April was not kind to the Texas Rangers, not by a long shot. They already started the season without their number one starter Yu Darvish, and then the new number one starter Derek Holland has to leave the beginning of his first start of the year and will most likely be gone until the all star break. The Rangers have the worst record in the American League and the second worst record in all of baseball. They only won seven games in the month of April. The Rangers sport the lowest batting average in the American League at .213, the fewest hits at 159, the lowest slugging percentage at .330, the lowest OPS at .624, the second fewest RBI at 72 and the second fewest runs at 80.
On the other side of the ball the Rangers have the worst fielding percentage in the American League at .976, the second most errors committed at 20, and the second worst defensive efficiency rating at .667. Besides Nick Martinez, who has an ERA of 0.35 for the month of April, the Rangers pitching has not been all that great. Texas has a 4.30 ERA, which is sixth worst in the AL. They are allowing 4.68 runs per game, they have just two saves, they have allowed 95 runs and they are striking out 6.7 per nine innings, which is second worst in the American League.
As far as individual players go, Shin-Soo Choo had one of the worst Aprils in the history of baseball, especially considering the amount of money and years left on his contract. Choo has a line of .107/.254/.196/.450. He has six hits in 67 plate appearances. He has also dropped or missed several catchable balls in the outfield. The Rangers as a team have eight players batting under .200. Two of the players batting over .200 are on the 15 day DL in Mitch Moreland and Ryan Rua. Prince Fielder is the only Ranger with more than 10 RBI. The Texas Rangers have played 22 games. This is not a good start to the season.
Will they improve? I honestly don’t know. Is this the fault of the hitting coach and the trainers? Again, I am not sure. You have to think that when Mitch Moreland and Josh Hamilton get inserted back into the line up that it will improve a little bit, but will that be enough to win games when the bull pen has been as bad as it has been so far? The Rangers will get Martin Perez back at some point this season, and they may even get Matt Harrison back as well. Derek Holland should return as well, and you have to think that Adrian Beltre and Fielder will really get going at some point. But these are all big “ifs”. I think Texas Rangers fans are in for a very rough 2015 and possibly beyond as well. I just don’t see it right now, but it is easy not to see it when your team is 7-15 and just blew a 5-0 lead with six outs to go. Either way, I will continue watching and hopefully my next post can be a little more cheerful. Lets Go Rangers!
Rangers’ fans looking to support the team in May can head to Hipmunk.com for flights to and from Dallas to attend any Rangers game at home or on the road. Dallas area hotels can be reserved as well, which will have Rangers fans within 30 miles of Arlington.
*all stats from baseballreference.com
