With a record of 31-22 it seems that all is well with the Texas Rangers, at least so far. The starting rotation absent Yu Darvish for most of the first third, is ranked 4th in ERA in all of baseball. This starting rotation has been as good as any in baseball, again so far, and that alone is reason for excitement. All of us fans have been dreaming of the 1-2 punch of Hamels and Darvish, but Colby Lewis is quietly having his best season ever too. AJ Griffin will be back soon, Derek Holland has the highest ERA but again has tremendous upside, and if Martin Perez had any run support he would have a great record. I am not sure who goes to the bullpen unless they go to a 6 man rotation, which is possible, because it is clear that Holland does better with an extra day, and both Griffin and Darvish need to be treated gently so they don’t break as they both should be considered fragile for a while. It might be worth an experiment.
The team is winning despite the anemic numbers of both Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland. They are winning without Sin Soo Choo, and without Josh Hamilton. Those four represent over $45 million in salary and cumulatively Choo, Fielder, and Moreland are batting less than the Mendoza line. It is doubtful Hamilton ever plays in a Ranger uniform again.
The team has this record despite a bullpen ranked at the very bottom of all of MLB. Shawn Tolleson is no longer the closer, and this team cannot win late because the bullpen has been so inconsistent. There are bright spots out there, but inconsistency rules and needs further straightening out.
Those are the negatives, and just about every team has a few. The positives start with the play of Elvis Andrus. He still has his sense of humor, but his approach is vastly improved over last year, and his play, and offensive numbers show it. Nomar Mazra looks like one of the best players in Rangers history so far, he certainly had brilliant months in April and May. His maturity is just inspiring, but as Bill Parcells former Dallas Cowboys coach said, put away the anointing oil, it is a long season. Still he is exciting!
Offensively, Ian Desmond has found his old self, and looks like the most brilliant pickup of the offseason of any team. Roughned Odor has been great, and now that we all know he has a tremendous right hook, he is clearly a catalyst for the team.
I still don’t understand trading Bobby Wilson to the Tigers, then trading for him back again, but a couple of grand slams sure showed he prefers Texas.
Then there is Adrian Beltre, the heart and soul, the leader, and the best player on the team. The extra couple of years the Rangers will pay him, will assure he goes to the Hall of Fame as a Ranger. He is this Ranger team!
Jeff Bannister has done a solid job of managing the pitching, using bench players, and all around solid game management.
The battle for first place is this weekend as the Rangers and Mariners battle. The M’s are good, very good, and they have some very serious bats, with solid pitching.
The Rangers have the most upside of any team contending to this point, because Darvish is back, the bullpen has no reason to be as bad as it has been, and all it takes is for Fielder, Moreland, and Choo to start playing like they can. Let’s not forget there are a whole bunch of guys in the farm system ready to fill in if they continue to under-achieve. All of those guys can hit, and can play, they just need to find a groove, get well, or whatever.
The Mariners are going to play well all season. The Astros are starting to come around, so don’t count them out of this. Last year the Rangers were not so hot through May, and look how that turned out. The Rangers need consistency, and some big money guys to play baseball, and they too can compete all season.
As to how they finish, there is a ton of baseball left. The Red Sox and Royals look super, the White Sox have tremendous pitching, and those Blue Jays can do lot’s of damage, even if they just flip a bat. At least they know that if they come to Texas a solid right hook might be in store!
It sure has been fun so far, let us all hope some of these things get fixed. If they do, this team has a shot to go all the way to the World Series. It is a great start, if the current record is projected for the rest of the season the team projects 95 wins. That might be a bit of a stretch, but anything is possible, it is baseball!
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