if they would be able to compete in the second half. Some shocking changes had also taken place during this stretch. On July 4th the Rangers designated for assignment former closer and Rookie of the year,Neftali Feliz. He was the former electric closer who had helped them reach the World Series in 2010 and 2011 and was converted to a starter in 2012, but blew out his arm and had to have Tommy John surgery. He came back in 2013, but did not have the same velocity. He was in the minors for much of 2014, but was called up after Joakim Soria was traded midseason and became the closer again. In 2015, the velocity still was not there and the consistency was not there either. With Matt Harrison needed to be activated off of the 60-day DL the Rangers decided to DFA Feliz. They ended up releasing him after the 10 days and he signed on with the Detroit Tigers. It was hard to see because it is hard to picture those World Series teams without Feliz and hard to not see him in a Rangers uniform anymore. He was supposed to be our Mariano Rivera. A guy who would close for several years and several potential postseason runs. It was not meant to be though. The team moved forward with Shawn Tolleson and others in the bullpen. Chi Chi Gonzalez was also sent down after struggling for a few starts. He got off to a great start, but hitters adjusted to him and he could no longer miss bats. He was sent down with the command being to work on his swing and miss pitches so that he can put MLB hitters away. Right before the All Star Break Matt Harrison made his triumphant return as well from another back injury. He missed all of 2013 with a back injury, then came back in 2014 and pitched in April and May, but had another episode with his back and missed the rest of 2014. He tried again in 2015 and diligently worked his way back through Spring Training, Extended Spring, and a 30-day rehab assignment in the minors. Finally on Wednesday July 8th he made his return against the Diamonbacks. He replaced Wandy Rodriguez in the rotation. He threw 4 innings, giving up 6 runs, and striking out one. The most important thing was not the result or the runs, but it was that he was back and that he made it through the start without getting hurt again. The team then lost 2 of 3 to the Padres to finish out the first half.

At the break the Rangers were 42-46 and were fortunate to only be 6 games back in the division, but they were also 5.5 games back of the Angels for second and for the wild card as well. It was going to be an uphill battle if the Rangers were going to contend. They needed to play better inside the division, play better at home, get better starting pitching, and find a way to beat lefthanded pitching. Each of those things are what was dragging the team down. It was also at this point that the Mariners were closing in on them for third place. It was a time to relax and recharge the batteries for the stretch run. The race was far from over. The Astros had not been in a true pennant race and so it was anybodies guess on how they would play down the stretch. It was up to the Rangers though to play better themselves and get back into the race. Prince Fielder represented the Rangers in the All Star game in Cincinatti and represented well. He got a 2 run opposite field single and the AL ended up winning 6-3. That closed the book on the first half of the season.

The second half got started with a very important 9 game road trip. The Rangers closed out the first half poorly and would need to really play well in the second half to get back into contention. They started the road trip in Houston for a 3 game series against the division leaders. It did not go as well as you would hope. They lost the first game 3-2, but there was good news in this game. Martin Perez made his long-awaited return from Tommy John surgery in this start. He pitched decently. He made it through 5 innings only giving up 3 runs, struck out 2, and walked two. So all in all not bad for a debut. The offense though could not get a big hit that would have allowed them to win the game. They did bounce back and win the second game behind a huge game from Roughned Odor. He had 3 hits including a triple and a home run. He made the Astros mad with his over the top showmanship and caused a benches clearing argument to occur when Hank Conger tried to say something to Odor. Roughned Odor responded to the benches clearing incident with this.

A bat-flipping triple. This would not be the last time Odor would drive an opponent crazy and it is one of the main reasons why his teammates and fans love him. He plays the game with a swagger that helps him play better and the team as a whole play better. That is the Odor the team was missing in April and May. The Rangers ended up winning this hard fought game that saw both teams and managers get in each others faces. It was a needed win. They could not follow that up with a win in the rubber game of the series as Dallas Keuchel, another lefty, shut them down to help the Astros to a 10-0 win. The Rangers left from there to go to Denver to face the Rockies in a 3 game series. Nick Martinez had a poor start as the Rockies scored 7 runs in the first two innings. He would calm down though and not give up any more runs in the 3rd and 4th innings. The bullpen then went to work shutting down the Rockies from the 5th through the 8th innings. This work by the pitching staff allowed the offense to slowly be able to chip away at that lead. Finally in the 9th, Adrian Beltre did this.

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He tied the game with a double, but unfortunately Tanner Scheppers could not hold the Rockies down in the 9th. He gave up 3 hits and a walk-off win in the 9th to lose it. Not the start the Rangers wanted. They lost 3 out of 4 to start the second half and were now 9 games back in the division and were 6 games under .500. Then the team started to turn it around. They won the next two nights in Colorado and went to Los Angeles to face the Angels and won the first two games there including a come back 7-6 win against the Angels to win the series. They lost the final game of the road tri 13-7 but finished a respectable 5-4 on the road trip to momentarily get the boat back floating instead of sinking.

Then they went home on a trip to finish the month. It was at this point that the Trade Deadline rumors were starting. Were the Rangers in on Cole Hamels, were they trying to compete or sell this season, and would the Rangers trade Gallardo to a true contender? All of these questions were out there as the Rangers started a homestand by facing the New York Yankees in a 4 game series. Jon Daniels had to be pondering all of these as he looked at what was out there. At this point in the season the Rangers were still 4 games under .500, 8 games back in the division, and 5 games back of the second wild card behind 5 other teams. It would have been natural for him to really consider selling and saying that they will be ready with Yu Darvish to go all in next season and try to acquire minor pieces here and there to help fill out the roster and get ready for next season. Then the team lost back-to-back games against the Yankees to start out the 4 game series. They lost 6-2 behind another lackluster start from Matt Harrison,in what would be his last start for the organization. Then the next night they scored 5 runs in the first inning against Chris Capuano and could have scored more. Joe Girardi took Capuano out and put Diego Moreno in the game and he was able to end the first inning. Martin Perez was on the mound for the Rangers in his 3rd start after coming back from Tommy  John surgery and followed that up with not being able to get out of the second inning. The Rangers allowed 11 runs to all of a sudden go from up 5-0 to down 11-5. It was an embarrasing night and probably rock bottom for team. They lost the game 21-5. Wandy Rodriguez came in after Perez and gave up 7 more runs in what was the last appearance he made in a Rangers uniform. Adam Rosales even came in to pitch in the 9th. It looked like that was maybe it. It was hard to convince myself the team could compete after a night like that. At this point the Rangers were 8 games back in the division still and were just not playing well at home. Then the tide started to turn as we neared the end of the month. It was July 29th and the Rangers had two games left against the Yankees and after getting beat down 21-5 they could go one of two directions. They could either pack it in or respond the only way they knew how and that is by winning. Jeff Bannister and the team adopted the phrase Never Ever Quit for this season. This team was not about to lay down after that 21-5. That was the line in the sand moment. The players rebounded by winning 5-2 the next night behind a great outing from Colby Lewis. Then looking for a split in the series beat the Yankees with a walkoff from Josh Hamilton off feared left handed closer Andrew Miller on a hit the looked and sounded like this.

It was also during these last two days that word got out that the Rangers had acquired Cole Hamels. It would not be announced till July 31st, but it was agreed upon on July 29th. The deal was Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman from the Phillies for Alec Asher, Jered Eickhoff, Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro, Nick Williams, and Matt Harrison. It took a lot of players to get him here, but the Rangers got it done and had their ace in hand for the home stretch. The question would be could he have the same impact that Cliff Lee had on the team back in 2010. We shall see and it was a trade that showed the depth that Jon Daniels had spent years developing for a moment like this. The trade nationally looked like a trade that was made in order to compete in 2016, but Jon Daniels was giving this year’s team a chance to compete. Jake Diekman was also included in the trade to help improve the bullpen. Jon Daniels also went and got Sam Dyson right before the deadline for catcher Tomas Telis to help fortify the bullpen even more. All of these were players the Rangers would have under control for at least the next 3 seasons. It was a trade that worked in the present and in the future.

With this news and excitement the Rangers finished off the month by beating the Giants and Madison Bumgarner 6-3. It was a mismatch except for Nick Martinez actually outpitching Bumgarner and the Rangers winning. Their ace was in hand and their bullpen was made stronger and the team was suddenly on a 3 game winning streak that brought their record to 50-52 on July 31st. They were seven games back in the division and still in 3rd place. The team liked their position more than they did just a few days prior. Having Cole Hamels gave this team confidence every 5 days that they would have a shot at winning. Sam Dyson and Jake Diekman being brought in also helped a bullpen that had already been pitching pretty well and helped them become great.

As we close the book on July, the month was mainly about surviving. The team had stretches where they played well and not so well. For the month the overall record was 11-14. They struggled pitching, struggled holding leads, struggled hitting the ball consistenly, and just could not win games. The credit goes to Jon Daniels though for continuing to believe in this team and bringing in the resources for them to be able to play better down the stretch and better they did.

Tomorrow we will take a look at August when the Rangers surged from 3rd place to into the Wild Card lead by the end of the month and were making an assault on the lead the Astros held in the division.

Season in Review: June

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Joey Gallo makes his Texas Rangers Debut on June 2nd.

Joey Gallo makes his Texas Rangers Debut on June 2nd.

May was a great month for the Rangers, but at the very end the team suffered losses off the field in losing Adrian Beltre to a thumb injury and Josh Hamilton to a hamstring injury. They were in good position in the standings, but could they remain there while these players recovered? The other question became who would replace Beltre at 3rd? Would it be Ed Lucas or Thomas Fields? Would they bring up Odor from AAA and shift Alberto to 3rd? The completely out of the box idea was to bring Joey Gallo up from AA and have him play 3rd, but the though with that was that he was not ready for MLB pitching. The Rangers started the month with an off day before continuing their homestand against the Chicago White Sox. Word started leaking out the Rangers were considering bringing up Joey Gallo. Then late Monday afternoon it became official that Rangers prospect Joey Gallo would make his long anticipated MLB debut on Tuesday night. We would be able to see if he could contribute and fill that hole left in the lineup by Beltre. Lot of debate on both sides of this, is this harming his long term development, is he ready, and the other side saying why not, it gives the lineup another power threat. Up to this point in the season that Tuesday night game was the most excited I have been about watching a Rangers game in 2015. No one knew what to expect. None of the experts, coaches, or anyone knew how he would perform. I was expecting maybe a hit and 3 strikeouts going up against Jeff Szmardija. That is not even close to what we got. I will just let the video do the talking.

He hit a home run, a double, and a single. He was magnificent and helped lead the Rangers to a 15-2 win. It was eye opening really and showed the potential that he has. As a fan I knew that he wouldn’t do that every night, but it was great to see in his debut. That went to show that the Rangers might be able to survive this stretch. It was not going to be easy and the schedule was filled with lose able games, but if the Rangers could play close to or at .500 ball for the month I thought they would be okay for the long run.

The first half of the month they played a lot better than that though. They ended up winning 2 of 3 against the White Sox, 2 of 3 against the Royals and that gave them a 7-3 homestand and I believe their first winning homestand of the season. The offense was clicking during this stretch, Prince Fielder cooled down from his red hot May, and the team as a whole was playing well. What also changed was that at the end of May Jeff Bannister instituted a no-roles bullpen meaning that he could bring in whoever he thought was best for the situation. That ended up turning back into a roles bullpen midway through June, but the new role that was most important was Shawn Tolleson had become the new closer. He took over for an ineffective Neftali Feliz, who became a setup pitcher. Feliz, the once dominant closer, still had not regained his form from 2010-2011. The velocity was not there which made the secondary pitches less effective. After a month and a half of rough outings Bannister made Tolleson the closer and never looked back. Tolleson captured that role and helped to solidify the back end of the bullpen. It allowed the Rangers to hold on to those close games that they were losing in April and May.

The team just kept rolling though despite the injuries, they did lose a series on the road to the A’s. The won the first game, but lost the next two. The bullpen blew one game and Scott Kazmir dominated them in the other. The good thing through this point was that Chi Chi Gonzalez was still pitching well. He had taken over Ross Detwiler’s spot in the rotation in late May and was living up to the hype. He had nearly made the team out of Spring Training. He was one of the last cuts, but he went down to AAA and still pitched well and so when the Rangers decided they had given Detwiler enough opportunities they decided to bring Gonzalez up and see what he could do. At this point the team was just trying to make it till guys like Martin Perez, Matt Harrison, and Derek Holland could come back. Wandy was starting to cool down by this point in this season and looked to be on his last legs, but they did not really have a great alternative. The pitcher who was throwing well was Yovanni Gallardo. This was his best month of the season and he helped to carry the Rangers through this difficult stretch. He gave up 2 earned runs the entire month of June, pitched at least 7 innings in 3 of the starts, and helped the team win 3 of his 5 starts. He was great.

The turning point of the month though was when Delino Deshields pulled up lame with a hamstring injury on June 14th. The Rangers had won the first two games against the Twins, but lost on this Sunday and lost Deshields to the DL after this injury. The Rangers at this point called Odor back up to majors. While in AAA he had hit for a .352 BA, 5 home runs, and slugged .639. He really played well and the Rangers thought he was ready. So they threw him out there and he was ready and looked like the old Roughned Odor. This Odor would help the Rangers win the next three games against the Dodgers. They won the first two at home and including a walk off win off the bat of Robinson Chirinos in the second game. Then the series shifted to Los Angeles for the next two games. They would face Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. Joey Gallo had another one of those moments in LA against Kershaw.

He hit a monster shot off of Kershaw. Left-handers don’t normally do that against him, and left handed rookies definitely don’t do that. It was like Vin Scully said “a marble”. Just unreal and helped this team who had struggled against left-handers all season long beat perhaps the best left handed pitcher in all of baseball and win this 4 game series against the Dodgers. They did lose against Zack Greinke in the finale of the series, but even then it was only a 1-0 loss and it ended with a walk-off balk by Keone Kela. Anthony Ranaudo had started the game and pitched very well. The Rangers would then go to Chicago to face another tough lefty in Chris Sale, and while they did not do anything against Sale except for strike out 12 times, Colby Lewis kept them in the game by holding the White Sox to just one run. Then in the 9th, Mitch Moreland was brought on as a pinch hitter to face David Robertson with two runners on base and he did this.

He gave the Rangers the lead and the win. Remarkably enough the Rangers had not only survived this stretch without Beltre, Hamilton, and Deshields now, but they were winning a lot of games. They were at their high point of 6 games over .500 at 37-31, in second place in the West, and only 2.5 games behind the Astros. Things were looking really good. At this point only a matter of a week or so till Beltre and Hamilton both came back. Ryan Rua had just come back from the heel injury, and so things were looking like they might be able to catch the Astros before the All Star Break. That is normally the time when things start to take a turn south and boy did they ever for the Rangers. The injuries and all the tough pitchers that they faced took a toll on the whole team. They had been winning games for about a week or so at this point with smoke and mirrors. They were not scoring a high amount of runs, but were pitching just well enough to win games. After beating Chris Sale and the White Sox that changed. The pitching was still good, but the offense kept just scoring 2 runs, while the pitching was allowing 3. That caused them to lose the next two games in Chicago. Then the team went back home to face the A’s in a 3 game series and lost all 3 games as the pitching got a lot worse. Adrian Beltre did come back during this homestand, but it would take him while to get his timing back as he was learning to play with his injured thumb. Beltre coming back though did not help the pitching. Wandy Rodriguez started to only throw well on the road and throw up clunkers at home. The league caught up to Chi Chi and he started to not be as effective and Joey Gallo started striking out a lot more and being less effective. Hanser Alberto who had filled in a 2nd and 3rd was also not hitting and Prince Fielder had massively cooled down without Beltre in the lineup. Roughned Odor had come back and was playing great, but unfortunately no one else was. It was hard to win games. All of this would lead to the A’s sweeping them at home and then the Blue Jays took the first game of the series to end what had become a 6 game losing streak and just like that they were back at .500 and 5.0 games back in the division. Thankfully it was Yovanni Gallardo’s turn in the rotation. He would go up against the Blue Jays on that Saturday and would shut them out and help the team end that long losing streak. That was a trend this season was Gallardo pitching well against the Blue Jays. His being right handed and being able to pitch on the corners allowed him to be able to stay away from the power zones of the Blue Jays hitters. They would go on to lose the next day, but Chi Chi pitched well other than just one inning, but the offense couldn’t get enough runs to win the game. Then to end the month the Rangers went to a Baltimore and since it was on the road Wandy pitched well. He was great in this start as he pitched 5 innings, giving up 1 run, and striking out 7 and the Rangers won 8-1. Then on the final day of the month the Rangers won again 8-6 this time behind a good start from Colby Lewis and great offensive production.

The Rangers had some great highs in this month with the debut of Joey Gallo, winning 3 games against the Dodgers, and getting up as high as 2nd place in the division. They also had some lows and that was losing Deshields and then losing 6 straight and 7 of 8 at the end of the month. It was clear by the mid of June the team was running out of steam. They did get Adrian Beltre and Josh Hamilton back by the end of the month and had survived June. They finished the month with an overall record of 40-38, 5 games back in the division, and 1 game behind the Angels for second place. Overall they went 14-13 for the month, which allowed them to stay in the race through what was a difficult month of June. It was also great to see Joey Gallo finally in a Rangers uniform and he had some great and some not so great moments. Hanser Alberto proved that he could hit on this level and Roughned Odor showed that he was not a flash in the pan either. Odor would be perhaps the Rangers best player from the time he came back up through the month of July. We will continue detailing his remarkable return next week. Chi Chi Gonzalez was great in the rotation as well, but did show some holes. He had issues putting hitters away as he was not able to get swings and misses as often as he needed to.  The most important thing was that the Rangers were still in the race after this month. It could have very easily went very south with all the injuries, but Jeff Bannister and the team kept that from happening.

Next week I will come back and detail the month of July and the entire second half. July features the return of Delino Deshields, the return of Martin Perez and Matt Harrison, a 21-5 beatdown, and surprising trades that would completely turn around the fortunes of this team. May was the month that set them on the path to contending, June was about surviving, and July will be about becoming a true contender. That will be next Monday that I will write and continue with part 4 of the 2015 Season in Review.

Season in Review: May

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  Today, we pick up our 2015 Season in Review by looking back at the month that changed it all for the Rangers and that is May. Prior to May 1st it looked like this was going to be another … Continue reading →

Rangers-Jays ALDS Game 4 Preview

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The Rangers lost last night 5-1 to extend this series to this afternoon’s game 4. They struggled with Estrada’s changeup all night and were not as sharp in the field as they needed to be. Martin Perez though pitched a … Continue reading →

Offense continues to be a lightweight in Loss to Angels

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The Texas Rangers got off to a good start last night leading 3-0 after the first inning, but couldn’t build on it and the Angels came back to take the first game of this series 6-4. Ross Detweiler picked up his second loss of the season and the Rangers fell to 3-5.  He was good the first time through the order in limiting the Angels to just no runs. After that though the Angels went 7-17, 2 home runs, and 2 BB’s to go from 3-0 to 5-3. He showed the same tendencies he showed last week against Oakland. He is going to have to pitch much better or they will banish him to middle relief. He has to show that he can control his fastball and throw it in the lower portion of the strike zone and be able to mix up his pitch selection in order to make it through a lineup 2 or 3 times without the hitters picking up on what he is doing. Right now, he is leaving his fastballs up and over the plate and American League hitters will make you pay for that. The Rangers want him to succeed and will give him every opportunity to succeed, because they don’t want to have to go to Anthony Ranaudo and Chi Chi Gonzalez this early in the season. If come Mid May or early June and he is still struggling they will certainly pull the trigger on a switch. Sometimes the team finds out that a player is just not meant to be a starter. Detweiler could be that type of pitcher, tantalizing stuff but just can’t control it enough to be a quality starting pitcher. The Nationals seemed to think the same thing as they went back and forth with him between the bullpen and the rotation. It will be up to Jeff Banister and management to make a determination down the line on Detweiler on if he can be a starting pitcher for this team.

He was not the only reason they lost though. The offense continues to struggle. They did score 3 runs in the first, but after that could not get any other rallies going. Right now they are a soft hitting singles team. They have hit 4 home runs on the season and they all came last Thursday against the A’s. No home runs in the other 7 games. They don’t have a lot of power, but you would figure a lineup with Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre, and Mitch Moreland would be able to generate more than 4 home runs. Right now, Prince Fielder has become the $24 million dollar singles hitter. He is hitting for a high average at .394, and getting on base at a .444 clip, but he only has two extra base hits and is not even getting close to hitting home runs. The Rangers need some boom to their lineup and Fielder isn’t really providing it. He only hit 1 home run in Spring Training too and so it could just be a matter of him trying to regain his timing coming back from neck surgery and as he gets more comfortable the power swing will return. If not this offense will be in trouble because they are expecting I would figure at least 30 home runs from this guy. That is where the problems lie is that they have to work so hard to get any runs. It is not a bloop and a blast. It is a hit, followed, by another hit, and followed by another hit to get a run in. Right now they don’t have 3 guys in a row who are hitting well enough to consistently produce runs. 6 of the 9 starters in the lineup are hitting below .200 and Mitch Moreland is trending that way hitting .217 right now. The offense will continue to struggle every night until they either start producing home runs or players like Martin, Choo, Andrus, Moreland, and Odor can get hits at a more consistent rate than they are right now. Hopefully that will start tonight, if not the Rangers could be in for a 3rd straight loss.

Other Game Notes

  • Man do I hate David Freese. It seems like everytime we face the Angels now he does something to the Rangers. Last night it was hitting a solo home run. Its just like Game 6 wasn’t enough for him, he just has to continue to torture Ranger fans and remind them of Game 6 everytime he steps to the plate. Why couldn’t the Cardinals have traded him to somebody in the National League. I would have much preferred that.
  • Something else to watch, Chirinos has gotten off to a very slow start offensively this season and was even pinch hit for in the 9th inning. He is another one who could be in danger of losing his starting spot. Carlos Corporan has been hitting very well in his starts behind the plate and if he keeps it up they might make him the starter. Chirinos is 1-13 on the season with 4 strikeouts. I am sure with the way the offense is struggling 1-9 that Banister might want to put the more offensively gifted catcher Corporan behind the plate. Jorge Alfaro does wait in the wings for probably next season to get his shot at starting.
  • Stolmy Pimentel made his first appearance for the Rangers last night as well. The bullpen really needed a guy to come in and take innings and he certainly did last night. He pitched from the end of the 6th inning into the 9th inning before he tired out and had to be relieved by Roman Mendez. That allowed Feliz, Tolleson, and Kela to all get a day off. Now there is two games left in this series then the whole team gets a day off. Tanner Scheppers should also be returning either tonight or tomorrow. That will give the bullpen more depth and allow guys to get more rest.
  • Tonight it will be Nick Martinez going for his second win of the season against the Angels starter Drew Rucinski. Martinez is trying to build on his strong start against the A’s last Thursday and help to end the first losing streak of the season. Go Rangers!!!!!

Rangers Lose 11-0

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Rangers play bad and lose worse in game 3 of this opening series against the Oakland A’s. There is no need for a doctorate degree to determine why they lost this game. Kazmir dominated, Detweiler pitched poorly, and the defense did not help out at all last night as they committed 4 errors. The good thing is that this was only 1 game. It only counts as one loss and so if they can win today they still will have got the split they were looking for. Last night just like opening night they were done in with their pitching and lack of offense. I said it last year on this blog that there is a formula for this team to win games. The starter gives the team 6 innings, allowing 2 or fewer runs, the offense scratches together 3 or more runs, then the bullpen closes it out. That is what happened Tuesday with Colby Lewis and they won. On Monday Gallardo struggled in his 5 innings and yesterday Detweiler was even worse in his 4.1 innings.

Gallardo and Detweiler have one thing in common, and that is they are both from the National League (NL). There is always a period of adjustment for NL pitchers. They go from having to face 8 hitters and a pitcher to facing good to great hitters from 1-9 in the lineup. In the past we have seen that with Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, and even farther back Pedro Astacio, and Mark Clark. Gallardo and Detweiler both showed flashes, it just comes down to control, throwing first pitch strikes, and being able to put away hitters when there is 2 strikes in the count. If they can do that they will give themselves a better shot at winning. The good thing is that their next starts will be at home in Arlington.

Other Game Notes

  • Elvis Andrus through the first 3 games has 4 errors. I know it is a small sample size and it is just the first week of the season. That is kind of concerning though and something to watch. I am sure it will get better and he will not commit errors every game. He has made some spectacular plays too, so I am sure it is just a matter of bad luck.
  • Ross Detweiler was very bad tonight and I know I just got done saying that, but something to watch is that the bullpen has no left handers and Chi Chi Gonzalez is back in Round Rock just sitting there waiting for the call. Lone Star Ball’s Adam Morris even tweeted this last night during the game. lsb tweet If Detweiler continues pitching poorly and Gonzalez gets off to a good start this month do the Rangers call up Gonzalez in May and put Detweiler back in the bullpen where he was for the Nationals last year? That is a storyline to follow because if Chi Chi pitches well the Rangers will want to find a spot for him in the rotation.
  • Thought it was weird to already give Beltre a day off in the field in game 3. I kind of expected Rosales to get the start at 3rd today with it being a day game after a night game.
  • The Rangers play a matinee game today to close out the series. It will be Nick Martinez going up against Kendall Graveman at 2:35 as the Rangers go for a split in this weird series. Wouldn’t surprise me to see the Rangers squeak out another 3-1 or 2-0 victory. Go Rangers!!!

 

Where Have I Been

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I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything. More than anything the constant losing just beat me down. I didn’t really have anything I wanted to say about what was going on. At times it was very hard to watch. Especially the losing streaks in June and July. I will say though that September was very encouraging for this team. They beat several teams that were playoff bound and the sweep in September helped to nearly keep the Oakland A’s out of the playoffs. Several players made positive impressions in the seasons final weeks.

Rougned Odor was one of these players. September was his best month. He had a .296 BA and .826 OPS, and had more hits and runs in September than any other month. It was clear as the season went along he got more comfortable.  He has established himself in my mind as the 2nd baseman going forward. I know Profar is likely to be healthy come Spring Training, but they both have one season under their belt and in my mind Odor’s season was much better. He made better contact and was very solid defensively. He still needs to continue to get better. He profiles in my mind as a Dustin Pedroia type, a guy who gives maximum effort and his power is generated by his quick swing. I could certainly see him with his left-handed swing and the short porch there in Arlington going for 15-20 home runs when his body matures. Profar we really don’t know. He is coming off of a serious shoulder injury that kept him out all of 2014. He reportedly will be cleared to throw in January. That will still give him time to be ready for camp in March. I think being out all season puts him behind the 8 ball and not having the same level of success that Odor had last year will result in him being sent to Triple-A to start the year. If I was management and Odor is healthy to break camp, I would go with him and send Profar to Round Rock to get at-bats every day. That way he can get comfortable again playing in games. Then he will be ready if someone gets hurt or if you need a better utility player. I think it is more important to get him at-bats every day and be in the field on a daily basis as he works his way back from the shoulder injury.

Derek Holland was another player who came back from injury and looked like the player the Rangers have envisioned since he came to the majors in 2009. With the injury to Yu Darvish he came back and became the staff ace the team needed in September. He came in throwing strikes, being economical with his pitches, and lasting 7 or 8 innings every time out. In the past he would put up those performances but follow it up with performances where he could not get out of the 3rd or 4th inning. He looked as fresh as he has ever looked and gave fans something to look forward to in 2015. A Darvish-Holland one-two punch in the rotation is very formidable. Darvish is very overpowering and Holland is very economical. Those two are the reason I do not expect the Rangers to be major players in the free agent pitching market. There is no reason to overpay to get a James Shields or a Jon Lester to come here when you have Darvish and Holland in the top two spots. To get Shields would also require giving up the number 4 pick in the draft and they are not going to do that.

Now that we are talking about the rotation for next year lets talk about what I think the Rangers should do this offseason. Here is my list of objectives for Jon Daniels and his staff this offseason.

1) Decide who will be the top 4 of your rotation. Darvish and Holland will be one-two, but who else will be in the rotation? I don’t mind a competition for the number 5 spot, but having spots 3 and 4 open will not be good for next years team. I would try hard to bring back Colby Lewis. He is a proven veteran that showed the variety of injuries he suffered from in 2012 and 2013 would not end his career. He is another that got better as the season went along. In April and May he could not get back the 5.2 innings mark, but from July 31st to the end of the season he averaged 7 innings per start. That includes two complete games and one of them being a shutout. Next years team needs that veteran presence and leadership in the rotation. I wouldn’t pay outrageously for him, but I would bring him back. I think you offer a 1 year contract with a easily reached option like 130-150 innings for a second year and make the contract worth about 3 or 4 million and the option year for about 5 or 6 million. I think he wants to come back, but he also wants to test the market while healthy for the first time since coming back from Japan. In the end though the Rangers lack of depth in the rotation and his ties to the area will bring him back for 2015 and possibly 2016. Second, go ahead and make Nick Tepesch your number 4 starter. He has been there for two years now and has gotten better each season. He is a solid number 4 guy who gets ground balls and can provide innings. Then in Spring Training have a camp competition between Nick Martinez, Lisalverto Bonilla, Luke Jackson, and Chi-Chi Gonzalez for the number 5 spot. All of those guys are talented and ready for the opportunity. The good thing is there will be depth this year.

2) Get everyone healthy and have them remain healthy. Just getting back healthy players will cause them to be much better next season. I am expecting them to compete for the division title with the Angels next year. Next season Prince Fielder, Shin Shoo Choo, Jurickson Profar, Engel Beltre, Mitch Moreland, Tanner Scheppers,  and Martin Perez after the All Star Break will certainly help this team. It will give them needed depth in their lineup, bullpen, and bench.

3) Stay on top of Elvis Andrus this offseason. Last offseason the story goes he didn’t do a throwing program and that caused his shoulder to be fatigued in Spring Training and him to miss game. He also came in to camp overweight and both of those things caused him to lose range defensively, steal less bases than ever before, and just overall not have as good of a season. In his exit interview he promised to get a couple of weeks rest and then get after and come into camp in better shape next year. For the Rangers to compete they need an Elvis that is dedicated and in the best shape of his life. He needs to be able to drive the balls into the gaps, cause havoc on the bases, and play gold-glove level defense. He cannot slack off this offseason like last year. He has to be the team leader the Rangers need him to be. 2015 will be year 7 of the Elvis experience and it needs to be the year he takes a step forward offensively and in his role in the clubhouse. Rangers management and coaching staff needs to be checking on Elvis wherever he is and make sure that he is ready for camp in February.

4) As far as a free agent target I have heard talk about Torii Hunter and Michael Morse. I would not mind either of those guys. Hunter might want to finally sign here, since he already lives in the Dallas area in the offseason and is near the end of his career. Hunter could be a good guy to slot into the number two hole in the lineup and he can still hit and he can still field. They are letting Alex Rios go and so they need someone to fill the right field spot and Hunter could certainly be that guy. Morse is a guy who can be a strong right-handed DH. You can platoon him with Mitch Moreland. Moreland can still spell Fielder at first base and play some in the outfield as well. Bringing Morse in gives you a stronger bench and a lineup that will hit for more power. They could also decide that they like Smolinski and put him in right field. He certainly impressed after he came back from injury and will get a look in Spring Training for a starting job.

I think that is it. For the most part just getting healthy will solve a lot of their problems. The Rangers this past season were like the 1997 Spurs that had one terrible season, ended up in the lottery, got the number one pick, and drafted Tim Duncan. The Rangers don’t need to blow it up and rebuild. What the end of the season proved is that they are not far away. The A’s went all in and came up short and will probably rebuild next season, the Mariners still have great pitching but no offense, and the Angels will still be really good. A healthy Rangers team with one or two tweaks will be back in the race in 2015 and with a new energetic manager in Jeff Bannister. I would not be surprised at all to see them back in the playoffs next season.

I will try to write more this offseason as stuff happens. I am still hopeful and still a big time baseball fan. I have been through the good times and the bad time and will never stop believing in my Rangers.

The Future of the Texas Rangers

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The 2014 season is about halfway over and for the Texas Rangers it has turned from a season of promise into a lost season due to all the injuries. In all the Rangers have made 20 DL moves this season, 3/5 of their expected rotation is on the DL, their starting and backup first basemen are gone for the season, and numerous other star players and role players have missed time due to injury. 2014 will always be in my mind “the nightmare season” that as soon as it is over will never be spoken of again. It was the year players started getting hurt in the offseason, it carried over into Spring Training workouts and the games, and extended into the regular season. It has felt like the Rangers have not went more than two weeks without having to make a DL move. It has been a valiant effort by Ron Washington and the team to stay as close to .500 as they have, but as of today they are 11.5 GB of the division, and 4.5 GB of the wild card. They are still in the race right now for one of the wild card spots and so the season isn’t completely over, but I have decided instead of dwelling on the present on this blog I will be focusing the next couple of weeks looking into the future.

In the present it looks bleak, the Rangers have players that are hurt or underperforming, they only have a good chance of winning 1 out of every 5 games, and there really isn’t much in the way of reinforcements coming into the team. Despite all of that though the near future looks bright.  They have prospects such as Joey Gallo, Luke Jackson, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Jorge Alfaro, Nomar Manzaro, Ryan Rua, and others that are still developing and on their way up. On the major league club we have seen the promise and potential that Michael Choice, Roughned Odor, Luis Sardinas, Robinson Chirinos, Nick Martinez, and Nick Tepesch have shown. The future looks promising, but these players are not ready yet. They will have their moments, but not sustained and rarely in the late innings. In some ways this feels a lot like 2008 and 2009 in that there were a lot of players who were good, but they did not know how to win yet. They had to spend those two years learning how to win and then in 2010 it all came together. This group of players has to learn how to win together and in order to become winners a team first has to lose. It happens in every sport, it is called the slow build. For the Rangers that is what 2006-2009 was. It was getting the pieces together and then learning how to win. Before the Dallas Cowboys won their last 3 Super Bowls they had to endure seasons of 1-15, 7-9, 11-5, before going 13-3 and winning the Super Bowl. That is where the Rangers are back to right now.

Over the next two weeks leading into the All Star Break I will be writing 5 parts to our future of the Texas Rangers series. The first part will take a look at Joey Gallo. He has been called the most interesting man in the minors by Grantland and so I will be writing part one about him and the expected impact that he will have on this team, when he will arrive, and what type of player he will likely become. The second part will take a look at the top 10 Rangers prospects and their expected arrival time and what kind of impact they will have on this team. The third part will take a look at the moves the Rangers need to make to win in 2015 and beyond. The fourth part will take a look at the young players on the roster right now and what their ceiling is and if they can become long term contributors to the team. The fifth and final part will be prediction for what the 2016 roster will look like. It will be a compilation of the previous four parts and look toward 2016 when many of these players will have made or will make their debuts. Baseball America does something like this in their prospect handbooks every year where they jump ahead 3 years to make their prediction on the starting lineup and rotation. I will do the same to close out this 5 part series.

In conclusion Rangers fans don’t despair. I know that it may be hard to watch this years team and the season cannot get over quick enough, but enjoy it while it is here. Spend the games watching Roughned Odor hit or Nick Martinez pitch and realize that this is the future and while it may not be great now, they will be once they have some more seasoning under their belt. It takes time to grow for young players such as them, but I would expect that as soon as next season they will be back in the hunt for a playoff berth next season and in 2016 I expect to see them back in contention for another World Series berth. Unfortunately 2014 is not 2015 or 2016. The future will be better I guarantee that.