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The Closer
No, I am not talking about the show on TNT, I am talking about the guy in the bull pen I am the most worried about right now. Either Neftali is 1) overconfident and thinks that all he needs is his fastball to win games 2) Has no confidence in his other pitches (slider, curve-ball, change) and feels like he has to try and blow people away or 3) he is hurt and is afraid to admit it to the staff. Any of those three things are a bad thing, and I do not believe that at the pace Feliz is going right now he will be the closer for this team a month from now. I hope that I am wrong and that he figures it out quickly, but I do not think he is the same guy who closed games for the Rangers last season.
Adrian Beltre
Beltre’s injury is bad. He will probably not be back until mid-September. The Rangers need him. Here is why. Beltre still leads the team in RBI and he has been out for almost 4 weeks. He will be out at least 3 more. I love Michael Young, but Beltre is a better third baseman by far. And Adrian is the best bat against left handed pitching by far. I hope that he recovers sooner, but I think the Rangers have to make a run without him for a while.
Darren O’Day
I am a big O’Day fan, and I hope he stays up for the rest of the season. I think a good Rangers pen includes him. I would do something with Scott Feldman. I like Scott, but I do not see him on the post season roster. Darren is a guy that has had wild success in the past for the Rangers when healthy, and I think he is once again healthy. Call me crazy, but I see Tateyama, Lowe, O’Day, Oliver, Uehara, Adams and Feliz.
The Next Week
I think the next week will be huge for the Rangers. They play all AL West teams for the next 9 games, 2 more against the M’s, 3 against the A’s, and then 4 against the Angels. The Angels, meanwhile, have 3 against the Evil Empire and then three in Toronto. The Rangers could go into the series against the Angels with up to a 6.5 game lead with 4 head to head. This, my friends, is a huge week.
I think the Rangers will go into the Angels series with a 4.5 game lead, and I think that they can take 3 out of 4 from the Angels. If they do, watch out AL, cause here come the Rangers!!!