The Rangers Are In First Place!

Green Guy Bass · April 11, 2010

Feliz. Hands down. Next question.

Yes, but realize a closer has to be able to throw back to back days, and Feliz has yet to do that. Can he and be effective? Sure. But there might be days that Neftali might not be 100% rested and you might want to roll Frankie out there for the 9th. Sort of a committe thing. I know he has blown 2 saves already, but Wash and Maddux have to get him back to an effective level. Even if FF is no longer the closer - he needs to be a confident option in the 8th. Chris Ray is not that guy, and O'Day seems to be a better situational option and 7th inning guy. With CJ in the rotation, another lefty would be nice at some point.

KRAM1 · April 11, 2010

Are we seeing the "same Rangers" after all? Hard to believe this team is not hitting, not pitching and not closing. Man, I really do hope we are not seeing the same stuff again this saeson. Too early to tell, but the start is not too promising.

By the way FC Dallas is undefeated in two starts...ties to be sure, but better record than the Rangers after two games. OK, just kidding...after two games and no losses, FC Dallas finds themselves in about the same spot in the standings as the Rangers.

Is this shaping up to be "another one of the same" for the Rangers already??? I sure hope not.

Green Guy Bass · April 11, 2010

Are we seeing the "same Rangers" after all? Hard to believe this team is not hitting, not pitching and not closing. Man, I really do hope we are not seeing the same stuff again this saeson. Too early to tell, but the start is not too promising.

By the way FC Dallas is undefeated in two starts...ties to be sure, but better record than the Rangers after two games. OK, just kidding...after two games and no losses, FC Dallas finds themselves in about the same spot in the standings as the Rangers.

Is this shaping up to be "another one of the same" for the Rangers already??? I sure hope not.

People forget this was a club that finished 10 games out of 1st last season. They didn't play post-season ciliber baseball last season and they are not now. Like last year they have the ability to win every night, but they are still flawed. Especially offensively. 5 games in it's dissapointing, because they should be 4-1. But hell who knows. Baseball is weird. The bats could figure it out and the starters might stop pitching at a their current 1.70 ERA, which is so very likely. At the end of 162 you are what you are. This is a team that will be somewhere around .500, but I am hoping for better.

UNT90 · April 11, 2010

I was at the game Saturday. What a gut punch it was to have one of the best pitchers in the league beat, just to blow it in the 9th. Many "uh-ohs" in the crowd when Frankie came out to start the 9th. What worries me is Frankie's confidence at this point. His body language is not that of a pitcher that expects to get hitters out. For a closer, confidence is huge, and for the Rangers to have a winning record, Frankie has got to perform, whether it be in the 7th, 8th, or 9th.

MEANGREENMAN! · April 11, 2010

I still don't think it's time to pull the trigger on a closer switch, but if Wash does there is no way he can pick anybody but Neftali. Feliz pitched back to backs last season and was not as effective, but we shouldn't Joba him. The kid can pitch and the only way he is going to become a better pitcher is to pitch more. I don't really see any other closers out in that bullpen. O'Day closed some games last year, but his elbow is suspect and is better as a situational and 7th or 8th inning guy. Oliver is our best lefty in the pen so to pigeonhole him to the ninth inning takes away a lot of favorable match ups. Chris Ray is not the same pitcher after he got surgery. Doug Mathis is not a guy who has closer stuff and Nippert needs to be ready for spot starts and for when Rich Harden only goes 2 innings. Give me the guy who has struck out 4 of the last 6 batters he has faced and let him take his lumps.

Green Guy Bass · April 11, 2010

I still don't think it's time to pull the trigger on a closer switch, but if Wash does there is no way he can pick anybody but Neftali. Feliz pitched back to backs last season and was not as effective, but we shouldn't Joba him. The kid can pitch and the only way he is going to become a better pitcher is to pitch more. I don't really see any other closers out in that bullpen. O'Day closed some games last year, but his elbow is suspect and is better as a situational and 7th or 8th inning guy. Oliver is our best lefty in the pen so to pigeonhole him to the ninth inning takes away a lot of favorable match ups. Chris Ray is not the same pitcher after he got surgery. Doug Mathis is not a guy who has closer stuff and Nippert needs to be ready for spot starts and for when Rich Harden only goes 2 innings. Give me the guy who has struck out 4 of the last 6 batters he has faced and let him take his lumps.

Maybe in the minors. Never done it in the bigs.

MEANGREENMAN! · April 11, 2010

I could have sworn he had, but now I see I was wrong. Anyway Evan Grant just tweeted that Feliz is the new "temporary" closer and that Fransisco will return eventually.

Edited April 11, 2010 by MEANGREENMAN!

Green Guy Bass · April 14, 2010

It's been one day. Already miss it.

Quoner · April 14, 2010

Maybe in the minors. Never done it in the bigs.

He did it once at OKC right before he was called up. Did fine.

Green Guy Bass · April 15, 2010

Colby Lewis. 5.1 2runs 10K's. This rotation might be better than we all expected. So far the starters have an ERA of 1.65 through 8 games, and maybe the dude with the best stuff has food poisioning. Fun.

It will be interesting to see if Feliz cam go back to back days, especially with such an early start after going 1.1 tonight. Hope we are in a position to see him.

Green Guy Bass · April 15, 2010

Well sonofabitch!

Quoner · April 15, 2010

Well sonofabitch!

Feliz is good for when a game is 6-2 and a couple of guys are on base in the eight, but not when it is 2-0 and a couple of guys are on base in the eight.

Ron Washington, you sly fox.

hickoryhouse · April 15, 2010

That whole run to help us lose the gae is the fault of Elvis Andrus! I love the kid and he is our everyday player but he lost us the game today by not making a catch that should be made 99.9999999% of the time.

Green Guy Bass · April 16, 2010

I have thought on it for a while today, and I can't at all blame Wash for keeping Matty in the game to face Choo. Truth is there should have been 2 outs when he was coming up....but we all know about ifs. He was dealing all afternoon long and might have been the most effective option outside of Feliz. Neftali the night before threw and inning and a third. I can live with what happened. Not thrilled about it, but if we see that Harrison a dozen more times this season I think we will all be pleased.

Interesting to see how CJ fares after dropping 7 lbs. after food poisioning. Keep a close eye on CJ's pitch count per inning. That is one of the big things that has made him effective in the spring and in start #1. Facing a patient team that works pitchers and counts like NYY will be a good measuring stick to see how much CJ has evolved into a starter.

The starting pitching has been mad good so far. But in 3 of their 4 losses they have blown leads after the 7th. Who here really thought the back end would be this wheels off even with CJ in the rotation?

Baseball.....yeah baseball.

UNT90 · April 16, 2010

I have thought on it for a while today, and I can't at all blame Wash for keeping Matty in the game to face Choo. Truth is there should have been 2 outs when he was coming up....but we all know about ifs. He was dealing all afternoon long and might have been the most effective option outside of Feliz. Neftali the night before threw and inning and a third. I can live with what happened. Not thrilled about it, but if we see that Harrison a dozen more times this season I think we will all be pleased.

Interesting to see how CJ fares after dropping 7 lbs. after food poisioning. Keep a close eye on CJ's pitch count per inning. That is one of the big things that has made him effective in the spring and in start #1. Facing a patient team that works pitchers and counts like NYY will be a good measuring stick to see how much CJ has evolved into a starter.

The starting pitching has been mad good so far. But in 3 of their 4 losses they have blown leads after the 7th. Who here really thought the back end would be this wheels off even with CJ in the rotation?

Baseball.....yeah baseball.

I blame the hitting. You should win a game in which you give up three runs about 85% of the time. With this offense, it may be a 60-40 or even 50-50 shot. It's early and things could pick up (please, Kins, be the Kins of 2 years ago when you get back!!), but this offense is looking very familiar.

Does it concern anyone that this appears to be a problem that is organization wide this year? Again, very early, but none of the teams in this organization are hitting right now. Did someone steal our mojo in the last 2 years?

Green P1 · April 16, 2010

Sandwiching Vlad and NC17 between the blackholes of J-Ham and Crush is gonna be the death of this offense.

Censored by Laurie · April 16, 2010

Sandwiching Vlad and NC17 between the blackholes of J-Ham and Crush is gonna be the death of this offense.

That should change once Kins and his high on base percentage and hit to the gaps approach returns...

Green P1 · April 16, 2010

That should change once Kins and his high on base percentage and hit to the gaps approach returns...

I am not looking forward to his return... Unless of coarse he's completely overhauled his plate approach.

Censored by Laurie · April 16, 2010

I am not looking forward to his return... Unless of coarse he's completely overhauled his plate approach.

Some dil from Diamond Talk mentioned that Kins saw his fly ball rate from last year and is keen on making adjustments. I question it...and I also question how long Wash keeps Kins in a run producing spot in the order, where he belongs, while Borbon struggles in the lead-off spot.

TheTastyGreek · April 16, 2010

Blah blah blah. Apologists, all of you. Even the ones that disagree with the other ones.

Wake me up when we git some pitchin'.

Green P1 · April 16, 2010

Blah blah blah. Apologists, all of you. Even the ones that disagree with the other ones.

Wake me up when we git some pitchin'.

Pitchin has always been overrated.

Wake me up when we start hittin more homers again.

Quoner · April 16, 2010

Some dil from Diamond Talk mentioned that Kins saw his fly ball rate from last year and is keen on making adjustments. I question it...and I also question how long Wash keeps Kins in a run producing spot in the order, where he belongs, while Borbon struggles in the lead-off spot.

Andrus needs to be leading off. He had his apprenticeship in the 9 hole last year (just like me with your mom!) and does a great job of seeing pitches and finding a way on. Borbon could learn the same thing at 9 this year. MY always starts slow, but it's a lot easier for an opposing pitcher to deal with him when you have no one one base 90% of the time he bats (flawed percentage).

I've seen flashes of things with the hitting we never saw last year with more guys prone to go to the opposite field (especially a few games with Hamilton and Davis), so I'm torn on how to react to the overall product yet. Most of these guys are being broken of years of bad habits and muscle training, and, if I didn't see the flashes, I'd be down on Clint Hurdle faster than it was rumored some of his KC buddies were back in the late 70s.

As pissed as I am about the 3 winnable, blown, rage-inducing losses keeping the boys from 8-1, I'm willing to see what the offense looks like in May before I really start stamping and pouting.

When Kins get back, I'd like to see him take Davis or Josh's spot and give him a chance to start fast and hopefully get in a groove of good habits at the plate. On a related note, I also fear the waving of Joaquin Arias. Andres Blanco has already proven to be the ultimate power down for me, ever since I watched him talk incessantly and yell around the infield every 10 seconds all of Opening Day.

For now, I'm taking the n from Mr. Hurdle's first name, and he's going to have to earn it back by breaking these guys like they were Jaramillo-trained, OPS-hating dobermans.

MEANGREENMAN! · April 16, 2010

Sandwiching Vlad and NC17 between the blackholes of J-Ham and Crush is gonna be the death of this offense.

Josh has been one of the best hitters on this team besides Vlad, Cruz, and maybe Elvis (I guess you could throw in Arias too). The power will come, but right now you have to look at his approach. He is drawing a ton of walks and driving the ball to the opposite field.

Yesterday's loss was absolutely heart wrenching. But sometimes you need to look beyond the W-L. All of our starters have had quality starts except for the first Harden start. Borbon wont hit sub .100 for the whole season and I doubt we will see another inning this season where Elvis and Davis make errors.

The main concern right now is the bullpen. But really if you look it hasn't been terrible. Fransisco got hammered a few times and even in his one game as a non closer needed Elvis to make a great diving play and a catch on the warning track to get out of the inning. Chris Ray has looked really good and Darren Oliver is solid. O'Day is not 100%, but he is still pitching decently well. Feliz hasn't pitched back to backs in the majors, but the way his motion is I don't think there will be a whole lot of strain on his arm.

These upcoming series against the Yanks and Sawx will tell a lot about this team. If they can pull together some big wins it could really get this team on a roll. I have watched all of the AL West teams play 2 games so far and I think the Rangers have the most talent and should come out on top.

Green Guy Bass · April 16, 2010

Some dil from Diamond Talk mentioned that Kins saw his fly ball rate from last year and is keen on making adjustments. I question it...and I also question how long Wash keeps Kins in a run producing spot in the order, where he belongs, while Borbon struggles in the lead-off spot.

Make no mistake. Ian Kinsler loves the fact he hit 30 bombs last season. With the surge of power at the position throughout the league, he feels that he needs to keep up in order to demand Chase Utley money down the road. I hope he will be more of a team guy when is healthy, but I expect another parade of flyouts in 2010. Wash batting him 6th will not discourage his crap approach.

Quoner · April 16, 2010

Make no mistake. Ian Kinsler loves the fact he hit 30 bombs last season. With the surge of power at the position throughout the league, he feels that he needs to keep up in order to demand Chase Utley money down the road. I hope he will be more of a team guy when is healthy, but I expect another parade of flyouts in 2010. Wash batting him 6th will not discourage his crap approach.

Then let him power surge for a month or so and then package him with Holland and another prospect for Old Grienke.