I'd certainly like to think so, but speaking strictly in a performance sense, he won't edge out Bartlett or Scutaro, and I can't fathom Maddon carrying more than three shortstops...certainly, Elvis has that "flash" factor as a guy who is becoming something of a household name due to his youth and penchant for the highlight defensive play, but you can't really justify carrying him over Bartlett/Scutaro/Jeter right now...

Refreshing departure from the norm through the game's first few batters, with Kinsler blasting a lead-off shot, Young working a nice walk and Byrd also going yard...Saunders may not be around too terribly long at this rate...

Mike: He was activated on June 16th and has continued to hit, pegging hits in 10 of his 13 games since returning from his sprained ankle, so health isn't really an issue there.

Miscellaneous observation on the top of the first: Feldman was behind in the count often (going 2-0 or 3-1 on three of the Angels' first four hitters) and narrowly evaded disaster, which doesn't strike me as a good blueprint for success...hopefully he reverses that trend in short order...

Quite the redeeming offensive showing tonight...hopefully this doesn't turn out to be yet another blip on the radar and Texas slips back into bad habits tomorrow night...

Trip observes via AIM that Davis's timing still appears to be off from pitch to pitch, and he's now 0-for-11 over his last three games...honestly, given the Rangers' aggressive promotion schedule with their top-tier young talent, it wouldn't be all that shocking if Justin Smoak were given a look before the trade deadline, and while Davis's brief offensive outburst in Arizona might have temporarily quieted the vocal sentiment that he should be sent to Frisco or OKC, that might still be an inevitability at this point. Every time he takes a step forward, he seems to subsequently take two steps backwards.

Mike: Good call. C.J. has established that he's not reliable on zero days rest, and while 17 pitches probably won't make O'Day unavailable tomorrow night if needed, you have to wonder a little why Grilli or Mathis aren't being pitched here...Jennings, of course, threw 23 pitches last night and 9 pitches the night before, so Washington is effectively working with a six-man bullpen, but I'm not a huge fan of using two of your best relief pitchers in a six-run game with no off-day tomorrow.

Looks like C.J. is staying in for now (which should definitely preclude his availability tomorrow night)...again, I'm not sure what the logic is behind pitching your second-best reliever to the point where he's not going to be available in what might well be a close game tomorrow night, and perhaps I'm overblowing the issue, but hey, there it is...

This will be terribly unfunny if Frankie throws 20-25 pitches and either (a) isn't available tomorrow night if needed or (b) is ineffective tomorrow night as a consequence of how Washington has deployed his bullpen tonight.

And I can certainly buy into that viewpoint, JD...the thing is, CJ isn't really somebody that you want pitching on zero days rest regardless unless it's a really, really dire situation (and I'm certain the Rangers would love to shatter that perception, but he hasn't been good with that variable in place in 2009 and hasn't been historically either), so it's sorta counterintuitive to deploy him in that situation, and now he's not going to be available in the event of a close game later tonight (since it's now Wednesday).

Yes, Ron had a short-handed bullpen to work with since Jennings wasn't available, but both Mathis and Grilli were presumably available (both of whom have also shown some aptitude in their respective roles), and if you can't trust either of those guys to work through an inning or two with a six-run lead, then I'm really not sure why they're here.