Wright, Loe And Chen, Oh My!
The battle for the fifth starter's spot is tightening up.
Bruce Chen threw three shutout innings on Sunday afternoon in a comeback 12-8 win over the Colorado Rockies.
TEXAS AB R H BIK Lofton cf 3 0 2 0
F Guzman rf 1 2 0 0
M Kata ss 5 3 4 5
M Teixeira 1b 2 0 1 0
N Gold 1b 3 1 1 2
S Sosa dh 2 0 0 1
M Byrd ph 2 0 0 0
B Wilkerson lf 3 0 0 0
J Botts lf 0 1 0 0
J Hairston Jr 2b 4 3 3 0
D Meyer 2b 1 0 0 0
N Cruz rf 5 1 2 2
M Ojeda c 3 0 2 1
C Stewart c 1 0 0 0
T Metcalf 3b 3 1 1 1
TOTALS 38 12 16 12
IP H R ER BB SO HR
B Chen 3 5 0 0 0 1 0
W Littleton 1-3 1 3 3 3 1 1
C Wilson 1 2-3 2 0 0 0 1 0
R Bauer 1 5 5 1 0 1 1
M Wood (W,1-0) 3 0 0 0 1 2 0
Bruce allowed five hits and a HBP, putting two runners on base in each inning. However, he helped himself with a pair of pickoffs, and worked out of several jams. Even though it wasn't a particularly great outing, Ron Washington seemed to be pleased, and Chen continues to stick around in the race for the #5 rotation spot. He's still behind Kameron Loe and Jamey Wright, though, and I doubt Chen is still in the Rangers organization in a couple of weeks. The Rangers have until April 1st to add him to the 40-man roster, or he can become a free agent.
Wes Littleton took another step backwards on Sunday, giving up three runs on three walks, a HBP and a HR in just 1/3 of an inning. Littleton thought he had discovered and corrected a mechanical flaw in his delivery on Thursday, when he worked a scoreless inning in a "B" game. Guess he thought wrong. Ron Washington had this to say when asked whether Littleton was losing a grip on his bullpen spot:
"If he keeps going out and giving outings like he did [Sunday]," Washington said. "He'll get more opportunities. He'll get the ball again the next couple of days. He's still here, so he'll continue to pitch. But it has to get better."
Victor Rojas writes that Littleton is having trouble finding a release point on the mound. Whatever the issue is, he better work through it quickly, because his job is in major jeopardy. Definitely one of the more disappointing stories out of camp.
Rick Bauer was hit hard as well, giving up five hits and five runs (only one earned, though) in his inning of work. Rojas also notes that Rick's pitches were up in the zone, and that he failed to command his breaking pitches, two things a groundball pitcher like Bauer cannot afford to let happen. He had a window of opportunity available with some of the recent struggles of Francisco and Littleton, but he's failed to take advantage.
On a better note, C.J. Wilson continued to put things back on track with a solid performance in his 1 2/3 innings, and is poised to lock up a bullpen spot soon. Reliever Mike Wood pitched three scoreless innings and picked up the win. He's a major long shot to make the team, but Washington and Jon Daniels are impressed with him.
The hero of Sunday's game was undoubtedly Matt Kata, who went 4 for 5 at the plate and clubbed two home runs (one from each side of the plate), including a game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the 7th inning that put Texas up for good. He's now 14 for 30 on the spring, and has played his way into consideration for the utility infielder job. Of course, Jerry Hairston Jr. is 15 for 32, and has already been promised a spot on the 40-man roster. Right now, the competition seems to be boiling down between Marlon Byrd and Matt Kata fighting for one roster spot, with Kata only being able to play the infield and Byrd only in the outfield. Then again, DeRosa had strictly been an infielder before coming to Texas too...
Nelson Cruz must have read T.R. Sullivan's article yesterday morning, because he went 2 for 5 with two doubles, including a two run rocket that tied the game at 8-8 in the bottom of the 7th. He really needed that. Sammy Sosa went 0 for 2, snapping his 11 game hitting streak in "A" games this spring. Speaking of Sammy, the Chicago Sun-Times ran a piece a few days ago comparing Sosa's 2005 spring statistics with 2007. Just to further illustrate the disparity between spring numbers and regular season numbers, Sosa hit .302 with three home runs, five doubles and eight RBI in 22 Grapefruit League games. We all know what happened when the calendar rolled over to April.
Texas is off today, although Brandon McCarthy pitched in a minor league game this morning. Robinson Tejeda will take the hill on Tuesday against the San Francisco Giants, in perhaps his most important start of the spring yet.
Two weeks until Opening Day.
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