Nick Martinez is the ace? Mitch Moreland is batting second? And the Rangers won? You cannot make this stuff up. Jeff Banister juggles the lineup. The result? Offense. Rangers fans are used to the lineup card being printed in April and then turned in every day for the rest […]
Ross Detwiler showed us something last night. He is probably a relief pitcher. For the second straight start, he made it through the lineup once unscathed. Then, when hitters got comfortable with him, he was very scathed. The Angels hit the ball hard but at people the second time around, generating […]
They came bearing gifts. The Houston Astros came to town in a generous mood. Saturday, they threw away an easy inning-ending ground ball which gave the Rangers new life and allowed them to run away with what had, before that error, been a close game. The Astros did everything […]
Ah, those left-handed sidearmed pitchers. They are a rarity. When they deliver the ball to the plate, it gives a left-handed batter fits because the ball rotates differently, it has very uncommon movement. The physics of it are this: The four-seam fastball, when thrown by a typical overhand pitcher, […]
The Curse continues. The dark cloud is still overhead. The most snakebitten franchise in major league baseball just took another sucker punch to the gut. Derek Holland tried to come back from injury in spring training, only to last an inning in his first start of the season, only to […]
Sometimes you’re the windshield. Sometimes you’re the bug. That’s how the Rangers season has gone so far after four games, and how I suspect it will go all season long. They either play like a team destined for last place, as they did in games one and three, […]
From the time he last started a major league game in July of 2013, Ross Detwiler anxiously waited a season and a half for his next major league start. It came last night in Oakland. He was pitching on 540 days’ rest. He could have used a few more. […]
Just enough offense, a little bit too much Colby Lewis, and the Rangers beat Oakland 3-1 to even their record at 1-1 so far. The World Series-bound Texas Rangers team stood at 1-1 after two games in 2010. The Rangers are also on pace with the 2014 team, who were also […]
Domination. It’s just the first game. It’s not the way you want to christen a season, but when you face a starter like Sonny Gray, a dominating young right-hander who has everything working, there is not much you can do about it. He shut out the Rangers twice last season. […]
It’s been a long time since I went into a season feeling as unoptimistic about the Rangers as I am this year. I’m not alone. Season ticket sales are down dramatically, as are individual game tickets. Their record this spring was 9-19, not having won a game in what seems like […]