The 'Somebody Hexed us' Rangers...

Well, Rangers fans, we're now 2 months 2 days and 57 games into the 2014 campaign and this team continues to keep us guessing. What we have learned is that they haven't given up and are clearly fighting in these games despite the baseball gods' continued smiting. Even so, the Rangers are treading water in the West and the first win of June, at the very least, put us back over .500...

Way back at the end of April, the Rangers were sitting at 15-13 and there was still plenty of reason to be optimistic about our chances going forward. Then disaster struck...AGAIN...

Both were lost for the season with Martin opting for Tommy John surgery and Matty opting for spinal fusion surgery which may, sadly, even cost him his career...

 

Mid-May this news came down...

As distressing as this was, the news would get worse...

Which led to this...

Haha. Back in January of this year I wrote on this very blog...

"What simply cannot be overstated about Fielder is the fact that he's missed ONE game of playing time since 2009. That level of durability will be a welcome sight in Arlington."


It should have been a welcome sight anyway. Our luck, I tell ya. Here's a player that had NEVER been on the disabled list in his career. Even though he turned 30 this year the Prince is still nothing if not reliable. Even when the team started dropping like flies I quietly thought to myself, "well at least Prince will never be a scratch."

What's unfortunate is that he really seemed to be swinging the bat a little better in early May despite his continued lack of power. Now we hear the Rangers being criticized for not conducting a full physical prior to the trade. Well, if you asked me which player would be injured first Ian Kinsler or Prince Fielder, I'd unequivocally say Ian. I mean, Prince Fielder? 547 games in a row Prince Fielder? I honestly think nothing of that and, to me, it's just an effort by the media to already declare this move a bust...

Anyway before all of this attrition, the Rangers began the month by taking 2 of  3 against the hated Angels on the road, and with series with Colorado, Boston, Houston, Toronto, and Seattle coming up, even while decimated, you just figured this team would circle the wagons and find a way to win at least half of their only 10 home games all month and for sure their 3 at Houston. Well, they didn't. In fact, they went 5-10 over this stretch and I wasn't feeling very good about the team, let me tell you...

Last month I told you a better indicator of whether a team is trending up or down is run differential. Well, how about we use domination against the Astros as our 'rest position'. Here's a team that we've just destroyed since 2009 with a record of 38-8 including an April 2014 series in Arlington. In addition, the Rangers were on a stretch of 20 of 23 wins at Minute Maid which included a 10 game winning streak all while outscoring Houston 61-27 in said 10 games. The Rangers had won 15 straight series against Houston. 15!



So to say that losing 2 of 3 to Houston was our lowest point in the young season is an understatement. We were even shutout 8-0 in one contest (when we lost Matty for the year). Although the Astros appear to be much improved, that's a 3 game set that the Rangers absolutely should have and could have won. Also, back in Mid-May who knew Toronto would go on an 11-2 tear on their way to first place in the AL East? It appeared to have all started in Arlington for them. Same weekend I was present for a game, Prince was scratched, and MY was honored, by the way...

Still glorious! No matter what you call it...

Team MY!

Yea, yea they lost while I was there. Whilst in Dallas and among the Ranger faithful I definitely felt the deflation. The team and fans seemed downtrodden. The prevailing sentiment? The season is over! We were already done in May and everyone felt the same; the local media, the talking heads, the radio shows, everyone. Everyone was jumping off the bandwagon....

While I love my city, our teams, and our fans (for the most part) this was definitely a case of the "Cowboys" culture/mentality at its worst. Fire the coach! Fire the GM! Blow up the team! I don't typically deal directly with this type of knee jerk fan. I'm much more the pragmatist. Well, usually...

Haha. So here were the decimated 22-24 Rangers embarking on a season long 11 game road trip with 13 players on the DL including their biggest off-season acquisition. To top it all off it would begin with 4 against the best team in the AL at the time. Oh, also Ian Kinsler's new team if you had forgotten...

A funny thing happened on our way to last place though (no offense to Houston haha). The Rangers and their next man up philosophy continued to pay dividends. Rougned Odor, Luis Sardinas, Chris Gimenez, Robinson Chirinos, Donnie Murphy. These definitely weren't the names that were supposed to be our difference makers back in April! This team just did what it's always done...minus the long ball. It's the team Ron Washington always wanted and never wanted. They got on base and ran the bases well once they did. They sacrificed. There were timely hits, runs with 2 outs, double steals, hit and runs, you name it. I mean, after all here's a Wash lineup that lacks a 'He-Man' for, probably, the first time in his tenure...

I have the power!!

The onus definitely now fell on players like Elvis and Beltre to be the leaders of this team, on the field and off. You may have heard Ian Kinsler recently commenting on how much of a relief it is for him to 'just play'. "I'm not worried about taking care of any young kids...I'm here to play ball and help the team win.", said Ian. Well guess what, Ian? Sometimes it IS up to you to rally your teammates in times of hardship. What if Verlander, Scherzer, and Miggy were all on the flippin' DL. What would YOU do then, Ian? Keep on whining, I'd presume...

I also feel like Beltre will have to emerge, and probably already has, as the star of this team. He's probably the best defensive 3rd baseman ever and he's easily the greatest 3rd baseman in Rangers history, wouldn't you say? I mean, what can't Beltre do?


The one thing this team has ALWAYS been able to do is stay loose and rally around each other. You might have seen this team even resurrecting the old antlers...

Me with 2 of my older brothers, Oct. 2010

I was always a "Ducks on the Pond" guy though. Haha...

I digress. Lest we forget that this team lost 3 of its best starting pitchers to injury and 2 of those for the season. Their opening day starter? Also on the DL.  Here's a team that as of today has used 22 different pitchers including 9 different starters. That would bury anyone's season. What does this team do though? They roll out Nick Tepesch, Colby Lewis, Nick Martinez, Scott Baker, even Joe Saunders and these guys keep us in games. They're at least giving our improving bullpen a shot. That's all we can ask for at this point since we don't appear to have the kind of offense that's going to light up the scoreboard. The straw that stirs the drink is still, of course, Yu Darvish...

Don't ever leave me!

Back to that season long road trip though. At the outset I was hoping for a 5-6 record at best and I would have been perfectly fine with that. The Rangers had other plans. They took 3 of 4 from both Detroit and Minnesota before succumbing (I believe) to fatigue (and sorry ass NL ball) and losing 2 of 3 at Washington. The Rangers somehow salvaged what was left of May with a 7-4 roadtrip which easily could have been 8-3 if not for a rare Soria blown save. You really have to tip your cap to Wash for somehow managing this mess...

So after what shockingly feels (to me) like a successful 14-15 month of May, given the circumstances, here's how we stand today...

The good news is that the M's and Halos have been just as up and down as the Rangers, and the A's haven't proven that they're a Juggernaut yet...

I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch!

We, also, seem to be trending upward, but what do the #s say? Their run differential is still in the minus at 23. We're still middle of the pack in runs, but hitting .266 as a team which is good for second in the AL. Their 34 HRs are good for next to last in the AL. So, they're still not hitting the ball out of the park. You knew that already. If we, once again, compare that to some of our old friends you'll immediately find Nelly Cruz leading the world with, 20, count 'em 20 flippin HRs! Ex-Rangers Ian, Murph, and even Mike Olt have chipped in a collective 18 HRs for their new teams. You do the math...

The pitching staff as a whole ranks poorly in just about every major category, yet somehow have the most shutouts in the AL with 10. I'm also shocked there are actually 2 teams that have a worse fielding percentage than we do, but given all the moving parts in our infield it's almost to be expected at this point. Can't spell Texas without the E...

Although, the MLB might say hey on second thought...that's a hit

So what lies ahead for June?

Well, it's definitely looking more and more like a make or break month for our team. Not only are we playing the most home games (15) in a month until September, but including yesterday the Rangers will enjoy 4 off days. If the Rangers can have a reasonable homestand (where we'll see 2 of our aforementioned old friends, Nelly and Murph) over the next 9 days, say 6-3; it really sets us up nicely to make a decent early run at it in the West as we'll travel to Seattle, Oakland, and Anaheim for a 9-game west coast road trip right after. I know it may sound like too much to ask of this team, but...

So what can the Rangers do in the short term to get better? Sign Kendrys Morales? It's definitely a suitable (albeit the only) option out there and he'll be wildly pursued. He'll definitely be signed after this week's draft so his new team can avoid surrendering a pick since Morales rejected a qualifying offer from the Mariners ala Nelly Cruz. He's a fit on many teams, including ours, and we're no strangers to him as he spent most of his career in Anaheim and last year in Seattle. He turns 31 this year and has averaged around 22 HRs and hit in the .270s the last 2 seasons while slugging .449 and .467 in those seasons. He did blast 34 homers back in 2009 as well...

Haha. Sooo...would he help? I'm sure he would, but I'm not counting on that move. Another 30 something player might be the answer for this team, but strictly in the short term. So, what if this team is still struggling when July rolls around? We haven't waved the white flag yet, but is it time to do just that, Rangers fans? The Rangers have, after all, been buyers for the last 4 years with varying degrees of success and failure. Is it time to reload the farm system?

I'm all for shaking up the roster and we definitely did that this year, but you also have to keep an eye on the future while trying to win in the present, constantly trying to keep your team relatively young. What's unfortunate is that we can't even judge how the new look Rangers lineup (except Choo individually) would have fared due to injury after injury after injury. I loved that nucleus of Josh, Nelly, Ian, MY, and Elvis of 2010-2012 as much the next guy, but we just weren't getting it done anymore...

Not a one left...

I even hesitate to speculate how this team would look right now with Ian still at 2nd, a re-signed Nelly in lieu of Choo, and say...another piece that came via a trade of Profar. Sounds like an aging team, no? I actually think something else would have to go horribly wrong (if that's possible) for us to be sellers (Rios and Soria probably lift right out) at the deadline, but what if we're buyers AGAIN? Ask yourself what THIS team would need to make another run. Another bat? Another arm? Maybe 2 of each? Might as well stand pat if that's the case. Sheesh...

ALL of that being said, everyone still says this has the feel of a lost season. That there's simply too much for this Rangers team to overcome. Well we say there's 105 games left to play, we have players that WILL get healthy and contribute for us, we're a mere 6 games behind in the West, and there are only 4 AL teams with better records than the Rangers. Long way to go, Rangers fans, and I'm not ready to call it a season or have a fire sale. No sense in giving up because, what if we turn this thing around? You don't want to be the Rangers fan that missed the fireworks...

...and to steal a line from Jamey Newberg...







Hey June, don't let me down...







Bring on the O's!!!!!

Happy Michael Young Day! (On Saturday)

I think we all remember this day, don't we?  It's the last time Michael Young put on his Rangers jersey:

Sorry...I think I need a minute...

MIKE!!!  Please come back!

That's when MY said this:

My time in Texas is 13 of the best years of my life...It was my honor to be able to play for them [the fans] on a daily basis.  I owe this community everything.

Okay...maybe I need more than one minute...

PLEEEAAASEE!!!

Okay...I think I've pulled myself together now....deep breath...deep breath...

Well, 3.5 months after that fateful January day, the Texas Rangers are finally going to honor the ultimate captain, Mr. Michael Brian Young in a pre-game ceremony.  Saturday's game against the Blue Jays at RBiA (I am still refusing this 'Globe Life' nonsense) will start at 7:15.  And the The Michael Young Show will begin around 6:45 PM.  I've seen The Michael Young Show a few times and I guarantee you won't be disappointed if you watch.  It features a career batting average of .300, gold glove play at shortstop, 2,375 career hits, 7 All-Star appearances, an All-Star MVP, and a little something called a BATTING TITLE.

M-V-P!  M-V-P!  M-V-P!

Michael Young is the best that Texas Rangers history has to offer.  I don't mean the best nice guy. I don't mean the best of the most recent history.  I mean Michael Young has surpassed all other Rangers in the historical power rankings.  Yes, I'm including Nolan Ryan.  And yes, I'm including Pudge (gasp!).  So what makes him so special?  And no, it's not just that MY is the Rangers' ALL-TIME hits leader...

MY's muttering "Hey Jon, you're still an a-hole"

...although that helps.

Michael Young was a constant on this team and as a fan favorite for 13 years of mostly revolving door-madness.  We said so long to a bunch of guys, some of whom were named Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Alfonso Soriano, during Young's tenure as a Texas Ranger.  And all of those guys were supposed to be the face of this franchise at some point.  But after all of those jerks left, only one champ remained standing:  your captain, Michael Young.

I can remember that during the team's rise in 2010, everyone was clamoring for the Rangers to "do it for Michael Young".  That doesn't happen for "okay" players or momentary heroes.

And damn they got oh so close...two years in a row...

Ahhh...memories...

Damn...why did I do that...

Sorry guys.  My bad...I'll get it together, I swear.

The funny thing is, that even when reliving that sad 2011 World Series loss, Michael Young was STILL a bad ass.  During his retirement press conference, he said:

I know there were no rings, but that was a championship team.  They were a great team, but we were better. Flat out.  I can say that now that I'm retired.

It's hard to be a bad ass while retiring, but he managed to do that.  And if being an awesome ballplayer, damn nice guy, and all-around bad ass aren't enough for you, I give you this...a short summary of some of MY's career walk-up music:

California Love - 2Pac, Dr. Dre

Nuthin But A G Thang - Dr. Dre

Roc Boys - Jay Z

So What'cha Want - Beastie Boys

Sabotage - Beastie Boys

Heart of the City - Jay Z

In a world of David Murphys and Josh Hamiltons, Michael Young has got to win some sort of prize for this, right?  RIGHT?  

(Oh and that ^ is not commentary on their playing skills.  It's commentary on their walk-up music...just TERRIBLE.)

So be there Saturday night.  I will be.  At the very least watch the ceremony on TV.  Because I can't imagine the Texas Rangers having another player that means as much as Michael Young does to this franchise anytime soon.  

Remember when I said...

Well, Rangers fans one month of the season is officially in the books. I don't know about you, but for me it seemed to fly by faster than a Vince Carter buzzer beater...

 

Haha. Anyway, remember when I said we'd have a better idea about this team after their 10-game mid-month home-stand? Well, they notched 7 victories, including a 5 game winning streak, the bats even (fleetingly) seemed to come alive, and the starting pitching thankfully kept us in games. They then immediately hit the west coast and swept the hated A's at O.co. Ranger diehards everywhere were saying I told you so, among other things...

Even Elvis was getting overzealous...

Haha. Well, after an off day we managed to squander a series at Seattle losing 2 of 3 including one loss in spectacular fashion...

Nevertheless we were all tied up atop the West with Oakland at 15-10 and headed back to the Ballpark for another 3 game set against those hated A's. Well, needless to say it didn't quite go how we hoped it would...

After 3 straight beatings and being outscored 25-4 with our top 3 pitchers on the mound, we closed out the month losing 5 of our last 6 for a record of 15-13. Not terrible considering it's still good for the second best record in the American League while only 3 games behind the A's...

Now most stat junkies might point to run differential as a better indication of whether a team is trending up or down. You don't have to be a mathematician to see why the Rangers have a -21 differential right now after the 3 beatings we just took (we were outscored by exactly 21 runs in the series). Just for fun though if we examine further we find that the entire AL East has a negative run differential, and the A's and Halos have the most impressive differentials in the league at +59 and +40, respectively (2 best in all the majors as well). Worst in the AL? You guessed it...the Astros at -54...

All in all this team is still tough to figure out. They seemed to have everything going in their run of 10 of 13 wins. Overall, they're middle of the pack in runs and batting average. They've hit a paltry 14 HRs, good for next to last in the AL. Compare to that our old friends Nelly, Ian, and Murph who have 11 collectively with their new teams. The Rangers *have* stolen the most bags in the AL with 25 though. So, there's that. No real surprise. Right now you're forced to say they're simply just a meddling offense. They just still haven't found their groove. Oh and we somehow crawled out of dead last in fielding...

Yeaaaaahhhhh!

Losing Adrian Beltre didn't help matters, but just think about where the offense would have been without the surprise success of his replacement. Kevin Kouzmanoff was hitting .362 with 2 HRs and 10 RBI. He earned AL player of the week honors and hit safely in his first 10 games for the Rangers. He would go on to leave a game at Oakland due to back stiffness because...of course he'd get hurt. That's been the modus operandi for the 2014 Rangers. He's probably looking at back surgery which means he'll miss significant time. It's unfortunate because he really was making a case to be on this team every day. A DH at least...

Losing Choo due to a sprained ankle didn't help matters either, but was in keeping with the injury trend. The Rangers were 3-3 in his absence from the starting lineup. The Rangers 1-4 hitters collectively hit .176 during those 6 games. Yikes. Even so, the Rangers were somehow making it work with a 'next man up' philosophy that would make the 2013 Dallas Cowboys defensive line jealous...

Josh Wilson, Donnie Murphy, Michael Choice, Jim Adduci (who of course is also on the DL). They've all done their part (given the situation) in the constant shuffle that is the Rangers lineup. Oh and where would we also be without Alex Rios and Leonys Martin, by the way? Rios (.321 BA) has been our best most consistent hitter while Leo (11 RBI) is crushing the ball with runners in scoring position. Now if this lineup still can't find its groove while completely healthy we can, then, panic. For now, we're still waiting for the Tigers to ship Prince Fielder to us. I mean we sent them Ian Kinsler months ago, didn't we?

Same ole uppercut swing, no?

In all seriousness, remember when I said I had glorious visions of Prince taking full advantage of the short porch in right at the Ballpark? That hitting in front of Beltre and behind Elvis was genius? That a change of scenery was all he needed?

Well after a month we're all still waiting for him to get it together. If you told me on Opening day that by May 1st, Prince would be hitting .206 with 2 HRs and 9 RBI after 102 ABs, I wouldn't believe you. In fact, I'd be incredulous...

Anyway, up until this week's Oakland series I would have told you this team was good enough to win any game and all that credit goes to the pitching. Scratch that. The STARTING pitching. That's a scary thought too though! Remember when I said this team employed 11 different starting pitchers all of last year AND all of 2012? Guess how many they've used through 28 games this season...



8.


8!!



That at least somehow explains why as a team they seem to be average or below average in just about every major category. They do, however, have the most shutouts in the AL with 6. Even though the overall team numbers won't show it: Yu, Perez, and even Robbie Ross have been stellar this month (sans the last 3 games haha). Things at least seem to be looking up with Colby and Matty back into the fold. The rotation is slowly becoming who we thought they were...

Crown their ass!

The sad truth right now is that our pitchers have to go out there and be as close to perfect as possible. With an inconsistent offense and an inconsistent bullpen, however, you may STILL end up with a loss at the end of the night! For instance, it makes little difference that Yu Darvish is 1-7 in 9 career starts against Oakland (0-7 5.32 ERA in his last 8) because the Rangers don't score when he's on the mound no matter who we're playing (we've scored an avg of 2.2 runs in his 5 starts). He's 29-12 with a 3.09 ERA with 11.16 K/9 against everyone else, by the way...



Back to the bullpen though, how lucky are we that Joakim Soria is 6 for 6 in save opportunities? What he's missing is a set up man. Ogando just hasn't proven he can go out there and get the job done on a consistent basis. Last Sunday afternoon in Seattle comes to mind...



So, what's the quick fix here? Failed starting pitcher Tanner Scheppers (who's of course on the DL too)?

With my 9.82 ERA!

So what say you, Rangers fans? One month enough to make you a pessimist? All the numbers say this is a .500 or worse team...

Are they fatigued already? Injuries finally catching up to them? They did play 19 games in 20 days to close out the month, after all. You'd feel a whole lot better right now if this team had figured out a way to win even one game against Oakland this week, or at the very least not given up two games at Seattle last weekend. Remember when I said they tend even out over 162, though?


Well, also in a 162 game baseball season a general recipe for success is to play .500 ball or so on the road while taking full advantage of your home games. Since 2010 the Rangers have averaged right around 42 road wins a year. So that's a good 7 road wins a month. The Rangers went 6-6 in April on the road...



Well I don't believe this to be a .500 team or a great team...yet. They are definitely a very unlucky, unhealthy team at the moment. The good news is that probably will not last. So what lies ahead for May? Well wouldn't you know: the bad news is the Rangers will be playing 18 road games, 6 more than in April. The other good news is that most of the teams in AL are still jockeying for position in the standings and most are hovering right around 12-13 wins...

The Angels can tell you that falling flat on your face with one bad early month can knock you way out of the race...

Loser C.J.!

One great month can also catapult you. Just ask the 2010 American League Champion Texas Rangers and their 21-6 May. So once again, it's important that the Rangers not squander opportunities ala Seattle when they travel to Houston and Minnesota, and when they host the Blue Jays and M's mid-May...

Most road games of any month all season. Season long road trip (10).

I'll be there on the 17th, by the way! Wouldn't you know it turns out they're honoring Michael Young in a pregame ceremony that night. How fitting. Now I know my jinx at the Ballpark has been well documented by my peers, but <ahem> they never lost once when I saw them play live last season...

I live the Suite Life, baby! Haha..

First things first though, the Rangers travel to wherever the hell it is that the Angels play baseball or film shampoo commercials or whatever it is they do...

I wanna punch this clown so bad...

It'll be our first 3 games of the season against the hated Angels and with the Rangers slumping and the Halos nipping at our heels it makes this kind of an important early May series. The winless Hector Santiago will be on the mound for the Angels while Colby takes the hill for us. I really feel like this is Colby's chance to cement his spot in the rotation. It could also unfortunately go the other way, as well. Somehow I don't see that happening though...



Either way, I hope you're all as happy as we are that baseball is back and having as much fun as we clearly are watching these games. April was up and down. Lets hope for a better May...








Bring on the Halos!