Rangers Gameday: 7/6 Vs. LAA
Monday, July 6th Game Preview
Texas Rangers (45-35) vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (45-35)
Kevin Millwood (8-5, 2.80 ERA) vs. Jered Weaver (8-3, 3.10 ERA)
9:05 p.m. CST in Anaheim, California (Angel Stadium of Anaheim)
TV: FSNSW-HD | Radio: KRLD 105.3 FM, XM 178
| Rangers |
Angels |
||
| Position | Player | Position | Player |
| 2B |
Ian Kinsler |
3B |
Chone Figgins |
| 3B |
Michael Young |
RF |
Bobby Abreu |
| CF |
Josh Hamilton |
CF |
Torii Hunter |
| DH |
Andruw Jones |
DH |
Vladimir Guerrero |
| 1B |
Hank Blalock |
LF |
Juan Rivera |
| LF |
Marlon Byrd |
1B |
Kendry Morales |
| RF |
Nelson Cruz |
SS |
Maicer Izturis |
| C |
Jarrod Saltalamacchia |
C |
Jeff Mathis |
| SS |
Elvis Andrus |
2B |
Howie Kendrick |
Pre-Game Notes: Second baseman Ian Kinsler is the early leader in the American League "Final Vote" balloting; Kinsler acknowledges being slowed by fatigue but asserts he does not need a day off ... According to manager Ron Washington, right-hander Vicente Padilla (right shoulder inflammation) will be ready to start on Wednesday; Dustin Nippert will start on Tuesday, followed by Tommy Hunter, Derek Holland, Scott Feldman and Kevin Millwood on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively ... Outfielder David Murphy will begin working out at first base, a position he has not played since his college playing days at Baylor; Ron Washington will reportedly attempt to rotate Murphy, Marlon Byrd, Nelson Cruz, Josh Hamilton and Andruw Jones between the three outfield spots and the designated hitter spot.
Minor League Games: Omaha vs. Oklahoma City (Guillermo Moscoso), Frisco vs. Arkansas, Game 1 (Michael Ballard), Frisco vs. Arkansas, Game 2 (Kasey Kiker), Stockton vs. Bakersfield (Ryan Tatusko), Hagerstown vs. Hickory (Neil Ramirez), Vancouver vs. Spokane (Matt Thompson), AZL Padres vs. AZL Rangers (Carlos Melo)
23 Comments | in Gameday, The Season
Reader Comments (23)
Since June 1st, David Murphy has hit .333/.382/.570 in 104 plate appearances. He's hitting .307/.381/.497 against RHP in 178 plate appearances this season. Meanwhile, Jered Weaver has fared not particularly well against left-handed batters this year (.262/.322/.481) in 237 plate appearances and has a lifetime 135-point OPS split between how he fares against left-handed and right-handed batters.
Murphy is sitting tonight in favor of Andruw Jones, part of the right-handed demographic which Weaver has chewed up and spit back out this year to the tune of .178/.235/.249.
This doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.
With two on and one out in the top of the first, Andruw strikes out, but Blalock comes through with a two-out RBI single that plates both Young and Hamilton, the latter of whom scored on a fielding error by Figgins...
And Millwood works through a scoreless first inning...he's proven quite hittable in his two starts against the Angels thus far this season, getting clobbered to the tune of .347/.411/.490 but somehow going 1-0 with a 4.38 ERA in those two starts...
Per Evan Grant:
Well, the problem is that samples that small have absolutely no predictive value (and if it sounds as though I'm incessantly harping on this, it's because I am), and going 1-for-9 against a certain pitcher over a certain time span tells us absolutely nothing about how they're going to fare in that 10th official at-bat...now, perhaps the coaching staff/team scouts see something about the potential Murphy/Weaver matchup that greatly concerns them, and if that's the case then more power to Ron Washington and company for sticking by their personal assessments and bucking popular sentiment.
If this is actually about starting the veteran and setting up a much less favorable matchup, I'm really not sure what to say.
Stream: http://atdhe.net/7346/watch-rangers-vs-angels
Millwood throws Mathis six consecutive fastballs and gets torched on fastball No. 6 (which got far too much of the plate) with a three-run blast to left-center field...not a really great sequence there...
Joey, who, in your opinion, deserves to make the final AL All-Star spot?
Honestly, you can make a reasonably strong case for the entire group sans Carlos Pena (who's playing like Jack Cust circa 2008, which is pretty good, just not All-Star worthy)...figuring defense into the equation, I'd go Kinsler/Inge/Lind in that order, with Figgins trailing just a bit, but it's pretty tight in my mind. Honestly, Kinsler might not be more deserving than Lind or Inge. It's a tough call, and I don't know that I have a ton of conviction about voting for Kinsler anyway.
Pretty sure this isn't the good Kevin Millwood we're seeing tonight...out comes Mike Maddux after the Angels plate their fourth run in 2.1 innings and threaten for more with two runners on and just one out...Millwood is already approaching the 50-pitch mark for the night and I'm sure Texas would love to extract six innings out of him if at all possible, particularly at the beginning of a seven-game road trip, but that might not be practicable at this rate...
I havent noticed any media catching Kinsler reflect upon his upper-cut swing and/or address a potential adjustment he may need to make considering that he is still batting lead-off. Ian's defense has improved this year (the routine plays are made with fidelity); just wish his offense of late matched his outgoing and contagious personality in the clubhouse.
On a side note..... love watching all the Ranger run downs......
You know as much as of a Kinsler fan as I am, I would almost rather see him miss the all star game so he can get some rest. Last year after the all star game he just looked drained for the next several weeks.
Good point, Mike. I did not vote for Ian.
TL: By chance did you catch Ian's introspective thoughts from earlier?
It's worth noting that his batted-ball rates are not quite as favorable as they were last year, with Kinsler's line-drive rate plunging 10 percent, fly-ball rate jumping 11.4 percent and infield fly-ball rate climbing 3.6 percent, but we don't know whether that's actually attributable to any sort of change in his swing, and it's his contention that his hitting mechanics are essentially the same as they've always been...still, though, this probably requires a slightly closer examination in a full-fledged post...
Joey, I had not read the Grant quote before..... nice mini-analysis of Kinsler's bat-by-the-numbers, bro.
Ian's defensive and judgmental language there perhaps hints that he too has been caught up with pressing too much at the plate?????
I'm with Mike, and believe Kinsler (and many others on this team) need a mental break from the game. For the record, I am Kinsler fan.
TL: That would be my guess, and with the way Kinsler's going right now I'm not sure that starting Omar Vizquel at second base for one night is such a terrible thing.
Anaheim leaps ahead 9-2...blech...
Today, Richard Durrett referenced a July 2nd article in the Orange County Register speculating "Could Angels Lackey wind up in Texas? With free agency pending, Lackey may be courted by his boyhood idol."
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/lackey-angels-think-2481667-mike-year
WIth a blow-out game in progress, thought you would want a laugh.....
Apparently BP's John Perrotto recently dropped a note suggesting that Texas would be an ardent suitor of Lackey's this winter, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless the Rangers' ownership situation meets a quick resolution (Reuters reported earlier today that Hicks was hoping to have bids in hand by mid-August) and the new ownership collective proves willing to shell out big bucks for primo free-agent starting pitching...anyway, I'm pretty indifferent about the possibility at this point, primarily because I don't think it's going to happen, but we'll see...
Kinsler smashes a two-run homer to slash the Angels' lead to 9-4...that, along with Hamilton's two-hit effort, are about the only bright spots of the night...
One more good thing: Back-to-back scoreless innings from Grilli/Mathis. Doug might as well pitch the eighth inning as well, since he's the safe pick to be sent out tomorrow to make room for Dustin Nippert on the active roster, but he has demonstrated that he has some utility in a major league relief role and assuming he's the one sent out, I think we'll see him back down the line...
Also, been working on the BBTiA FAQ page, which I hope to eventually load up with easy-to-understand definitions on some of the statistics that are frequently thrown around here, such as wOBA and UZR. Right now I have OPS+ and wOBA up.
And finally, there will be more David/Trip goodness up in the morning on Blake Beavan and Tommy Hunter...
Some minor league notes:
- Guillermo Moscoso was dominant against Omaha and their bottom-half PCL offense today (6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) and has now allowed two earned runs in 20 innings at Oklahoma City.
- Kasey Kiker against a lousy Arkansas lineup: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. I'll take it.
- Carlos Melo got absolutely murdered in the AZL tonight (1.2 IP, 4 H, 9 ER, 4 BB, 1 K).
Just a thought bro..... is the page really a FAQ or a Baseball Stats Glossary? ...... love the idea, either way.....
Some of the statistics become so arcane that the lay reader glazes over the info until he hits on a meaningful/useful/interesting inference or conclusion. I love the thinking and commitment of the BBTiA. For me and many of my friends who love baseball, statistics are interesting. Insightful commentary and information is compelling.
Keep up the good work, Joey et al.
peace
It will eventually be a fuller-fledged FAQ -- I actually contemplated deeming the page "Glossary" and might actually do so if it doesn't come together with a broader range of information like I've envisioned, but I didn't want to limit myself from the outset.
Statistics have always been an important component of my work but I've always considered quality writing and insightful commentary to be paramount. I don't plan on deviating from that philosophy.
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