TEXAS RANGERS …..May 16, 2017
The Phils don’t see the Rangers very often. The last several years they have been hovering around the elite teams, but not quite making it. Somehow, they always seem to come up short. This year, they thought they were in line to compete for the division title, but got off to a bad start. However, the Phils seem to have caught them in the middle of a hot streak and as they have won 6 in a row and are coming off of having swept the A’s in the Mother’s Day weekend series. Currently they are a game under .500 and 7.5 games behind their in state rival Houston.
The Rangers aren’t hitting much for average, just a team average of .227 and rank 27th in baseball. On the other hand, they are 4th in homeruns with 53, 11th in runs scored and 4th in stolen bases. They seem to be following the current baseball trend of hitting homers at the expense of average. Their pitching is tenth with a 3.85 era, but they have blown 8 of 14 save attempts.
First base is Mike Napoli again. He has 7 homers, but is sporting a .165 batting average. He is not much of a fielder. Second base is Roughned Odur who at the age of 23 is in his 4th year. He hit 33 dingers last year and is doing well this year, but is carrying a .197 batting average. Shortstop is Elvis Andrus who is in his 9th year at the age of 28. I remember him as a good offensive player and an often spectacular fielder who often makes mistakes. Third base at current is Joey Gallo another 23 year older. He leads the club with 12 dingers, but sports a.195 ba. I have no idea what his fielding is like. I understand that Adrian Beltre is hoping to get back by next month. The catcher is Jonathan Lucroy who is having his normal productive year.
In leftfield they have Delino Deshields. He runs well, is a better than average fielder with little power. He is a base stealer. In this series, we may see him in centerfield because Carlos Gomez came out of their last game limping. Carlos Gomez is a plus fielder with mid teens power and about a .250 average. Right field is Nomar Mazara, in his second year at the ripe old age of 22, Last year he hit 20 homeruns and had a .266 batting average as a rookie. Their designated hitter Shin-Soo Choo, the Korean slugger.He is also questionable as he sat out the last game with a stiff back.
Currently, the team is only listing 3 bench players. Pete Kozma the former Cardinal is the infielder. Ryan Rua is basicly a corner outfielder and first base backup with a little pop and the backup catcher is Robinson Chirinos. Chirinos is in his 5th year backing up Ranger catchers. He has never hit much for average, but he has 20 homerun power.
The Phils won’t be seeing either Cole Hamels, or Jake Diekman in this series. Cole is on the DL with an oblique strain and isn’t expected back until July. Diekman had a stomach operation and is probably not going to pitch this year.
The rotation has come together pretty well, in spite of losing Cole. I understand the Phils will be facing Darvish tomorrow. Darvish is off to a good start this year. He has always pitched well, but the last couple of seasons he had injury problems. Martin Perez has pitched well, but in bad luck. He is a solid pitcher who usually ends up with double digit wins. A.J. Griffith was a big find for the rangers after he injured himself with the A’s and was released. He is currently 4-0 with a 3.15 era. Andrew Cashner is one of those guys who always looks better to the scouts than he does to the hitters. The former Cubs #1 draft pick was the primary piece for the Padres in the Rizzo deal. Cut loose this year and the Rangers signed him free agent . He is currently 0-3, but with a 2.43 era. So far Nick Martinez has been a quad A pitcher who bounces back and forth in the Rangers system. I assume he was brought up to take Cole’s place.
With Sam Dyson off to such a bad start, the rangers named Matt Bush the closer. Dyson saved 38 last year but so far this year he has imitated Jeanmar Gomez. Bush was a career minor leaguer until last season when he pitched his first big league games at age 30. He appeared in 58 games and came out with a 2.48 ERA. The rest of the bullpen pretty much have puffy eras.
This could be another series much like Washington. Frankly, I am very much interested in seeing some of these Ranger regulars who are playing so well at such a young age.