Three Cactus League contests in five days between the Texas Rangers and their cross-complex rivals, the Kansas City Royals, have revealed a decidedly one-sided slant in favor of the Rangers.
In those three games, Texas has not only outscored Kansas City handily (29 runs to 15), but has also outclubbed their Surprise brethren, crushing five homers compared to the Royals' one. It goes without saying, of course, that they've outpitched them as well.
All irrelevant matters in the long-term scope of things? Definitely.
But it's starting to become awfully hard to not get pumped about this team.
Infielder Ryan Roberts socked a dramatic two-run blast with nobody out in the bottom of the 9th inning on a warm, sunny but excessively windy Sunday afternoon in Surprise, knotting the game at 7-7.
Moments later, German Duran doubled, and one Jason Botts fielder's choice groundout later, Ramon Vazquez sliced a 1-1 pitch from reliever Joel Peralta just fair down the left field line, plating Duran and capping the Rangers' first walkoff victory of the spring.
Awesome.
Making his first start of the exhibition season was right-hander Jason Jennings, whose Rangers career couldn't have gotten off to a much better start. After walking Royals center fielder David DeJesus to lead off the game, Jennings induced a popup, two fly-ball outs, and three consecutive ground-ball outs, all of which required just 20 pitches of work to complete:
"I got the ball down in the zone, got two ground balls," Jennings said. "It was good for the first time out. I threw about half-and-half, four seamers and sinkers as far as my fastball selection."
Right-handers Luis Mendoza (1.1 IP, 4 ER), Steve Rowe (0.2 IP, 1 ER), Kazuo Fukumori (2 IP, 0 ER) and Josh Rupe (2 IP, 1 ER) all took the mound in relief on Sunday, as well as southpaw Eddie Guardado (1 IP, 0 ER). Mendoza's usually stellar control abandoned him completely on this day, as the 24-year-old sinkerballer issued back-to-back walks with one out in the top of the 4th inning; he would not finish the frame.
Guardado, meanwhile, reportedly failed to crack the 85 MPH threshold during his one inning of work. That's not particularly worrisome this early in spring training, but Everyday Eddie's going to encounter some problems once the regular season commences if he can't find a way to ramp his peak velocity up to at least the high-80's.
Second baseman Ian Kinsler went 2-for-2 on Sunday with a pair of runs scored; one of those hits came on a heads-up bunt single down the third base line with nobody out in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Josh Hamilton required no such trickery, smashing two singles and a double in his three plate appearances as the club's designated hitter. Both sluggers are now 6-for-9 at the plate on the spring, with OPS figures that would dwarf even that of the esteemed Barry Bonds.
Sample size? Pfft.
Kevin Millwood (hamstring), Brandon McCarthy (elbow) and Joaquin Benoit (weak arm) all threw bullpen sessions on Sunday as part of their ongoing efforts to return from an litany of assorted ailments. Thankfully, according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, the news is optimistic across the board:
Kevin Millwood, who is nursing a sore hamstring, threw a bullpen session on Sunday and will throw another on Monday. If all goes well, Millwood will throw two innings in a simulated game on Wednesday and pitch in his first exhibition game on March 10 against the Padres.
"It will be just like throwing my first game, I just don't have to field my position or cover first base or anything like that," Millwood said of the simulated game.
[...]
Brandon McCarthy, who has been sidelined with a sore right elbow, threw about a nine-minute bullpen session.
"That's the first time I've let him throw all his pitches in about a week; everything went very well," Connor said. "He's probably going to throw another bullpen on Tuesday or Wednesday, then pitch hopefully on Friday. I want him to have another good bullpen, crank up the intensity on the breaking ball a little bit and his changeup."
[...]
Joaquin Benoit, who has been held out with a weak arm, threw all of his pitches in a bullpen session.
"It was really the first time that he's starting to crank up some changeups and some breaking balls," Connor said. "It's really his second bullpen. He's 10 days behind. My hope is we can get him pitching in a game by March 8th, 10th, somewhere in there, and I think we'll be fine."
Legendary Rangers play-by-play radio announcer Eric Nadel noted during Sunday afternoon's broadcast on KRLD 1080 AM that Benoit now acknowledges that it was a "mistake" to not pitch at least "a bit" during winter ball, as he had never gone four months without throwing a baseball before. The off-speed stuff (changeup and slider) is apparently there, but the full velocity isn't - and, according to Benoit, it might take another two weeks before it shows up in its entirety.
This, of course, prompted a verbal scolding from color commentator Victor Rojas towards Benoit for his admittedly odd decision to completely shut things down - a scolding which isn't exactly unwarranted, to tell you the truth. Still, the good news is that Benoit's lack of velocity doesn't appear to be tied whatsoever to a shoulder injury. He'll still require a close eye to be kept on him over the next few weeks, though.
Former Ranger great Rusty Greer is openly singing the praises of outfielder David Murphy, whom Rusty suggests bears a great resemblance to himself:
"I think he's going to be better than I was," said Greer, who spent the weekend as a guest instructor at Rangers camp, giving him a lot of time to talk with Murphy in the outfield. "I think there are similarities in style, but the tools I didn't have, I think he's got."
[...]
"I was so ingrained in being an on-base, doubles guy that I didn't try to hit home runs, but if I had learned how to do it earlier, I think I could have hit some more," Greer said. "He's got the power to pull the ball some more. I didn't tell him to be a pull hitter, but he shouldn't ignore a tool � his power � because he's got it."
If Murphy cracks the .800 OPS threshold over, say, 300 AB in 2008, I would consider that to be a minor miracle.
Though I will admit to being somewhat enamored by his style of play, there's simply far too much statistical evidence afoot to suggest that he'll ever become anything more than a solid fourth outfielder. Not that there's anything bad with that, mind you - but the Rusty Greer comparisons (which have been floating around since last year) have struck me all along as tremendously premature.
Baseball Prospectus's Jay Jaffe published the Rangers' official Team Health Report (or THR, for short) on Sunday, which included the following lead-in:
The Rangers sent players to the disabled list 23 times last year, more than any other team. Fourteen of those trips were for pitchers, again tops in the majors. Those injuries weren't solely responsible for the team's 19-35 start in April and May; four missed Kevin Millwood starts didn't hurt nearly as much as the rotation's collective 6.44 ERA in that span. But even in light of the fact that the team still finished in the middle third of the pack in days, dollars, and percentage of payroll lost, they're nothing to write home about, given the body count. Rangers head trainer Jamie Reed agrees. "No one on our staff, from Jon Daniels down, is satisfied with the results," Reed avowed. "We're committed to getting better on this front."
[...]
The bottom line for the Rangers is that Reed, in conjunction with team physician Dr. Keith Meister--a proteg� of Dr. Jim Andrews--is committed to making the Rangers a more forward-looking team when it comes to injuries, one focused on being proactive rather than reactive. The team has poured a tremendous amount of money into their health system in the service of those goals. They haven't entirely been realized yet, but they haven't stopped trying, either.
Those of you who regularly read BTiA already had a good idea of what the Rangers' THR looked like, based off of my February 21st report on the issue. There are few surprises here (though you can certainly check for yourself, as this piece is curiously not behind the subscriber wall), but I will admit to being somewhat surprised that southpaw Kason Gabbard avoided receiving a red light injury risk rating, instead being labeled as a mere yellow.
Jennifer Floyd-Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tossed this snippet out of left field as part of her Sunday morning piece:
Talking to Michael Young has me a little -- just a little -- concerned that he is not going to be a Ranger next season. What is crazy is he wants to be, and the Rangers want him to be, but their collective timing might just be a little off. Young is ready to be on a winner, like yesterday, while the Rangers are realistically a year, possibly two, away. So it is reasonable to see them reaching a point where they have to say goodbye.
And, yes, there are other teams that would be interested in Young at his salary. He is underrated and partly because he plays for the Rangers. We tend to bestow greatness tags on players who have done it in the postseason.
I'm suddenly reminded as to why I tend to never discuss JFE columns here.
Not only is the thought of trading Michael Young economically unpalatable for the Rangers, as they'd have to eat a significant chunk of the $85 million remaining on his contract (which spans through 2013) for what would likely amount to little or no gain in terms of prospects, but consider this: can you imagine the backlash against the organization if they reversed course with their appointed "face of the franchise" at this point? Hello, public relations nightmare.
That's not to say, of course, that Young might not privately request a trade if the Rangers bomb in horrific fashion next season, and clubhouse frustration boils over (which, although unlikely, is possible). And heck, general manager Jon Daniels, being the upstanding guy that he is, would likely attempt to accommodate Young's request - albeit, with minimal success I suspect.
And don't even get me started on Randy Galloway's latest column. Good grief.
FOXSports.com has published the Lindy's Texas Rangers season preview, which, despite being slightly outdated (Jason Jennings is not listed, for instance), is chock full of fantastic scouting information on the most important cogs of the club's 2008 squad. Definitely worth checking out.
And finally, manager Ron Washington, commenting on the immediate future of top first base prospect Chris Davis this past weekend:
"He's done very well," Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Davis at first. "He's certainly working very hard at first base and is adjusting very well. There could be a future right there [at first base] if he continues to swing the bat. It was nice for him to get the first one out of the way. He can start relaxing. There's no doubt about his pop. Now he's just got to see how consistent he can do with top-notch pitching."
Looks like Davis's opposite-field blast on Saturday opened more than a few eyes.
Quick Hits: Contrary to previous reports, third baseman Hank Blalock will not make the trip to Scottsdale to play the San Francisco Giants on Monday...Scout.com's Jason Cole reports that Frisco right-hander Jesse Ingram has retired after four years in professional baseball...shortstop Joaquin Arias (shoulder) may begin throwing to first base by mid-week...right-hander Thomas Diamond is targeting March 20th as a return date to face hitters...left-hander John Rheinecker (shoulder) has returned to Surprise, and is working on range-of-motion drills; he hopes to resume throwing in approximately eight weeks...right-hander Wes Littleton left camp on Sunday to attend to an undisclosed family matter.
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