Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud: Elvis had an error-free game for the 1st time this year. And no hits.
Glass Half Full / Silver Lining: Many did well at the plate today. Choo, Odor, Moreland and Beltre went yard (on a homer on 1 knee). And Nick went 7IP with 5 K's.
Thoughts / Observations / Sidenotes: Next up the home opener tomorrow versus the 'Stors with Doogie Holland on the mound.
Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud: Question: How many games are you going to win when (1) your starter gives up 9 hits in 4.1 IP and 5 ER's (2) but since your defense commits 4 errors the opponent put up 9 runs total AND (3) your offense manages only 3 hits in the game.
Answer: Not many and not this one.
Glass Half Full / Silver Lining: Not much here. Martin and Fielder got hits along with DeShileds in his Rangers debut.
Thoughts / Observations / Sidenotes: The new starters Gallardo and Detwiler in their debuts have not exactly dazzled. Hopefully it's just been a case of first start jitters. If not and this is what we can expect from them every 5th day then it's going to be a LONG season.
Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud: Beltre and Odor are still without a hit in the young season. That's really, really nitpicking though...
Glass Half Full / Silver Lining: ...because Lewis pitched 6 strong (4K's, and 1 ER). And the bullpen made it standup for the 3-1 win.
Thoughts / Observations / Sidenotes: *I call him Mr. Baseball because kinda like Tom Selleck's character in Mr. Baseball Colby Lewis played pro ball in Japan after playing MLB and was pretty good across the Pacific. Good enough that after 2 years in Japan he was offered and he accepted a 2 year contract by the Rangers in 2010. And the rest they say is history.
Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud: At this pace they're on track to get 162 hits for the season. The A's Gray took a no hitter into the 8th when Rua got the Rangers only hit on opening day.
Glass Half Full / Silver Lining: It's only one game and it's a long season.
Thoughts / Observations / Sidenotes: But if the offense keeps this up it could be a really, really long season. This just seemed like a continuation of last season's offensive woes. And man, what a way for Jeff Banister to start the season. First he gets so sick he misses the last preseason game at the Ballpark in Arlington and travels separately from the team to the opener. Then his team lays an egg in the opener.
1) What are your thoughts on the team’s offseason? Did they do what they needed to do?As of yet, I don't think the Rangers have really done anything this offseason that will have a big effect on the season, for better or worse. I know there is a lot of buzz around Gallardo, but he has yet to prove he can be the ace he was projected to be when he broke into the league in 2007. In fact, his career ERA and WHIP are 3.69 and 1.30, and those are great representations of every year he's been in the majors. Unfortunately, when those numbers are translated to the AL, we're probably looking at a 4+ ERA, which they probably could have found without trading prospects for. The Rangers also added a former 1st rounder who has been unable to keep a rotation spot, a few bullpen pieces, and Kyle Blanks, an enormous first baseman with a ton of power and an inability to stay healthy. All that being said, the success of the Rangers this season hinges on health (darn), and the players they paid big money to last year showing they're worth anything close to the contracts they were given. Given the large contracts on the roster and the rash of injuries, there isn't a lot the Rangers can do yet. I do like the idea of pitching Juan Carlos Oviedo and Leo Nunez in the same game.2) What are the expectations for Prince Fielder this year?I have high hopes for Prince Fielder, but much lower expectations. It wouldn't be surprising to see him get off to a slow start given the year off. I'd say .260 with about 22-25 HR's is what I'm expecting, assuming he plays the whole year. If he can get to about .275 with 30 HR's, it will be a successful season for him.3) Jurickson Profar’s name seems to always come up in trade rumors. Is he going anywhere?A resounding no. Obviously, this has become a much easier question to answer. With the state of his shoulder, they can't get enough in return to make it worth trading him. Might as well hold on and hope he fulfills the immense potential.4) What player do you expect to make the greatest strides this year?I'd love to say Rua or Rodriguez, but I think it has to be Odor. He flew through the minors and held his own last year with the big club. He could add twenty points the the batting average, hit about 15-17 HR's, and steal about the same amount of bases. His stolen base percentage should improve greatly from last year, when he was caught about twice as many times as he was successful.5) What’s your projection of the team’s record and where will they finish in the division?Of the teams in their division, the Rangers are probably the hardest to predict. I could see them with anywhere between 65 and 85 wins, but I'm going to say 74-88 and just behind the Astros for dead last in the West. I'd love to be more optimistic, but too many things have to go right, and some of them are already going wrong.6) What do you like best about being a Rangers fan?I live in Chicago right now, so this is fairly simple; Nolan Ryan pummeling Robin Ventura, who was 20 years younger than him. I love that that wins me almost any argument here. As Rangers fans, we don't have a rich history full of World Series victories and Hall of Fame players, but I remember where I was when Ryan manhandled Ventura . I remember the front page of the paper the next morning. I miss Nolan. I'm afraid we may be approaching a mild rebuild, so that's what I fall back on right now. This season, I'll be able to add a food stand at The Ballpark entirely devoted to fried food to this list. Given the current food climate, fans may actually have a heart attack the next time the Rangers get one strike away. Twice.
Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud: Nothing to write here really. Since it officially opens to the public on Saturday there were a few empty display cases and some exhibits without written explanations of what they were and the 2 video displays weren't up and running yet. But those were minor things. The exhibit is well put together with memorabilia and information spanning the history of baseball and our Executive Branch.
Glass Half Full / Silver Lining: The exhibit demonstrates that sports and specifically baseball transcend many things including party and politics. Democrat or Republican, it doesn't matter, the president in office may change but baseball has been and continues to be our pastime. And the exhibit reflects that with quotes referencing baseball from Republican and Democratic presidents side by side in testament to the fact that baseball has no party.
And if it's not clear, yeah, you should check it out!
Thoughts / Observations / Sidenotes: Info regarding the exhibit can be found here.
I consider myself a student of history, especially American history during the Revolutionary War. But I did not know that George Washington's Patriot soldiers played an early version of what would evolve into baseball at Valley Forge.
Here are some photos I took at the preview (and I somehow didn't take pictures of the baseballs signed by Sandy Kofaux, who rarely signed autographs, or a baseball signed by Bob Feller), and please excuse the quality of the photos, they were taken with an iPhone 3GS:
Joe DiMaggio signed baseball:
Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud: Yu is likely going to have season ending Tommy John surgery next week.
Oh yeah, Martin Perez and Matt Harrison are still out.
Glass Half Full / Silver Lining: Yu is the ace but he is only one guy that pitches every 5 days. And the Rangers have other arms, like Gallardo, Detwiler, Tepesch, Chi Chi Gonzalez and even Nick Martinez that can try to start to attempt to fill the void Yu leaves in the rotation.
And as for the other big, recent injury this spring training, it's not like Profar contributed a whole lot last year.
I'm just trying to point out it's not quite as bad as it looks and seems maybe. At least not yet.*
Thoughts / Observations / Sidenotes: If I had to put money on a couple Rangers having a breakout year those 2 Rangers would be Leonys Martin and Roghned Odor. Don't ask me why, just a gut feeling and based on the eyeball test watching their progress last year.
*I'm in self denial. Can you blame me? Yeah, it's bad. I just cannot wrap my head around the idea that this year might be as bad as as last year. It's still spring training for gosh dog dog! I should be able to hope the season isn't already over.
Here's the link to BBA's podcast. Thanks to A.C. and Rick for hosting and having me on the podcast and thanks to fellow guest Steve who writes the Rangers blog One Strike Away...Twice!
Read more...Glass Half Empty / Afternoon Cloud: Yup. You read that right. According to ESPN Yu's thinking about it. So now this spring training is starting to feel a lot like last spring training. Great.
And how many times do you hear players and organizations say they are thinking about a medical procedure so the player can get right physically for the long term and then the player doesn't undergo the procedure? Seems like almost never.
Glass Half Full / Silver Lining: He's only "thinking about" it so he might not go under the knife, right? Right?
Thoughts / Observations / Sidenotes: Seriously, how much can one team take when it comes to the dreaded injury bug and bad luck? And how long will it last? Apparently at least two seasons in the Rangers' case. I blame the Curse of Kolan (Kins and Nolan being let go).
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