Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler rounds the bases after clubbing his second home run in two innings on Tuesday, June 16th.Shortly after the Texas Rangers yet again subjugated their intrastate rivals with an effortless, Silver Boot-clinching 6-1 victory on a heat-baked summer evening in Arlington, second baseman Ian Kinsler classified his former double-play partner's fourth-inning RBI double as the decisive blow to the Astros' psyche while selflessly proclaiming that his "homers [didn't] impact the game very much."

As if the plurality of the term "homer" wasn't already enough of a crystal-clear indication that Kinsler's assessment of his monster 3-for-4, two-homer and one-walk performance was more than a little self-depreciating, consider that his Tuesday evening effort at the plate was his second-best in terms of win probability added (.185) since April 25th, as well as arguably his second-best game of the entire season behind only his non-replicable 6-for-6 cycle which he compiled back on April 15th.

Perusing the assortment of game accounts published by an increasingly tech-oriented array of mediums, the one major point which is repeatedly and uniformly conveyed is that Kinsler's offensive approach had fallen into disrepair, as evidenced by his self-admission that he had reverted into a "backwards" plate mentality in which the primary focus was hitting off-speed pitches rather than fastballs; given that more than 65 percent of the pitches which Kinsler has seen this season have been some variant of the heater (with the vast majority of those obviously being four-seam or two-seam fastballs, and a much smaller minority being cutters or splitters), it makes sense on a fundamental level to divert the bulk of your attention towards the fastball, since that's the pitch you're going to see the majority of the time.

[Incidentally, manager Ron Washington acknowledged that he never contemplated getting creative with his lineup and dropping Kinsler in the batting order as part of a master plan to resurrect his lead-off hitter's top-flight bat. It's certainly possible that his Tuesday evening outburst was a one-game blip on the radar and that he's destined to revert back into his prolonged slump, but I like the skipper's decision to leave things alone. Again, the configuration of the batting order is not the overriding issue -- it's the performance of the batting order. Lineup grousing should be reserved for a far more egregious offense, like batting Nelson Cruz seventh or something.]

A rather interesting corollary does come into play where Kinsler's inclination for the secondary pitch is concerned, however; according to FanGraphs' pitch-type run value data (which utilizes linear weights by count and by event with each pitch type so that you can gauge a pitcher's or hitter's effectiveness with or against a certain pitch), Kinsler has fared worse against straight-up fastballs (0.19 runs below average per 100 pitches, good for 126th out of 171 qualifying batters) and sliders (-0.98/111th) in 2009 than he has in any of his previous three major league seasons, but currently resides among baseball's upper echelon when it comes to hitting curveballs (3.16/13th) and change-ups (7.27/3rd).

Will Kinsler's improvement against the fastball result in a corresponding decline of effectiveness against those pitches which he has overwhelmingly succeeded against thus far? The safe assumption to make is "probably," and he won't be quite as murderous against southpaws if that indeed happens (since change-ups are a particularly vital component of a left-hander's arsenal against right-handed batters), but if that means the inordinately talented second baseman who had hit a disappointing .183/.294/.394 over his last 28 games preceding Tuesday evening's interleague tilt is about to re-emerge as a reliable force atop the Rangers' lineup, then it's a tradeoff that we can all very easily get behind.

Quick Hits: Left-hander Matt Harrison's (strained left shoulder) activation from the 15-day disabled list in anticipation of his Wednesday evening start against the Astros (in which he will likely be limited to 95-100 pitches) is imminent, but he will not be paired with "personal catcher" Taylor Teagarden, who will instead catch right-hander Vicente Padilla on Thursday; no word on whether the previous arrangement has been permanently abolished ... Prominent Houston businessman (and co-owner of the Corpus Christi Hook and Round Rock Express along with team president Nolan Ryan) on the importance of Ryan's continued involvement during the possible transfer of majority ownership: "Nolan is the key to the whole thing. He's got to be the player in the whole thing. Whoever buys it, they darn well better keep Nolan involved"; Sanders downplayed the chances of becoming involved in what might ultimately be a nine-digit transaction Tuesday, describing himself as a "long shot."

Recently signed right-hander Orlando Hernandez has begun working out with Triple-A Oklahoma City, but is reportedly "three more [batting practice] sessions away" from being ready to pitch in a live game; Hernandez is also adamant that he will pitch strictly in a relief role, which doesn't seem to reconcile with Jon Daniels' assertion that the club would "build him up as a starter," but might ultimately be for the best ... If the balloting for the 2009 All-Star Game were to end tomorrow, both Ian Kinsler and currently disabled center fielder Josh Hamilton (abdominal surgery) would start for the American League; Elvis Andrus and Michael Young both rank third in the balloting at shortstop and third base, respectively, while catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (fourth), first baseman Chris Davis (fifth) and right fielder Nelson Cruz (seventh) remain in the mix ... The Rangers have signed 14 of their 51 draft picks; a more extensive breakdown of the club's Day Two and Day Three picks from last week is still on the docket.