Rangers Season Comes Crashing Down

Posted on October 15, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

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The 2015 campaign for the Texas Rangers came to a sudden halt yesterday afternoon with a 6-3 defeat that was much closer than that. Toronto advances to its first ALCS since 1993 and the Rangers once again fall just … Continue reading →

Rangers-Jays Game 5 Preview

Posted on October 14, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

This is it. By the end of the day today the Rangers season will be over or they will be advancing to the ALCS to face either the Royals or Astros. It has come to this after two uninspiring … Continue reading →

Texas Rangers-Toronto Blue Jays ALDS Preview

Posted on October 7, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

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Game 1: Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays October 8th, 2:30 p.m. (CST) Game 2: Texas Rangers at Toronto Blue Jays October 9th, 11:30 am (CST) … Continue reading →

Rangers Enter the Stretch Run

Posted on August 5, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

Jeff Banister congratulating catcher Chris Giminez after hard fought victory over the Astros

Well here we are and it is August 5th and the Texas Rangers are at .500 and solidly in the playoff race for the wildcard and for the AL West. People say August is the dog days of summer for the baseball season, but this year it could the month that the contenders separate themselves from the rest of the pack. This month alone the Rangers will have series against the Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and Baltimore Orioles. Those are all the teams they are competing against for one of the two AL wildcards. Those series starts on August 11th and run through August 30th. That 2 1/2 week stretch will really determine if they will still be in the race come September 1st.The success of this past week has given them the opportunity to still be in the race as we move forward into August. Lets take a look back at where we were a week ago today and where we stand today, because in my opinion this week will go down as the turning point in the season.

It started right after the 21-5 beat down at the hands of the Yankees. That was hitting rock bottom for the team. They had scored 5 runs in the first to force out Chris Capuano, but then allowed 21 runs unanswered and didn’t get a hit the rest of the night. It was an absolute embarrassment in front of the home crowd. The team could have went one of two directions after that game, they could have started to pack it in like they did in that game and play out the string looking forward to next season or they could rally and say now is the time to turn it around. It would have been easy to pack it in, the bullpen had blown big leads in the first two games of the series against the Yankees and they had just given up 21 runs. The team though decided to rally and were able to earn a hard-fought win the next night behind the pitching of Colby Lewis. Lewis has been the rock on the pitching staff this year and was the perfect guy to pitch the night after that beat down. He was able to keep the Yankees off-balance and the maligned bullpen was able to hold on to get the win.

The win though was an after-thought after news started to come out during the game that the Rangers were closing in on a deal for Phillies ace Cole Hamels. As the night progressed news started to come out that it was close, that they were finalizing a deal, and then player names started to come out. It turned out to be a pretty big trade and it can be looked at as a win-win for both sides. The trade ended up being Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, and cash from the Phillies for Matt Harrison, Jorge Alfaro, Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, Alec Asher, and Jerad Eickhoff. It was quite the haul for the Phillies, but the Rangers got that number one starter that the 2015 Rangers have been missing and someone to combine with Yu Darvish next season to have a formidable rotation for 2016 and beyond. That news started to come out Wednesday night and the trade was actually finalized on Friday afternoon before the trade deadline. The Rangers proceeded to play Thursday night and won a back-and-forth game with a walkoff hit from Josh Hamilton against Yankee closer Andrew Miller, who is dominant against left-handers. Just like that they end up the Yankees series with a split.

They follow-up that series with a 3 game series against defending World Champion San Francisco Giants. The Cole Hamels trade was announced Friday morning and they also completed a trade for Marlins reliever Sam Dyson at the deadline. Game one of the series saw struggling Nick Martinez facing World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner. It was a clear mismatch and add to that the Rangers are one of the worst teams against left-handed pitchers. Yet, they were able to score 6 runs in the first two innings against Bumgarner and jump out to a 6-2 lead with much of that coming from home runs from Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre. Nick Martinez settled down after the second and was able to pitch into the 7th and not give up any more runs. All of a sudden the Rangers are on a 3 game win streak following 21-5 and with Cole Hamels on the mound on Saturday night for his first start.

Cole Hamels made his first start since pitching a no-hitter against the Cubs the previous Saturday. The Giants have hit Cole Hamels hard in the past including scoring 10 runs against him on July 10th. Buster Posey has a over .400 batting average in his career against Hamels. So, not the best matchup for the Rangers newest acquisition in his first start, but he did pitch well. He pitched 7.2 innings, giving up 4 runs, and leaving with a 3 run lead. The problem was that it was now up to the bullpen to close out this game and unfortunately the lead was lost by Tanner Scheppers. Scheppers who has consistently being inconsistent this year gave up the 3 runs that tied the game and was removed without even getting one out. The game went into extra innings where the Giants hit two home runs in the 11th inning to come from behind and win. That hurt as the bullpen blew another multiple run lead. Scheppers has played a big part in blowing those leads and he was promptly put on the DL the next day with left knee inflamation.

That setup a rubber game matchup Sunday afternoon between the Giants and Rangers. It was Martin Perez against new Giant acquisition Mike Leake. Leake who came over from the Reds in a trade deadline deal had been pitching well the whole month of July. He pitched well on Sunday as well, but he did give up a 2-run home run to Josh Hamilton and he was clearly outmatched by Martin Perez. Perez coming off the 21-5 start in which he could not get out of the second inning pitched as well as we have seen him pitch since last season. He was absolutely brilliant in getting 15 ground ball outs, striking out 6, and only throwing 80 pitches in 8.1 innings. He was controversially taken out though after a double off the bat of Angel Pagan. Banister decided to go to Jake Diekman to face Nori Aoki. Diekman proceeded to walk Aoki on 4 pitches. Banister then went to Sam Dyson to try to get a ground ball double play. Dyson did just that, but not before giving up a run and loading the bases with one out. The Rangers did walk out with a victory in the game 2-1 and a series win.

That set them up well heading into the next series against the division leading Houston Astros. The Rangers heading into the series were behind by 8 games and really needed a series win to stay in the race for the AL West. That is just what has happened. They ambushed Lance McCuller in game one and forced him out of the game in the first after scoring 6 runs, and they proceeded to tack on 6 more runs to win 12-9. Adrian Beltre in that game continued his hot hitting by hitting for his third career cycle in his first four at-bats. They followed that up by squeaking by last night 4-3 on the backs of a lock-down bullpen. Sam Freeman was able to escape a one out bases-loaded jam and Shawn Tolleson closed it out in the 9th by escaping a 1st and 3rd situation with no outs by getting a groundout from Marwin Gonzalez, a strikeout from Jason Castro, and a strikeout to end the game against Jose Altuve. He was absolute nails in being able to lockdown the save and the win. All of a sudden the Rangers are back at .500, 6 games back of the Astros with 8 games remaining against the Astros, 3 games back of the Angels for the first wild card, and 2 games back of the Blue Jays for the second wild card.

The season ends in just under two months from today and the Rangers are in a good position, but they are going to have to continue to play good baseball and can’t afford any long losing streaks. In my opinion it is a 4 team race for the two wild cards. Those teams are the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, and Texas Rangers. The Rays, Twins, Tigers, and White Sox are all within striking distance, but I just don’t think they have enough to stay in the race through this month. The Angels, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rangers have enough to battle all the way till the end of the season. The key for the Rangers will be playing better at home and against teams under .500, getting more innings from the rotation, and the bullpen being able to hold on to leads and getting the ball to closer Shawn Tolleson. The team has played well against contenders, but is well under .500 against teams that have records under .500. That is easily correctable as is the home record. The Rangers have more games at home than on the road the rest of the season and so the ability to win at home is key if they want to be in the playoffs. The rotation has to be able to pitch through the 6th inning and provide that bridge to the late inning guys. The team has struggled in middle relief and if the starters can get into the 7th that will help them be able to close out more of these games. Finally, Shawn Tolleson has been solid as a closer when he has gotten the ball, but these last two months it will be up to the middle and late inning guys to get him the ball with the lead. If they can do that they will be able to win more games down the stretch. This stretch from August 11th till August 30th will tell a lot and so as fans keep an eye on that and to the standings. I am sure they will look a lot different on August 11th than they do on August 30th. We will see if the Rangers will still be in the race come September.

Rangers Win to Get One Game Closer to .500

Posted on May 26, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

A lot has changed in the last three weeks since I last wrote about this team. They have stopped the roller coaster that they were on and have turned into a train. They just are steamrolling opponents during this 6 game winning streak and during this entire month of May. They won yesterday 10-8 in a back-and-forth affair with the Cleveland Indians. That means they have scored 10 runs or more in 3 of the last 4 wins and are doing all of this on the road. It simply is the best baseball this team has played since a 7 game winning streak at the end of the 2013 season forced a one-game playoff with the Tampa Bay Rays. Baseball as a fan and it looks like to the players is fun once again. This team looks like it is taking on the personality of their best players, Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre. They are both professional guys, but they truly enjoy playing the game and that is visible on a nightly basis. That love for the game has spread to the entire clubhouse. They will lose games this season, but this team will not fall apart as long as Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre are there. If they get to .500 tonight that would be great, but that is not the goal. They still have two thirds of the season left to catch the Houston Astros and try to win this division. That is the goal as we finish up the month of May and enter into the summer months.

Lets take a look at how they have been able to win these games during this 6 game winning streak. It begins with the scalding hot play of Prince Fielder. I will say I have been hyper-critical of the Prince Fielder-Ian Kinsler trade since the day it was made. I thought it was not a necessary trade, that they took on a bad contract for no reason, and that Prince did not have much left to offer them. I also thought that he would demand to play first base and would just be another guy who hits .250 with 20-25 home runs. He would hinder their defense and clog up the basepaths. For the most I was right to think that, because that is the player he had been throughout his career. That has changed this season though. He missed almost all of last season and that may have changed how he looked at his career. He came into this season with a renewed attitude and a better approach at the plate. In April teams kept playing him to pull and he would hit it the opposite way for singles and doubles. The power was not quite there, but he did not get frustrated or go back to exclusively pulling everything. He just kept hitting the ball wherever it was pitched. In May the power has arrived and he is still hitting it to all fields. That has led to him having a .392 batting average, 8 home runs, 25 rbi’s, and a 1.145 OPS. He has been obscenely hot this month. If not for Jason Kipnis of the Indians playing out of his mind as well, Fielder would clearly be having the best month in the AL. He has been impossible to pitch to. He is hitting line drives to the gaps and is coming through almost every time he is given an RBI chance. He is really driving this offense. He also has not demanded to play first base. He realizes that Mitch Moreland is better defensively than he is and is willing to play DH on a nightly basis in order to give the team a better chance at winning. That was a huge admission and cannot be understated how much that has helped this team. Right now he is making me look pretty stupid for opposing that trade and I love it. He is playing at an MVP-type level right now and if he can keep it up the the team will continue to play well.

Another thing that has happened is that the reconstituted no-roles bullpen is actually working. Prior to this road trip everyone in the bullpen had their job to do. Neftali Feliz was the closer, Shawn Tolleson and Tanner Scheppers were the 8th inning guys, Keone Kela was the 7th inning guy, Alex Claudio was the left-handed specialist, Anthony Bass was the long-man, and Kyuji Fuzikawa was pitching in middle relief. Everyone had their job and for the most part everyone was failing at their job. They had 8 blown saves and cost the team a few wins. If they end up missing the playoffs, the performance of the bullpen in April and early May will be something that can be looked back on in regret. Jeff Banister and the organization had decided they had seen enough and decided to get rid of labels. Since that change at the start of this 9 game road-trip the bullpen has been great. Shawn Tolleson has saved 4 games on this trip and even Ross Ohlendorf has a save. Ohlendorf and Sam Freeman have both gotten critical outs in the 8th inning when normally Scheppers or Kela would have been brought in. Kela and Scheppers have pitched whenever the situations demands it, and not just in the 7th or 8th innings. They also have pitched more than just one inning. Banister has been pulling all the right strings and it has worked out wonderfully. Who knows if this will be a long-term solution or a short term fix, but I do know that it is working right now. That is all that matters. The bullpen is pitching with more confidence and Tolleson is nailing down games when given save situations. Tolleson is the de-facto closer, especially now that Feliz has went on the DL with an abscess removed from his right side. That is another major reason why they have been able to win 6 games in a row heading into tonight’s game against Cleveland.

The offense scoring more runs than anyone in MLB with 131 in just 24 games and the bullpen finally able to close things out is what has led them to this point and it is what will hopefully keep them playing well throughout this summer. The Astros have a feel of a team that is playing well right now, but they can be caught. They will not continue to play at this level. The Rangers just need to stay consistent and ready to pounce when the Astros do inevitably start to slip up. I have to say that baseball is fun to watch again and I love it. The players seem engaged on a nightly basis and are making the plays necessary to win. I would love to see this team get back in contention. With Derek Holland, Martin Perez, and Matt Harrison possibly due back this summer the rotation will get a lot better. They also have talent on the farm that could be ready to contribute at some point this year if needed. Guys like Luke Jackson in the bullpen, Roughned Odor possibly getting called back up at some point, and others that could help contribute to a winner. They are in good position to not only win in the long-term but they are setup to win now as well. I would love to see them surprise everybody and stay in the race all summer long and possibly even make the playoffs. Still a long way to go till then, but it is fun to imagine the possibilities with this team.

They play again tonight at 6:10 against the Indians. It will be a resurgent Wandy Rodriguez going up against Danny Salazaar of the Indians. The Rangers will be trying to make it 7 in a row which would tie that winning streak from 2013. Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!

Rangers Let One Get Away

Posted on May 2, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

I had in my mind what all I was going to write about a 5-0 or 5-1 victory over the A’s. I was going to write about how the team seemingly played with more energy, more crispness, and more focus. They did not struggle with runners on base and were able to score runs. It was going to be a good win to get this series started. Then, the 8th inning happened and it quickly turned from a sure-fire win to an inexplicable loss. It was a nightmare inning and it was much like the 8th inning they had against Seattle when they had a 10-5 lead late and allowed 6 runs in the 8th to lose it. This time it was 5-0 and they allowed 7 runs to lose it. This loss drops their record to an AL Worst 7-15 and 8.5 GB in the division. They are going the wrong direction and just cannot get themselves turned around. I wrote these two quotes 10 days apart. This first one was from April 20th after they lost that 5 run lead against the Mariners in Seattle:

“The saying is that good teams find ways to win games and bad teams find ways to lose games, well this was a game that the Rangers found a way to lose.”

I had this quote just two days ago after they got swept against the Angels.

“their bullpen has been good except for games when they have been needed to close it out.”

I think it is finally time for us to admit that this team is not good. They will Josh Hamilton back in probably 3 weeks, Matt Harrison and Derek Holland back in likely June, and Martin Perez in July. It will be too late though because this team is likely to be 15-20 games under .500 by that point. I am not giving up hope, but this team is not giving me much reason for optimism. This time injuries I don’t think are playing a part. They just are not doing what it takes to win baseball games. I was mostly disappointed for the offense last night, because for the first time in about 2 weeks they actually looked like they were having fun, and to have it all fall apart due to the bullpen was terrible. The body language that they exhibited in that inning was definitely one of depression, because they knew that last night was a game that they really needed.

If we just take a look at the first 7 innings, there were several bright spots. Colby Lewis was really dealing last night. He was locating all of his pitches on the inside and outside corners. His curveball had lots of bite, and he was able to get plenty of strikeouts. He ended up with 8 on the night. He was absolutely dominant in 6 innings and really deserved a win for his effort last night. The offense too. Kyle Blanks hit an absolute no doubt home run down the left field line in the 2nd inning, the only question was would it stay fair. It did and it was his first home run in a Texas Rangers uniform. Prince Fielder also hit a home run to straight away center in the 4th, his second of the season to make it 2-0. Then they were able to manufacture one more run that inning. Adrian Beltre singled following the home run and was eventually sacrificed home off the bat of Jake Smolinksi to make it 3-0. They added two more runs in the 7th. Roughned Odor tripled to lead off the inning and then Leonys Martin hit a sac fly to get him home. Prince Fielder doubled down the left field line, was pinch ran for by Delino Deshields Jr, and then Adrian Beltre singled through the hole on the right side of the infield to score Deshields to make it 5-0. At that point as fans we are thinking with Tolleson, Kela, and Feliz all still in the bullpen the Rangers should be able to get 5 outs and close this game out.

Shawn Tolleson started the dumpster fire of an inning by allowing a leadoff home run to Mark Canha. That was a bad sign that maybe he didn’t have it. He then followed that with a single to Eric Sogard, he got Sam Fuld to ground out, but then walked Marcus Semien. It was clear by that point that he was not locating his pitches well. He then got Billy Butler to strike out. His pitch count was at around 26 by this point, so Banister decided to remove him in favor of Roman Mendez. Mendez has been good, especially good with runners on base, but he sometimes struggles with control. If Tolleson and Keone Kela are your 7th and 8th inning pitchers, then I don’t quite understand why didn’t Banister decide to go with Kela in this situation. The A’s are a team that is going to take advantage of Mendez’s control problems and they did. When he came in the score was 5-2. He proceeded to walk the first hitter to load the bases. Then he gave up a single to Josh Reddick that scored Stephen Vogt and Marcus Semien. Banister then decided to go with Feliz to try to end this rally. Yeah that did not happen. The next two batters hit a double and a single to make the score 7-5. The only reason that inning ended was a caught stealing that was upheld on review. Kela may not have made things better, but he needs to be in those type of situations. They are not going to win a lot of games, but if they can develop Kela as a potential closer option for the future, they need to do it. That involves putting the rookie in high-pressure situations to see how he responds. He ended up pitching the 9th and went 3 up and 3 down. It was a terrible inning that cost them the game.

Other Game Notes

Shin Soo Choo was back in the lineup after getting two games off so that he could put some extra time in the cage with Dave Magadan. He responded by ending his 0-21 stretch by getting a double in the 4th inning. That was his only hit of the game, but as we have seen throughout Choo’s career, his hits come in bunches. Normally when a cold stretch ends a long hot streak begins. Hopefully that is the case.
Defense was much better tonight. 0 errors. That was a big problem in the Angels series, but the infield played much better tonight.
Elvis Andrus extended his hitting streak to a team high 7 games with his double in the 5th inning. His batting average during these 7 games is .321. That is the Elvis that the team needs offensively. The double showed the kind of spark plug he can be. He hit a line drive down the left field line and was sprinting out of the box and was able to extend what normally would be a single for most players into a hustling double. They need more of that.
This season is going to be a test on Jeff Banister and his #nevereverquit attitude. This team is going nowhere fast and reinforcements are still weeks away from coming. Can he get this team to forget what happened last night and move on to the game tonight? The team has talked about how they do not want to see what happened last year happen this year, but right now they are in a tailspin. They need a win tonight to stop the losing streak, because getting a win Sunday against Sonny Gray is not an easy task.
They have the right guy on the mound hopefully to help them get a win. Nick Martinez will be going for the Rangers tonight against Drew Pomeranz. Martinez has a 2-0 record with a 0.35 ERA. He has only allowed one earned run in 26 innings. He has been able to stay within himself and never let the situation get too big. The team is 4-0 in his starts this season. His previous 3 starts the team was on a 2 game losing streak, a 3 game losing streak, and coming into this game they are on a 4 game losing streak. Each time he has been able to end the losing streak. Hopefully he can tonight. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. Lets Go Rangers!!!!!!!!

Rangers Lose 11-0

Posted on April 9, 2015 by colonelsportsnation

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. 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

Posted on November 7, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

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 Curse of the Extension

Posted on May 15, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

Since Jon Daniels has been in charge of the Rangers they have sought to sign younger players to long-term extensions early on in their careers in order to be able to control costs. It also eliminates the possibility of having to go to arbitration with a player. That is certainly a positive, but of late it seems that of late there has been a curse on the team and the players who have signed those extensions. In Jon Daniel’s tenure there has been 5 high profile players sign extensions with the team: Ian Kinsler, Derek Holland, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, and Martin Perez. As you can tell from that list only one of those players is on the current active roster right now.

That is Elvis Andrus. Prior to last season he signed a 8 year and 120 million dollar contract extension. That contract made him one of the highest paid shortstops in the game. He had certainly earned it due to his improved work at the plate and his gold-glove level defense he plays at short. Fortunately for the Rangers he has not gotten hurt, but he has underperformed his contract at times. Last season for example in the first half he hit just .242 and this season he started off so slow that the Rangers had to drop him down to the number 9 spot. Defensively he has been a rock and rarely lets the offense keep him from performing in the field. It is his lack of hitting at times that hurts the team though, especially when he is being counted on to be on base.

The first position player to sign an extension though was Ian Kinsler and as all of us know he is no longer on the team. The Rangers gave him a 5 year/75 million dollar extension prior to the 2012 season. He had just come of a 30/30 season, it was the second of his career. At the time it was thought that he would be here for many years and hopefully the rest of his career, but as we know now it was not quite meant to be. The team ending up collapsing in September losing a 5 game lead with 7 games remaining. Josh Hamilton left after the 2012 season as well as Michael Young, and in 2013 Ian Kinsler was called upon to be the leader of the team. The Rangers signed him to that extension to play well, but also with the expectation that after being around Michael Young for so long he would be able to pick up and carry that torch that Young had held onto for so long. Kinsler did not want that responsibility. He was quoted in an interview this Spring saying,

“They wanted me to lead these young players, teach them the way to compete, when the only thing I should be worried about is how I’m performing in the game”.

That is not the kind of attitude the team wanted and so after refusing to move to first to make room for Jurickson Profar the team dealt him this past winter to Detroit for Prince Fielder.

The first pitcher to sign an extension was Derek Holland. He signed a 5 year/ 28.5 million dollar extension in March of 2012. He had earned his extension too as he went 16-5 with a 3.95 ERA, and 198 innings pitched in 2011. He also had that unforgettable game 4 World Series start where he shut down the St. Louis Cardinals with 8 1/3 shutout innings and only 2 hits allowed as he helped the Rangers tie up the series. Since then, he has failed to build on the success of that season. It was thought he would continue developing into a number one starter, but in 2012 he went 12-7, but with a 4.67 ERA, and allowed 32 home runs. Then, in 2013 he went 10-9 with a 3.42 ERA. Over the off-season though after chasing his dog up the steps of his home he tore cartilage in his knee and had to have microfracture surgery. He is still rehabbing from that injury and hopefully will be back in June or July.

The next pitcher was Matt Harrison. In January of 2013 he signed a 5 year/ 55 million dollar extension. He was coming off of a career season that saw him win 18 games and have a career low ERA, career high in innings pitched, strikeouts, and his WAR was 6.1. It was a great season and one certainly worthy of the extension he got. Since then though he has made 6 starts and may now be looking at the end of his career. He made two starts in 2013 before coming down with a lower back injury that required multiple surgeries. He rehabbed all season and off-season in order to be ready for this season, but a week into camp the same back injury flared up again. He changed mattresses and took it slowly, but was back on the team in late April. Then, on Monday in his 4th start he had to be taken out with stiffness in his lower back. It was revealed to be displacement of vertebra in his back and significant nerve irritation. The doctors have said that he can either choose to live with the pain or attempt a spinal fusion surgery that would end his season and could end his career. Either way, I would be very surprised if we see Matt Harrison on the mound again this season. It is sad, because he is a good pitcher that has just ran into some very bad luck.

The most recent player to sign an extension is Martin Perez. In November of 2013 the Rangers announced they had agreed to an extension with Perez that was 4 years/ 12.5 million guaranteed and 3 option years added on at the end. All together he can earn 32.5 million through the length of the contract. This came after Perez pitched spectacularly in the second half of 2013. He went 7-4 down the stretch with a 3.87 ERA and helped to stabilize the Rangers rotation amidst all the injuries that were plaguing the team. Then, this season he gets off to a 4-0 start that was highlighted by back-to-back complete game shutouts. The second of those was on the road against the first place Oakland A’s. He had outpitched the A’s ace Sonny Gray in that start. That would be the end of it though as he struggled in his next 4 starts. Then on Wednesday it was revealed that he had a partial tear of his Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL). He was placed on the DL and will be making a decision soon to see if it heals itself or he just needs to have Tommy John surgery. If he opts to wait it will be 10-12 weeks, if he opts for surgery he likely would not be back till the second half of 2015.

There you have it the curse of the extension. The Chicago Cubs have the curse of the Billy Goat, the Red Sox had the Curse of the Bambino, and now we have the Curse of the Extension. It has affected position players and pitchers alike. I don’t really have an explanation of why it has happened, but it has. Most of it has just been bad luck, but some of it has been how these players have been used. The back-to-back shutouts were great efforts by Perez, but maybe it was not the right thing to do. He still is just 21 and it was still April. I think Washington should have erred on the side of caution. Who can say it was anything but bad luck that Holland wrecked his knee chasing his dog up the stairs? Finally, who would have seen Matt Harrison all of a sudden developing back issues just months after signing his extension. For some reason though these injuries and 13 others have struck the Rangers this season. If they can somehow survive all of this and still get to the playoffs it will be Ron Washington’s greatest coaching job of his career.

Rangers Young Guns Continue to Struggle

Posted on May 12, 2014 by colonelsportsnation

The last two games we have seen one of the questions marks heading into the season manifest itself in a negative way. That question was could the Rangers young starters be relied upon to help this team through these first two months of the season. This month we have seen that the answer is no. Going into opening day the Rangers had 4 young starters in the rotation: Tanner Scheppers, Martin Perez, Robbie Ross Jr., and Nick Martinez. For the first 3 weeks they were good to great. Perez was great to start the season. He started 4-0, and had back-to-back complete game shutouts. Since then, he is 0-3 with higher than a 12.0 ERA. Then yesterday it was revealed that he has been suffering from elbow inflammation and will have to go on the DL. Nick Tepesch will be called upon to replace him when he takes his start on Wednesday. Then you have Robbie Ross Jr. who has not had a good start since April 25th against the Mariners, when he went 6.0 innings only giving up 2 runs. Since then, he has allowed 17 runs in his last 15.1 innings pitched. Overall, he is 1-4 with a 5.04 ERA. Finally, you have Tanner Scheppers who got injured in April, but who may have lost his rotation spot regardless. Tanner could not stay out of the big inning. The Rangers were taking a chance when they entrusted these guys with the keys to the rotation, and so far it just hasn’t worked out.

Out of the 3 I imagine Martin Perez will continue getting chances to start. He has a track record of success as a starter. He pitched well in the second half last year and pitched well for most of April. I imagine throwing the back-to-back complete game shutouts is what caused the elbow injury to flare up. Since those starts he clearly has not been the same. Hopefully they will give Perez as much time as he needs to recover and that when he does come back he will be able to have the same success he had in April. As far as Scheppers and Ross I imagine that they will be back in the bullpen very soon. Washington may have to make a decision and switch roles for Nick Martinez and Robbie Ross Jr. Martinez is stretched out and can easily slide into the starter role. Ross has experience in the bullpen and will be able to pick it up very quickly. Something needs to change. I loved the move to bring up Odor and Sardinas, now it might be time to shake up the rotation. Insert both Tepesch and Martinez. They just need to survive until Derek Holland and now Martin Perez can come back. They need to stop this slide. They are now right at .500 and 4 games back of the A’s. Thankfully the A’s are not playing much better or the deficit would be larger. The Rangers will be starting a 3 game series this week in Houston. The offense is starting to come back around, now it is the rotation’s turn to start pitching better.

Tonight it will be Colby Lewis for the Rangers and Brad Peacock for the Astros. Last time out Colby pitched against the Rockies and gave up 7 runs in 3.1 innings. He became the third starting pitcher to get hit hard in that series. He will be looking for better success tonight against the Astros. Game time is at 7:10.