C.J. Wilson Reflections: The Redux
It's funny how so much hype can be generated in the span of 48 hours without an earth-shattering trade and/or news story being the instigating source. Two days, two enormous home wins in front of near-sellout crowds, and a newfound seven-game lead -- the largest enjoyed by Texas since the end of the 1999 season, as well as the highest post-season odds percentage (90 percent), which is rather odd in that the 1999 iteration of the Rangers also sat at 57-40 with a seven-game lead on the evening of Saturday, July 24th, 1999.
Of course, the two teams couldn't be more dissimilar in terms of starting pitching, a facet of the game in which the Rangers yet again dominated by means of silencing the less potent bats of their most prominent divisional rival. C.J. Wilson's second superb effort of the week (8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 104 pitches) was so understated that one might not have fully grasped the significance of it until his swinging punch-out of Maicer Izturis to end the eighth inning, a moment that sent a triple-digit decibel count reverberating throughout a jam-packed Ballpark. That was in no way, shape or form your typical courteous round of applause after a good performance. That was a stadium full of people who could taste playoff fever.
Of particular interest in this start was Wilson's heavy reliance upon -- and corresponding success with -- the fastball; against the Red Sox last Sunday in Fenway Park, Wilson employed his fastball variants less than 80 percent of the time, but that figure jumped to nearly 90 percent last night ... and yet, this tactic paid off handsomely, as the Angels managed just three well-hit balls all evening. The league-average well-hit ratio against fastballs is .233; last night, Wilson suppressed that figure to a meager .130 (3-for-23, which really seems to tie into his stated emphasis on maximizing hitter discomfort and suppressing opponents' slugging percentages to the maximum extent possible.
In the grand scheme of things, Wilson isn't going to get away with striking out merely 3-4 batters per nine innings, and the Wilson-related concerns I mentioned at the outset of this week haven't gone away, but ... hell, what can I say about two brilliant back-to-back pitching performances? When was the last time we had the privilege of enjoying something this special? And if this really is the beginning of Wilson tapping into his more walk-averse side, and he proves capable of sustaining that -- and his health -- the rest of the way, there's going to be a very interesting post-season discussion about the merits of trying to lock him up through 2013-14 with a big-money contract at, say, three years and $33 million with a fourth-year club option.
21 Comments | in Analysis, Game Recaps, The Season
Reader Comments (21)
I like me some Texas Rangers pitching.
That being said, i'm feeling like the Angels will pound the crap out of Feldman tonight.
Over under 5.50.
Awesome performance by CJ last night! Now we just need to get the offense going guys!!
If this is the result of CJ hanging out with Lee then my opinion of the trade changes a bit.
They will prolly pound the shit out of feldman tonite but if they have to win one it will be tonite. We face a rookie tom and have Hunter going so three out of four I will take it. Also feldman is pitching to save his spot in the rotation so who knows. Holland is lying in wait if he sucks tonite looks good last night for the AZ rangers 3 innings no hits no walks and 6 strikeouts. Give me holland every fifth day not a bab number 5 in our rotation.
"there's going to be a very interesting post-season discussion about the merits of trying to lock him up through 2013-14 with a big-money contract at, say, three years and $33 million with a fourth-year club option."
I've been advocating that for months. The Rangers can off-set a large part of that $10 million per year future by negotiating a fair 2011 salary.
Feldman... look out .... the sky is falling...
can you learn anything from the last two nights?
we will see...
Man I hope Feldman can give us his best game this season tonight. And it's about time that Chris Davis hits a 3-run homer. Any word on who's the backup catcher tonight? Really curious...
If Wilson stays healthy and finishes with 200 innings for the season; its hard to argue against the contract extension at those numbers. Half the cost of Lee.
Harden's ERA is nearly 8 in Oklahoma. The lowest on the AAA team!!! Why is he relevant any longer?
Andy Kaufman Lives !!!!!
this is a rare occasion ...... we are in perfect agreement
hooray!!
"Harden's ERA is nearly 8 in Oklahoma. The LOWEST on the AAA team!!! Why is he relevant any longer?"
That is one pathetic pitching staff.
@Dr. G: Wilson will probably make a considerable amount less than hallf of the $140-150M that Lee will pull down at a bare minimum. That said, C.J. is on the fast track to the $10M-per-year club even if he regresses to some degree.
You would think they have to call up Max right AKL? And was that the best pitched game by a Ranger in weeks.. months.. years?? Nobody reached 2nd base. Add in all the other things such as Angels, sold out crowd, etc etc and I can't think of any that have been that good by a Ranger in a long long time.
A baseball source just said that Taylor Teagarden will join the Rangers before tonight's game. He has been playing at Double A Frisco, and they are in town. The Rangers are hopeful that it's a short-term move and that Matt Treanor can be ready in a few days, so they went with the catcher who would best control the running game. Right now, that's Teagarden
The only thing Teagarden needs to be controlling in the big leagues is warming up pitchers in the bullpen. He's a little b**** that went to AA and has done nothing but throw a fit, pout, and sucked it up. The only good thing about Teabag being called up is that we know Treanor's injury can't be too serious because there is no way they actually want Teagarden being the backup catcher for an extended period of time.
Wow - I didn't hear anything about Teagarden pouting and raising a stink about his demotion. Any details there?
maybe he can catch Feldman tonight, all he does is throw batting practise.... to our opponents.
Wow - I didn't hear anything about Teagarden pouting and raising a stink about his demotion. Any details there? me neither... AKL think Drew has some inside gossip?
I havn't seen anything written about the good job Treanor did behind the plate before his injury. I don't recall CJ shaking him off too often, so surely he deserves some of the credit. And that's why I'm glad that Teagarden is being used as his replacement. This season has been a real eye-opener for me as to the importance of a catcher's defence and his ability to call the game. They're things you don't fully appreciate until you ain't got them. It's been a pleasure to watch Molina and treanor at work.
The last time MJH checked in on Teagarden, his review was not optimistic: "Speaking of Kiker's horrendous mechanics, I found myself a bit disappointed that Taylor Teagarden didn't ever seem to intervene to point this problem out to Kiker. But Teagarden's failure to haul his butt out to the mound to communicate with Kiker was just one piece of evidence suggesting that the Texas alum had very little interest in being back in Frisco."
Now, I'm pretty sure Parks and Cole would both tell you that Teagarden is superior to MaxRam defensively, and with Molina being on the higher end of a 70-30 playing time split right now, this isn't really a huge deal (and besides, Teagarden was a 45-minute drive away, whereas MaxRam's on a road trip), but Teagarden doesn't really do much of anything for you, I don't think. He's going on 27 and is closer to being an organizational player than somebody you might count upon to be a major league contributor.
I had just remembered reading/hearing that Teagarden didn't seem to be interested one bit about playing for Frisco. But until Joey wrote that I couldn't have given a link or anything (so thanks for bailing me out in a way). I also watched an interview Rhadigan did with him right after he got sent down and Teagarden couldn't have cared any less about that interview and I was wondering if he might cry in the middle of it.
I think his quote, "I used it almost as a practice environment" would speak to that a little (just my opinion though), Although I guess that's what the minors essentially are, especially once you've reached the majors. But if the club deems him the best option I guess I'm fine with that, and also hope he never gets in a game.