After contemplating if I should cover my beloved Red Sox or
test my baseball knowledge in another market, I decided to spend this week
covering last years American League Champions the Texas Rangers.
March 13th 10am
After a stellar season in which he set career highs in: stolen bases, on-base-percentage, batting-average and runs-batted-in, Elvis
Andrus looks to make the jump from potential all-star to potential MVP.
Still only 23 years old,
Andrus added ten pounds of muscle over the off season and so far leads the team
with a .471 batting average and a .706 slugging percentage this spring.
“He’s trying to turn into a man,” Rangers manager Ron Washington told ESPN, adding “The past couple of years he’s been a little boy. I just hope that he can
maintain that weight that he has because he certainly showing some strength so
far this spring training.”
- March 13th 12pm
One area the Rangers will
look to improve is their fielding. despite winning back to back American League
pennants the Rangers are 14th in the AL in both fielding percentage
and Errors since 2007.
- March 13th 2 pm
Monday, Leonys Martin made his first Cactus
League start in a 6-1 win over Cleveland. The top prospect hit ninth and played
centerfield. Martin, 24, is ranked 79th in Baseball America’s top
100 prospects list. In his six previous appearances this spring he was 2-12
with two walks and two strikeouts.
March 13th 9 pm
Pitcher Yu Darvish struggled
in his second Cactus League start. Darvish had trouble locating his fastballs
and allowed two runs on three hits in three innings against the Cleveland Indians. In his first Cactus League start, Darvish gave up two hits and
struck out three batters in two innings against the San Diego Padres.
Also of note outfielder Craig Gentry left
the third inning with a mild left wrist sprain. X-ray’s were negative.
March 14th 10 am
Manager Ron Washington wants
the Texas Rangers to become more aggressive on the bases. Last year the Rangers
were third in the league, taking 157 bases on fly balls, passed balls and wild
pitches. They were also the third hardest team to catch stealing, running into
only 46 outs all year (the league average is 55).
“We’re going to keep running the bases, but I want them
to be more careful late in the game,” Washington told ESPN. “You can still be
aggressive, but after the sixth inning you have to be 100 percent sure you can
make it.
“Otherwise, you’re taking the bat out of the hands of Hamilton.
Or Beltre. Or Young. Or Cruz. Or Napoli. Early in the game, we can live with
it. Late in the game we can’t because we don't want pitchers to be able to run
from our guys.”
March 14th 1 pm
Outfielder Craig Gentry will be out 3-5 days with a mild left
wrist sprain. Gentry was reviewed by Cleveland Indian’s hand and wrist expert
Dr. Thomas Graham after he left the game Tuesday but no break was revealed.
Gentry injured his wrist in the third inning while diving for a fly ball in
center field. He’ll be re-evaluated by the team after the time out.
March 14th 5pm
Josh Hamilton is listed as day-to-day after jamming his right
heel in the second inning of today’s 6-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies. Pitcher
Neftali Feliz felt his second start went much better then his first, he allowed
a run on four hits in three innings against the Rockies this afternoon. Signing
closer Joe Nathan allowed the Rangers to move Neftali Feliz into the starting
rotation while keeping skipper Ron Washington comfortable by having an
established closer. Nathan, the Minnesota Twins all time leader in saves, inked
two-year $14.75 million dollar deal with Texas last November.
(Closer, Joe Nathan)
March 15th 12pm
Josh Hamilton is in the lineup today against the Oakland
Athletics after jamming his right heel in yesterday’s game. Other news and
notes from Surprise, Ariz.
The Rangers made a minor trade earlier today sending minor
leaguer Kelvin De La Cruz to the Indians in exchange for cash considerations.
Shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar may see playing time at
second base, Rangers director of minor league operations Jake Krug tells Bryan
Dolgin of the Rangers Magazine radio show. The 19-year-old Profar was ranked as
the seventh-best prospect in the game by Baseball America’s 2012 minor league
rankings. The Rangers would prefer to give him time at second base in case Ian
Kinsler can’t be signed to an extension, although it may be a waste of Profar’s
defensive skills to move him away from short.
Brad Hawpe and Connor Jackson are both trying to keep their
Major League careers afloat in Rangers camp. Hawpe and Jackson are both signed
to minor league deals and are fighting for jobs on the Rangers’ bench.
March 15th 8pm
Martin Perez got roughed up
in his second Cactus league start. Perez only went two innings and 58 pitches,
giving up two runs on five hits.
"I was trying to locate pitches and was a little anxious
and desperate," Perez said. "I know that was my problem today, and I
know I have to control those things, get ahead in the count and get rid of
those things."
Nelson Cruz looks to be in midseason form smashing a bases
clearing double in the first inning. Cruz was sixth in baseball last year with
runners on base hitting .332
After struggling with control of his fastball for most of the
spring, reliever Mike Adams was pleased with his bullpen session Thursday. He
threw nothing but heat trying to regain command of the pitch.
ESPN reports that Manager Ron Washington left Surprise on
Thursday to handle a family emergency, his brother-in-law passed away
Wednesday. Washington will be in New Orleans with his wife for two days and
expects to be back with the team on Saturday for their two-game series with the
Chicago Cubs.
Bench coach Jackie Moore will be the acting manager during
Washington’s absence.
March 16th 12pm
Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish threw a bullpen session Friday,
the Japanese phenom has been erratic since arriving in January.
Mike Napoli is back in the
lineup after being held out since Saturday with tightness in his left groin.
"I had a little flare up," Napoli said. "It was
sore but it’s spring training. They were being easy on it because I don’t need
to be ready right now."
Tanner Scheppers impressed Friday throwing two scoreless
innings. He came on in relief of starter Greg Reynolds (four runs on seven hits
in three innings) Scheppers didn’t allow a hit in two shutout innings
It’s Scheppers’ second consecutive cactus league outing without
allowing a run. Scheppers has worked to integrate a changeup into his
repertoire that includes a fastball and a plus curveball. While he didn’t
strike anyone out with his changeup, the curveball got the job done twice for Scheppers.
Dee Gordon Whiffed at the pitch in the dirt and National League MVP runner-up
Matt Kemp struck out on it in the fifth.
March 17th 12pm
Mike Napoli who returned to the Rangers lineup yesterday has set
a new goal for himself, to catch at least 100 games. Napoli has come close
catching ninety six games for the Angels in 2009.
While this may be a goal for Napoli the Rangers probably
don't share the same sentiment. The Texas heat wears down most players in July
and August and considering he hit .327 with fifteen RBI’s in last year’s post
season, the Rangers want him fresh for the playoff run in September.
Plus, Yorvit Torrealba
is a solid catcher and the Rangers can get Napoli some rest by using him at
designated hitter or first base, positions that aren't as taxing. He started 57
games at catcher, 27 at first base and 18 at designated hitter last season.
March 17th 5 PM
Derek Holland impressed in Saturday’s game against Arizona
yielding just one hit in four quality innings. He told ESPN afterwards, "I
had a lot of movement on my fastball, so I just wanted to work off of
that," he said. "Even if I got behind 1-0, I wanted to come back and
locate the fastball because if you don't that's when you get behind and have to
throw certain pitches."
Reliever Mike Adams who had been struggling with his control
struck out the side in the seventh inning on twelve pitches.
Second Basemen Ian Kinsler is starting to catch fire. Kinsler
blasted a two-run homer in the sixth inning during the Rangers 8-6 loss to the
Diamondbacks.
After sitting out most of spring training with a lower back
stiffness, Kinsler has gone 7-10 with four RBI’s in the last three games.
After the game Kinsler told ESPN “I’m not too worried about the
overall offense chemistry right now because we know what we have," Kinsler
said. "It’s selfish time and it’s time to worry about yourself and time to
get ready for the season."
(SP- Derek Holland)
March 18th 3pm
Ron Washington is worried about the high expectations for both
Matt Harrison and Derek Holland (who combined for 30 wins last season).
Telling ESPN "I don't want them having 18 or 20 wins on
their mind," Washington said. "If they set out to do what they did
last year, they'll surpass it without even trying. If they repeat the number of
wins they had last year, that's good enough for me - anything else is failure.
I don't want them going backward."
With the loss of CJ Wilson to the Angels the two
twenty-five-year olds now find themselves as the second and third starters on a
Rangers team that has won back-to-back American League pennants.
March 18th 5 pm
Matt Harrison, just like Derek Holland yesterday, threw a gem of
a spring training start going five innings and allowing one run on one hit
while striking out five.
"So far, so good," Harrison said. "Hopefully, I
can keep doing the same thing: pounding the strike zone and making quality
pitches. I want to make them swing the bats because good stuff happens when
they do that."
Harrison has been tinkering with his changeup a pitch he seldom
used last year. Instead of slowing down his arm speed, Harrison has been
working to slow the ball down with his fingertips.
"I've always thought that was his second-best pitch,"
Ron Washington said. "He worked on it the second half of last season, and
he came into spring training, and he's continued to work on it and it's gotten
better."
March 18th 9pm
As we move closer to the start of the season, the questions
about the Texas Rangers starting rotation are starting to become clearer.
Colby Lewis will certainly be the opening day starter but it’s
still unclear if the Rangers will use left-handers Derek Holland and Matt
Harrison back-to-back in the rotation or if they will move highly touted Japanese
pitcher Yu Darvish into the third spot.
The idea of breaking up Harrison and Holland is to make sure
hitters don’t get locked into facing the same type of pitcher in consecutive
days.
It may also benefit the Rangers to split up Holland and Harrison
to make sure the bullpen doesn’t get taxed on back to back days with Darvish
and newly acquainted started Neftali Feliz who hasn’t started since the minors.
"We don't now what Nefti is going to give us because he
hasn't done it at this level yet," Ron Washington said, "but I expect
Darvish to take the ball into the seventh or eighth inning most of the time.
He'll have his tough days like everybody else, but he's a horse."
Washington added that the Rangers won’t have a formal discussion
about their rotation until everyone goes through one more time. Although,
Washington has said that Holland and Harrison deserved to be ranked second and
third in the rotation entering spring training.
