Jamey Wright Isn't Very Good

For your viewing pleasure, I'd like to present Jamey Wright's pitching line tonight:

2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR

And a no-decision, thanks to the Rangers pounding out 12 hits in a big 12-9 win over Tampa Bay. Great job by the offense, which rose to the occasion and got the Rangers the victory to move them back to .500 on the season at 4-4. But that's not the focus of this mini-rant.

Jamey Wright needs to go.

The Rangers had no reason to expect anything more than what they got tonight. He's got a long track record of mediocrity, and he's 32, so expecting him to suddenly become better is a pipe dream at best. His spring began well, but the wheels fell off and he ended the spring with a 5.83 ERA. Nonetheless, the Rangers gave him a rotation spot, because they felt his "electric" stuff was too important for them to lose.

Well, we all got a good look at Jamey Wright tonight, and he looked awful. He did fine through his first two innings, but then completely fell apart, and the Devil Rays jumped all over him. His stuff didn't look particularly great, and his command was pretty much non-existent. It was a miserable outing, period.

And if the Texas Rangers are serious about winning this division, Jamey Wright needs to be removed from this roster. Not in a few more starts, or maybe a month. Now, as in right after this game. Admittedly, Bruce Chen and Kameron Loe haven't started particularly strong. But then again, they're pitching out of a bullpen role after being groomed as starters this spring. Their stuff and velocity has looked good so far in the appearances they have made, and I think a lot of people will agree that the Rangers have a much better chance of winning by putting Chen or Loe in the fifth starter's spot than a retread like Jamey Wright.

Unfortunately, the Rangers will probably give Wright a few more starts to fumble around, to see if they can salvage anything from the trainwreck. Good luck with that, Texas. At this point, it's not if Jamey Wright will stay in the rotation.

It's how long.

Comments

[Ranger Ryan]

Joey, I guess your a prophet because you predicted the Wright disaster. I am a little suprised at how harsh you are about him. True he was tagged for a bunch of runs in only 3 innings of work, but remember, he is the 5th starter, and in Texas that basically means you still have a heartbeat. In addition, this was his first start of the season. Padilla, BM, and KM all had bad to below average first outings before bouncing back with solid 2nd starts. Lets give Wright a couple more starts before we pull him for good. I am a believer in a starting rotation that is consistant is better for the team. Last year we cycled through 4 and 5 starters and never gave anyone a chance to really work through their lumps. Now, it looks like pitcher 1-4 are set, lets give number 5 some time. I have seen the snake man in action and honestly, he is much better out of the pen.





Hitting has switched 180 degrees, although TB pitchers can usually help that. The Rangers have posted 20 runs in 2 games and are feeling confident in the approach, unfortunately Tex is still not hitting but with Kinsler and Cruz hot. Sosa is just not able to provide the needed power at the 5 spot, for that matter neither is Wilkerson, but he has always been a slug for the Rangers (see 2006 season for examples).





The Cat and Loften have been hitting and running well which gives the top part of the order power and speed.





We need to win these games against bad teams because the rest of April is not so friendly.

[Joey Matschulat]

As you say, perhaps it isn't totally fair to Wright to judge him off one start, since #1-3 in the rotation didn't do very well in that first week. However, the rest of the rotation either has a proven track record or has great upside along with good minor league numbers. Jamey Wright has neither. I'm not willing to give him much rope when he's obviously not the best fifth starter that the team has right now.





Sounds like his job is already in jeopardy, though:





"Though the Rangers scored seven runs in the bottom of the inning to take a fairly comfortable lead, the question still begged to be asked: Could Wright lose the fifth spot after just one outing?





Washington doesn't need the fifth spot again until April 21, but he was non-committal about who would make that start against Oakland.





"We really haven't determined it yet," said Washington. "We'll make sure Jamey gets checked out by the trainers and make sure everything is OK, and we'll go from there."