Friday Morning Rangers Notes: I Hope You Like Quotes

A few things floating around out there this morning, as we bask in the afterglow of the Rangers' intrasquad opener yesterday, prepare for Neftali Feliz to make his spring debut on the bump, and draw a little bit closer to the beginning of Cactus League play:

- Remarked new Rangers hitting coach Thad Bosley on Wednesday: "I'm not a believer in working a pitcher to take a walk. I believe you've got to know the pitcher, and get a pitch you can drive. If you get an 0-0 pitch you can drive, you've got to jump on it. [...] I've talked to Josh Hamilton about [his approach]. There were times when he was just pushing the ball to left field, when he could have been driving it out of the park. We believe that none of our hitters up to this point have had a career year. We see tremendous upside. We know what Josh Hamilton can do." (T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com)

[These are not reassuring comments to read for anyone who readily comprehends the value of a walk. I get that much. And if we're sitting around on May 1st or so and the hot-button issue is how the Rangers' team walk rate and plate discipline has perceptibly worsened, and how Hamilton doesn't look right at the plate, we'll probably be revisiting these specific comments and castigating everyone involved in the decision to hire Bosley. But at this point, it's only pre-Cactus League hot air -- quite possibly with no future implications -- from a coach whose primary concern is maximizing his players' hitting ability. I can see the cause for early alarm, but it's just not something that constitutes more than a blip on my radar until there's some substantive evidence that Bosley's materially harming the offense.]

- Matt Harrison evidently feels slighted by those who don't consider him a viable starting rotation candidate, but is actually saying all the things you want to see him say rather than whining about the injustices of baseball: "I've come in here with a different mentality this year. I'm not going to be ranting and raving, but I'm not going to be afraid to knock anybody down this year, either. I don't mind being the dark horse. I think this is my year. I've come in here healthy, I plan on staying that way, and I'm determined to win a spot in the rotation and have the best year possible." (Jeff Wilson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

[And here we have something diametrically opposite from the Bosley quotes -- that is, quotes you love reading, but still don't matter much until they're backed up with cold, hard production. I will say that Harrison is one of the more striking examples in recent memory of a Rangers pitcher doing so little with so much talent, and that, in a nutshell, is why people are so quick to write him off. Nothing more, nothing less. I do hope that he can find his way in the majors by emulating the Kenny Rogers profile (unimpressive strikeout rates, but okayish-to-good walk rates and a demonstrated ability to keep the ball in the yard), but up to this point all Harrison's done is strike out just enough people to save his neck and generally frustrate the hell out of us. Here's to change?]