The great motivator...

The Rangers had a closed door team meeting last night where Ron Washington went off on the team. Tonight, the Rangers came out and showed what a master motivator Wash is.

THIS GOOD.

I wrote earlier in the year that Ron Washington isn't to blame for the 2014 Rangers not being a playoff contender.  However, I do believe he's responsible for the Rangers being as bad as they are.  You can see it in the players; there's no energy and there wasn't BEFORE the bad losing started.  No one is exited to be out there, except the guys who get called up.  Basically the only parts of the team that are working are the parts Wash hasn't been in charge of.

It looks to me like more and more fans are starting to realize that what's going on right now isn't primarily a function of Jon Daniels not providing talent.  The AAA and AA call-ups performing so well has had a lot to do with that.  That Washington clearly doesn't trust the call-ups and won't use them more than he has to is also plain.  Whenever Washington does his "sit the hot rookie for the cold veteran" schtick, citing roles and "gut instinct", he loses credibility.

The big question is, does Wash provide something useful for the rest of the season, or does ownership decide something better happens if Wash is sent packing after the All-Star break?

This team is screaming for a new manager.

Follow Up:  News is breaking (or oozing, or percolating gently...it's not really that big a deal) concerning snippits of the speech Ron Washington gave the troops in the recent closed-door team meeting.  The summary, basically, was Washington addressing the effort being put forth by some players (i.e. not very much), and went something like "I'm 62 and I would still go out there and battle every day and try to do my best; and you're going to act like you can't do that when you're in your 20s?"  This little speech has got a surprising number of people saying  things like, "Woo-hoo!  Look at the balls on Ron Washington!  Calling out those major leaguers!"

My response to that?  Boy, it sure got 'em fired up, didn't it?  Again, the team clearly DOES NOT CARE WHAT RON WASHINGTON THINKS, SAYS OR DOES.  He has apparently lost all credibility with and influence over the active players.

You can't manage a team if the players don't care what you say.  I'm not saying that because the Rangers lost the next game in a truly pathetic fashion, I'm saying that because the behavior of the players didn't change from before the speech.  They don't care.

Posted by: Ben at 10:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Fan wars...

It looks like the "who's to blame" arguments are finally kicking into high gear.

50 losses before the All-Star break will do it, for the record.

I really don't understand the number of people who have no idea what General Managers, Team Presidents, Owners and Coaches do, in a sport that they've ostensibly followed all their lives.

Of course, a lot of people don't understand how time or statistical analysis works, either.

Posted by: Ben at 07:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Texas pitcher tries to swing bat, hurts back...

Nick Martinez (who, honestly, shouldn't even be pitching on a big league rotation right now, and hasn't been considered anything more than a depth prospect before jumping from High-A to the Rangers) tweaked a back muscle last week while taking taking batting practice in preparation for today's start against the Mets.  It hasn't improved over the past week and it looks like he's headed for the D.L.

Yep.

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Hurled into the sun...

Joe Saunders has been.  Probably.  I support this move.

UPDATE:  Saunders was signed by the Royals.  Which is exactly the sort of move that will probably work out for them.

Saunders had been trolling Rangers fans for months, bitching about not being in the rotation while giving up runs at AA and AAA (after all, he could be giving up runs for the big boys), and claiming repeatedly that he was "on track" and "pulling it all together" and "real progress" was "just around the corner" and we could expect "slightly better mediocrity" "any day now".  However, unlike Colby Lewis, who has exhibited a steadily increasing ability to throw baseballs at strike zones while missing bats, Saunders was quickly moving the other way.  After his last start, in which he gave up way more runs than he pitched innings, Saunders finally came clean and said "I haven't done ****."

What's most worrying is the possibility that the Rangers were just waiting for him to realize how bad he was before dumping him.

Someone made a bet.

Also, RE:  Hurling things into the sun.

Posted by: Ben at 08:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A team he hopes to play for someday...

The Texas Rangers beat Felix Hernandez (again) 1 - 0 (again, I think) last night. Behind Nick Tepesch, who has been looking once again like a AAAA pitcher...someone too good for AAA, but not good enough for the big team. So that was nice. I doubt they win the next two games, but the Rangers have twenty wins against Hernandez, so it wasn't (bizarrely) unexpected.

The best news of the week though is that Joey Gallo, promoted from Hi-A to AA Frisco five days ago, has the following stat line for Frisco:

.368/.455/.1053 1-2B,4-HR,10-RBI,20 total bases, 3-BB,8-SO.

Gallo was promoted to Frisco because High-A pitchers were clearly not challenging him anymore. Literally. Everyone knew he would probably hit it, you couldn't throw it where he couldn't unless you walked him. Gallo was drawing intentional walks in the tuning and polishing league. No point in leaving him there.

If this keeps up, I imagine Texas wants to see his walk and strikeout rate drop a bit. However, I'm gonna quote Newberg again:

Joey Gallo’s fourth home run in five days as a RoughRider on Friday doesn’t even register as high on the "Holy S” scale, but I would point out that last night’s bomb in Corpus gave him 13 road homers for the season (in only 31 games), and he has gone deep this year on April 13, on May 13, and on June 13. Then again, really, it feels like the odds were only slightly against that, and I’m no longer going to upbraid anyone who suggests to me that Gallo could be in Arlington before September 13.

Posted by: Ben at 01:30 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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One step forward and two steps back...

Darvish finally achieves something that some of his teammates thought he had already accomplished:

Shin-Soo Choo thought it had been done before. So did catcher Chris Gimenez.

Both were surprised to learn that Yu Darvish had never thrown a complete game. He had flirted with perfect games and no-hitters, but had never gone the distance.

Until Wednesday night.

Darvish had another gem in his young career, delivering a complete-game shutout for the first time in a 6-0 victory over the Marlins.

"First time? I didn’t know that,” Choo said.

"I figured he had 15 or so,” Gimenez said.

In related news, Tanner Scheppers, who came off the DL I think it was last week, has returned to the DL for probably the rest of the season.  Rangers management has been somewhat curt and angry when answering questions about Scheppers, so I suspect that his elbow wasn't actually healed in any way when he came off the DL and he didn't tell anyone.

Also, in the second game after coming off the DL for a broken little finger, Jim Adduci broke it again sliding into a base.  He's having pins put in it now, and will probably miss the rest of the season.

The Rangers trainer has been added to the All-Star team.  Probably as a National League selection.

Posted by: Ben at 08:19 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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You can't make this up (again)...

Rougned Odor sprained his shoulder (or worse) sliding back into 1B today.  At the time it was announced, Brandon Land at One Strike Away wrote this:

As far as replacements, it would appear that, at least for now, Donnie Murphy will get the bulk of the playing time(Note: As I typed this, Murphy was hit by a pitch on his left elbow).

Ha ha.  Ha ha ha.

Posted by: Ben at 04:45 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Everything's fine...

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Spoiled...

Its weird that allowing 4 runs in 7 innings in a win seems like a letdown, but that's how Yu has spoiled us.  -- ^{_{Adam J. Morris following a 6-4 win over Cleveland}}

That really sums up what it means to be a Rangers fan right now.  After tearing Detroit apart in 3 out of 4 games, the newly dominant Rangers went on to be decimated (in the modern sense of the word) in the nation's capital by a mostly mediocre Nationals team, then returned home to be spanked by the Rangers East, who haven't been all that great themselves.

The bottom line is, Rangers fandom has been spoiled (and I don't mean that in a bad way) for several years by some really good Texas teams for whom doing badly means not having a 90-win season.  Now we're watching a team that *actually* won't reach 90; in fact the current incarnation of the Rangers are on track for something around 84 wins.

And you know what?  We're still spoiled.  Over a quarter of the original 40-man roster is on the disabled list.  Four of the position players are rookies.  This team should be under .500.  We should be expecting 74 wins, not 84.

Here's where I get speculative.  Watching this group play, I think the Rangers could still hit 90 wins.  I think the talent is there.  Here's the paradox though...I think the manager that is partially responsible for these guys heading for a marginally winning record instead of a losing record is also the reason this team can't reach 90.  In my opinion, Ron Washington will also continue having winning records and playoff appearances, but will never win a World Series.  I want to re-iterate, this is *my opinion*.  I can't prove any of it, although I can argue a few specifics regarding Washington's in-game management...which most people agree with anyway.  There's no way to prove what those failings mean in real wins.

I think Texas, with a better manager, will be a better team than they are now.  I don't know who that is, at least not long term.  I think in the short term, for this year, they need an ass-kicker.  Unless  you're one of his *special kids*, Wash is a hugger.  A consoler.  He wants you to keep you head up and keep trying.  He believes in the narrative and tradition of baseball driving the game, instead of the other way around (except, of course, for hero players who change the worst parts of the game and make them better).  He believes, I suspect, that changing who takes out the lineup card has more effect on outcomes than how the shift is employed.

In summary:  The Texas Rangers are better than they should be with Ron Washington as skipper, but they'll never be as good as the could be.

Posted by: Ben at 09:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Right NOW...

from Jamey Newberg:

The list of solid national writers who have written columns since Prince Fielder’s deactivation suggesting that the Rangers take this opportunity to shop Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus and Alex Rios and Joakim Soria and Mitch Moreland and forfeit the number 30 pick in next week’s draft to sign Kendrys Morales RIGHT NOW is lengthy. Maybe the reflexes in my knee are completely shot (did I sleep on them wrong?), but I just don’t get it. It’s May.

Ditto.  That is all.

Posted by: Ben at 12:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You're a Rangers fan, aren't you?

Prince Fielder out for the season.

Jurickson Profar out for an extra 2 -3 months.

Grant Brisbee looks at what the Rangers' chances would be if they started out the year with the team they have now.

Posted by: Ben at 06:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The fans are starting to turn on each other...at the game...

No, seriously.

Bat flies into the stands, a bunch of people try to grab the souvenir, one guy grabs it from the guy who mostly caught it and tries to pull it through his neck from behind.

He had to be beaten off.

There'll be a fire tomorrow night.

Bring marshmallows.

Or just make a run on the Nolan Ryan Real Beef hot dogs.

UPDATE: Here's what Wonderduck linked to:

Posted by: Ben at 10:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Setä! Tio! Oom! θείος! чичко! Unchi! Uncle! Uncle!!!!!!!

Prince Fielder has a herniated disc in his neck, has been dealing with the problem since last year.

Out of the lineup for a few days.

May require surgery.

The tiny silver lining is that this may explain Fielder's lack of hitting since last year, and his crash-diet-like search for better fitness programs.  And after this is fixed, he'll go back to mashing the ball.

On the other hand, you know what started Matt Harrison's trip on the DL last year?

Herniated disc.

#$%%^^&&&$

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Remember the omen?

UPDATE:  Martin Perez has announced that he is opting to undergo Tommy John surgery now, and is working with his agent to determine a schedule.

This sentence is the only thing I can say without swearing.

Martin Perez has a partially-torn UCL (ulnar collateral ligament, the thing that's repaired by Tommy John surgery) and Matt Harrison has a(nother) displaced vertebra.

Perez can try rehabbing for a few months to try to get the ligament to heal, which would allow him to return (if everything goes right) in August. Or he can go ahead and have Tommy John surgery performed, in which case he could be rehabbing in time for Spring Training 2015. However, he most likely wouldn't be pitching again until late 2015. And it's not uncommon for TJ surgery recipients to take another year to get their form and power back. A year-and-a-half is the expected recovery time, and two years is fairly common. Texas has done pretty well signing TJ surgery survivors starting their rehab year to two-year contracts, gambling they'll make a full recovery and provide a year of top-form pitching.

Harrison may need a spinal fusion. Once upon a time, that meant the end of any sports career, but many athletes have had the operation done and come back. Not many pitchers though, at least not at the professional level.

Nick Tepesch gets another chance at the rotation now, along with Nick Martinez, who had been shoring up the bullpen in every way imaginable, and probably two or three guys from AAA Round Rock, and maybe even your cousin if he can miss a bat every now and then.

This is getting ridiculous. When I read the tweet from Newberg, I screamed "You gotta be f****** kidding me!"

Posted by: Ben at 08:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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We're back! But the Rangers aren't...

The site was down for the last few days thanks to a serious RAID failure in the mee.nu and mu.nu server.  While the server is, obviously, back up; all picture uploads back to some time around March are gone forever.  Well, not forever; I still have most if not all of the pictures I uploaded, I just have to re-upload them and check all the link references.

That may not happen immediately.

If any of you are still paying close attention to the Rangers, you probably have noticed that they aren't playing with any kind of consistency.  A lot of Rangers bloggers have started trying to pinpoint the problems faced by the Texas team.  Talent doesn't seem to be an issue.  While Prince Fielder still hasn't produced *exactly* what Rangers fans were hoping, he isn't really slumping anymore and has been banging out few hits per game.  Choo is still getting on base.  But that's it.  The team plays with no energy or excitement.  Bloggers and fans who have attended games have repeated reported that batting practice looks as bad as the game performance does.

I maintain that the problem is in the clubhouse, and strongly suspect that the fastest way to reverse the Rangers fortunes involves a management shake-up.  Working on the coaching staff hasn't helped much.  I think it's fair to question hitting coach Dave Magadan's work, as the Rangers certainly aren't hitting and are showing similar tendencies to last year's team.  But I still primarily lay most of this at Ron Washington's feet, as I completely disagree with his tentative, kid-gloving, don't-ever-criticize, don't-call-it-a-mistake, losing-is-all-about-luck-not-performance coaching style.  Of course, it can be correctly argued that's the kind of things a coach/manager *must* say *in public*, as anything else causes clubhouse tension and gets you in trouble.  The problem is there is no evidence (that I can see) that this approach isn't actually the way he acts around his players.  It's certainly the way they play.

Anyway.  After Colby Lewis shut out the Astros, which is the kind of result one should expect from a good team playing Houston, Texas was completely befuddled by Dallas Keuchel.  Keuchel (prounounced Kai-cull) is a promising, legitimately talented pitcher; and he was certainly pitching well last night...but a good team has to find ways to hit a good pitcher.  It's things like this that make me wonder what exactly Dave Magadan is doing.

I don't have a picture of Jeremy Clarkson hitting himself with a baseball bat.  If you do, let me know.

Oh, and Matt Harrison left the game in the second inning with back stiffness, which explains the stiffness and velocity of his pitches last night.  But it also means he's out for a few weeks, and may be gone for another six months to a year.

Posted by: Ben at 08:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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