Rangers 2012

[redfiveohconv]

Cruz needs to come out of his funk.

Bat him 8/9. Worked in the past. Or another stint in AAA? I thought he was over his "4A play"

[Geor!]

Not only is cruz in a near month-long funk, he's becoming a complete hindrance to the team.

[Osiris]

^ I agree! Wonder wtf is going on with that guy?

[Geor!]

Offense needs to wake up next week, as do the starters.

[mustang_marc]

Yes he has, and I have sung his praises.

Yeah, Moreland has been hitting quite nicely for a week or so now. Moreland's BA has shot up to .279 from sub .200 two weeks ago.


Speaking of 1B, anyone here still admit to being a Chris Davis fan? I hated to see him go, but the change of scenery has done him well so far. He had a sh*tty day going 0-8 with 5 whiffs yesterday in Baltimore's 17 inning game, but even after that poor performance, is still batting .299 on the year. Amazing is that I didn't know he could pitch. He pitched 2 innings in the game yesterday. He gave up 1 hit and struck out 3.

[Geor!]

Good read from the Newberg Report


The Rangers were on a crazy tear, having won seven straight to run their record to 11-2, capped by a spanking of the Tigers in the first of four in Detroit, 10-3.

Matt Harrison and Rick Porcello were slated to face off the next night, in what would be a rematch of Game Four of the 2011 ALCS, a game in Tiger Stadium that was delayed by two hours before Texas scored four in the 11th inning to take a dramatic 7-3 win and a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Rain interfered with Harrison-Porcello again this time, wiping out the Friday night, April 20 matchup and setting up a Saturday day-night doubleheader.

That April 21 twinbill turned out to be sort of defining, and not the way anyone expected.

Coming off a 19-hit attack in that Thursday night series opener, the Rangers rapped seven hits before making their second out of the game on Saturday afternoon, taking an 8-0 lead against Porcello right out of the gate. Ultimately, eight different Rangers had multi-hit games, Harrison was outstanding, and Texas ran its win streak to eight and its margin over the rest of the division to a season-high 5.5 games, just two weeks into the schedule.


The Rangers were 12-2. They’d played 14 games.



They’ve played another 14 games since then.



In those first 14 games, the Texas rotation had a 2.46 ERA, limiting opponents to a .224 batting average.



In the 14 games since, the rotation ERA is 5.13, with a .286 opponents’ average.



The bullpen’s actually been better (2.43/.232 in the first 14 games, 1.62/.140 in the second 14). The black cloud there, of course, is that bad starts leads to more relief innings, and too much bullpen use early in the season can have repercussions (though it’s not quite as unsettling as the Angels losing LaTroy Hawkins yesterday to a broken finger, two pitches after closer Scott Downs had buckled to the ground with an apparent knee injury).



And the offense?



Nelson Cruz hit .276/.311/.448 in the first 14 games, and .151/.224/.189 since.



Mike Napoli: .279/.373/.721 and .195/.277/.268.



Michael Young: .400/.411/.545 and .232/.283/.386.



Ian Kinsler: .328/.418/.690 and .241/.338/.345



Collectively, the Texas offense hit .313/.364/.527 in helping to build that 12-2 record to start the season.



The Rangers have hit .254/.325/.383 since, a stretch in which the club has gone 6-8.



Just as the bullpen has stepped its game up in this little skid, Adrian Beltre’s productivity has been a bit of an outlier. He hit .304/.344/.482 in the season’s first 14 games. He’s hit .345/.367/.724 since then.



The problem, of course, is that he’s only had 29 at-bats in the team’s second 14 games, after 56 at-bats in the first 14.



Beltre pulled up lame on a double in the second inning of that April 21 day game, missing the rest of that game and three more after that with inflammation in his left hamstring before returning to the lineup. He DH’d in the first of three in Toronto last Monday, coming up big in a 4-1 win with two doubles and a single, but hasn’t made a start since, pinch-hitting in four of five games and sitting the other one out altogether.



The Rangers have missed Beltre’s steady offense a lot. The effect of his absence defensively doesn’t need any elaboration.



So now it’s on to Baltimore for four, a series that strangely might have been more dangerous if the Orioles weren’t playing as well as they are. The Rangers have spit it up against Baltimore more often they should have the last few years, and with the Angels at home this weekend there would seem to be the risk of looking past this set of four against the Orioles.



But Baltimore has baseball’s best record at 19-9. No matter how long that will last, the Orioles are playing well and can’t be overlooked.



And neither, despite a two-week skid, can the Rangers. It’s an obvious point, but a stretch of bad baseball – especially one in which the starting pitching is scuffling and the offense looks confused – has a way of making things seem a lot worse than they really are, just as that 12-2 record to start the season felt deceivingly invincible.



It’s going to be OK. Texas (who still sits at number one in ESPN’s Power Rankings, according to Buster Olney) leads the West by 3.5 games, the biggest lead in the American League. The Angels took a step forward with their bullpen by acquiring Ernesto Frieri on Thursday but may have been set two steps back yesterday with the injuries to Downs and Hawkins. Chris Davis shouldn’t be able to pitch today, after throwing 23 pitches yesterday.

[GTBrian23]

I dont know about you guys, but I have been really impressed with this Snyder kid so far. Comapred to some of the utility guys we have had in the past he seems to be hitting really well!

[Geor!]

First at-bat for Cruz is a double. Hopefully he's on the upswing now.

[GTBrian23]

First at-bat for Cruz is a double. Hopefully he's on the upswing now.

Im really hoping he gets on one of his month long uber hot streaks!

[GTBrian23]

Bats are starting off pretty hot tonight! Hope they can keep this up through the Angels series. Im cant wait to watch the Wilson v Darvish matchup!

[Shorty]

First at-bat for Cruz is a double. Hopefully he's on the upswing now.

Guess he used up all of his mojo on the first one. Struck out with 2 on base.

[GTBrian23]

Guess he used up all of his mojo on the first one. Struck out with 2 on base.

Yeah, you gotta get more than 1 run when you have the bases loaded and no outs!

[Shorty]

I think that's 6* bat throws for Hamilton this season.



*Not all of them have gone in the crowd.

[Geor!]

Hell yeah.

[Geor!]

Goddamnit did Beltre fuck up his hamstring again?