Ian Kinsler; an all-important cog atop the Rangers' lineup. An above-average defender at second base. A good baserunner who can steal 30+ bases in a season. A second baseman with above-average power for his position. A guy who seems to either be red-hot or icy-cold. There seems to be no consistentcy in between his highs and lows. Kinsler's either going 3-4 with a HR and a double/triple or 0-4 with 3 weak pop-ups. For example, in the opening series against the Red Sox, Kinsler led off the first two games with a home run. Not to mention he was blasting the ball all over the field. And in doing that, the Rangers entire lineup followed and overwhelmed Boston's pitchers. That was one of Kinsler's "highs". Now, we see the "low" version of Kinsler. In the series against Detroit, we see Ian with a huge upper-cut swing and seemingly popping-up every pitch he sees. Don't get me wrong, Kinsler has always had a upper-cut in his swing, it's just that his swing seems to be all or nothing with no true consistent production in between from week to week. I for one know Kinsler will soon catch fire again and in doing that the Rangers' offense will follow, but when he struggles it seem so does our entire lineup. So it seems, where Kinsler goes, the Rangers' offense goes.

This team is winning in Earl Weaver style...pitching, defense, long ball. Rangers lead the league (on 4/15/11) in ERA, while they're near the last in strikeouts....meaning lots of ground ball outs and, as was seen last night, double plays.

If that persists, of course, this should be a banner year. Thank you, Mike Maddux.

On offense, Rangers should continue to hit mistakes out of the park. However, I'm seeing too many undisciplined AB's, and form inconsistency. I'm a little concerned about Thad Bosley, as there are some very talented hitters fish-tailing all over the road. That said, these are also gifted hitters (Kinsler, Cruz, Moreland, Young) who find a way over the long haul.

The entire lineup just seems too aggressive. Everybody loves the long-ball but isn't playing "small-ball" with effiecient pitching/defense what got us to the World Series? By the way, Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando have been mighty impressive. There may be no room for Tommy Hunter or Brandon Webb when they become healthy...although there is a noticeable need for an 8th inning arm to set-up Neftali Feliz. So Ogando may be the odd man out.