The Rangers Are In First Place!

[UNT90]

With opening day tomorrow, what do you think about the upcoming season?

With all the injuries in Spring, I see the Strangers taking a slight step back this season, winning 84 games and finishing 2nd in the West and out of the wildcard race. But look out for 2011!

I'll also go out on a limb and say that Ron Washington is gone by the end of May.

Thoughts?

[MDH]

With opening day tomorrow, what do you think about the upcoming season?

With all the injuries in Spring, I see the Strangers taking a slight step back this season, winning 84 games and finishing 2nd in the West and out of the wildcard race. But look out for 2011!

I'll also go out on a limb and say that Ron Washington is gone by the end of May.

Thoughts?

84 games won't be good enough for 2nd in the west this year. I'm going with 80 wins and in 3rd.

Anyone going to opening day tomorrow? I'll be there, up in the nosebleeds.

[UNT90]

84 games won't be good enough for 2nd in the west this year.

I think 87-89 victories wins the west this year.

[UNTFan23]

84 games won't be good enough for 2nd in the west this year. I'm going with 80 wins and in 3rd.

Anyone going to opening day tomorrow? I'll be there, up in the nosebleeds.

I'll be there tailgating before the game begins. I think I am somewhere along the 1st baseline and will be in the shade for the game.

Weather tomorrow is looking very nice.

[Green P1]

84 games won't be good enough for 2nd in the west this year. I'm going with 80 wins and in 3rd.

Anyone going to opening day tomorrow? I'll be there, up in the nosebleeds.

I'll be there behind 3rd base, glove in hand.

[yyz28]

Nice Win, Rangers!!! 5-4 in a tight game. Was fun to listen to.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Scary to think that we might be no-hit on our opening day. Good game!

Also, to make a prediction:

Alot of people are saying that even though Anaheim lost some critical pieces, that they reloaded enough to stay atop the west... I don't think so.

The division is definitely there for Texas or Seattle to take. Seattle made themselves much better this offseason with the addition of Figgins and Lee. I think the Rangers chances will come down to Feldman pitching like he did last year, the young pitchers continuing to improve, and Harden winning more games than Millwood did last year. If all 3 of those come together, then the Rangers can take the West outright. The wildcard is not coming from the AL West though.

Edited April 5, 2010 by MeanGreenTexan

[UNT90]

Still in 1st place!

Barely hanging in there.

[Green Guy Bass]

I love what Darren Oliver did today cleaing up the mess of Neftali who didn't have much command. The bullpen will continue to be a major concern for me moving forward. As always, a bullpen is a year to year proposition.

Salty came through....okay, hope he can keep putting together decent at bats and stay healthy.

Nellie Cruz has sick power, to flick the wrists and go opposite field bullpen is fun to watch.

Feldman did what an ace does. Moves past speed bumps and keeps you in the game. Loved it.

The offense did get no-no'd through 6, which is a major concern. This offense was not good last year, and today reminded me of that. Hopefully Hurdle can work with the kids and make them compete every time up. You saw that last night in Boston for both the Yankees and BoSox. It's like they were playing a different brand of baseball. I want to see that here.

A day off will help the wrist of Elvis, which is still hurting. Hopefully Harden gives us more that 5IP Wednesday night.

[UNT90]

Hopefully Harden gives us more that 5IP Wednesday night.

Funny, I was just hoping for 5 strong innings. Anything more is cake.

[bstnsportsfan3]

i was there...saw my first ever walkoff...what a great game and fun time at the ball park.

[FirefightnRick]

I grew up a White Sox fan myself, followed them ever since I moved to/from Texas. I can't name one member of their team but they did beat the Cincinnati Indians today 6-0 at Cominsky Field.

Rick

[yyz28]

I grew up a White Sox fan myself, followed them ever since I moved to/from Texas. I can't name one member of their team but they did beat the Cincinnati Indians today 6-0 at Cominsky Field.

Rick

Snicker.

[MDH]

I grew up a White Sox fan myself, followed them ever since I moved to/from Texas. I can't name one member of their team but they did beat the Cincinnati Indians today 6-0 at Cominsky Field.

Rick

Here?

[MEANGREENMAN!]

The Opening Day win was great, but there was cause for concern. The Rangers still swung and missed WAY too much and Feldman, though he pitched well, showed that according to last year's BABIP he was very fortunate last year. I'm still very excited for the year, but I would be surprised if they make the playoffs. Fingers crossed.

[Green Guy Bass]

Yep....this offense is still similar to that of last season. Not very disciplined at the plate and one that could rely on the HR if guys like Borbon and Elvis don't get on base.

I know that Ian Kinsler is DL'd at the moment, but even when he gets back I am not sure he will help matters. This team has inconsistencies producing and manufacturing runs and Ian hacking and hitting fly-balls is not what this thing needs. Unless he is taking the ball to RF more, then we can expect an avg. around .260 and an OBP around .325. Hope that is not the case.

Josh had a great spring. Hopefull tonight was just him having issues with a lefty that had decent stuff. But only getting ahead in 1 of 4 AB's and picking up the golden sombrerro is not promising. It's 2 games, he might be fine, but eerie nontheless.

Also, Elvis' wrist is still bothering him and you can see that when he is at the plate. I wouldn't mind a bunt out of him tomorrow afternoon.

Pitchers - 10 walks. That never wins. By the way we all need to understand that Rich Harden going past 5 is a good outing. The dude is afraid of hitters making contact and he will be in the neighborhood of 100 pitches in the 6th inning in just about every time out. He is no Feldman, but he has good stuff when he has command....which was lacking mightily tonight.

Oh yeah....Diamondtalk returns Friday night on the Ticket with me and Mike Bacsik. Tune in. Love you.

[MEANGREENMAN!]

Yep....this offense is still similar to that of last season. Not very disciplined at the plate and one that could rely on the HR if guys like Borbon and Elvis don't get on base.

I know that Ian Kinsler is DL'd at the moment, but even when he gets back I am not sure he will help matters. This team has inconsistencies producing and manufacturing runs and Ian hacking and hitting fly-balls is not what this thing needs. Unless he is taking the ball to RF more, then we can expect an avg. around .260 and an OBP around .325. Hope that is not the case.

Josh had a great spring. Hopefull tonight was just him having issues with a lefty that had decent stuff. But only getting ahead in 1 of 4 AB's and picking up the golden sombrerro is not promising. It's 2 games, he might be fine, but eerie nontheless.

Also, Elvis' wrist is still bothering him and you can see that when he is at the plate. I wouldn't mind a bunt out of him tomorrow afternoon.

Pitchers - 10 walks. That never wins. By the way we all need to understand that Rich Harden going past 5 is a good outing. The dude is afraid of hitters making contact and he will be in the neighborhood of 100 pitches in the 6th inning in just about every time out. He is no Feldman, but he has good stuff when he has command....which was lacking mightily tonight.

Oh yeah....Diamondtalk returns Friday night on the Ticket with me and Mike Bacsik. Tune in. Love you.

Reports say Kinsler took a look at his league low .58 ground ball to fly ball ratio and realized he needs to make a fix. Moving down in the order will help him a lot.

I am very pleasantly surprised with Vlad so far I really hope he can stay healthy throughout the entire summer.

[KRAM1]

Not any loner after two whole games. We may have just seen the last of "The Rangers are in First Place" cheering for the season, however, I am hopeful that the pitching will, indeed, come around for a change and that the bats will heat up as the weather heats up into the summer. This just could be the year...but, this team has disappointed more often than not, so we'll just have to curb the enthusiasm for "first place" a bit and hope for the best.

Good luck rangers...they will definitely need some luck to get though the season in playoff position...could happen.

[Mean Green 93-98]

I grew up a White Sox fan myself, followed them ever since I moved to/from Texas. I can't name one member of their team but they did beat the Cincinnati Indians today 6-0 at Cominsky Field.

You are a good man. I love the Rangers, but "winnin' ugly" in '83 (or was it '84?) back with Carlton Fisk, Greg Luzinski, and Lamar Hoyt made me a Sox fan for life.

[Green Guy Bass]

Just skimmed through today's game on the DVR (2nd viewing). This offense is not in a good way. If there has been a philosophical shift from Rudy to Clint I wonder what exactly that is.

The hitters approach is still too aggressive and they can't produce witj RISP. Example.....2nd inning - 2nd and 3rd no outs....no runs, bottom of the order couldn't do anything. Not a mid range flyball, not a grounder to the right side, not a squeeze bunt. Zip.

They wasted a dazzling start from CJ. 7IP, 9K's, 0 runs. Wow. I am somewhat surprised that he is adjusting so well. Great to see him limit his pitchers per inning (the anti-Harden).

Salty is DL'd again. No shock whatsoever. I would kill to still have a solid receiver and great room guy in Gerald Laird still here. A few years ago they had 4 guys behind the plate and traded the wrong one. Salty had value on the market. That now is a thing of the past. I am pulling really hard for Teagarden to put it togteher, but it's not happening yet.

Wash you say?? I don't really care for how he handled the bullpen after Frankie's failure. He threw O'day for a 2nd straight day a few weeks after the dude needed a cortizone injection in his elbow. Also Oliver is probably not available tomorrow against the M's.

They already need a good bounceback series or this could be a long first month. Do a rain dance for the bats. D-talk tomorrow night after the game.

[UNT90]

1 run against the #3 starter for a team picked to finish at or near the bottom of the AL East.

Very concerning

[MEANGREENMAN!]

It's amazing how one win can make you rethink everything. Besides Harden's start all of our starters have looked great. And soon enough the bats have to wake up, these hitters are too good to stay silenced. Right now I am most concerned about the bullpen. O'Day pitched two days in a row after getting a cortizone shot in his elbow, I'm concerned about his ability to remain healthy. Ray was less than stellar and Frankie's appearance was a bit concerning and he is always one pitch away from a DL stint. Right now my spirits are high, I just have to calm down and lay off the overreactions.

[ColoradoEagle]

Time to put Francisco out on assignment. My grandma could get a double off of him right now.

[GreenBat]

Time to put Francisco out on assignment. My grandma could get a double off of him right now.

Agreed, but who do the Rangers make the closer?

[MEANGREENMAN!]

Agreed, but who do the Rangers make the closer?

Feliz. Hands down. Next question.