Rangers first half

[Dewbrewer]

I had hoped for a little better than 10 games over 500 but nothing to sneeze at given the injuries to Hamilton, Cruz and Hunter. Brandon Webb did not work out (yet I guess) either. Colby Lewis sure has been up and down but I guess most of the starters have had a pretty large standard deviation other than CJ Wilson. Ogando sure has helped fill in for Hunter. Without his quality starts who knows where the team would be. Leading the AL in errors is not good. That needs to change.

The bats have obviously gone crazy over the recent win streak. Key hits plus simply shelling the opponents. Probably going to need that in the 2nd half as well to win the division. It does not look like the Angels are going to give up anytime soon. Should be an interesting 3 months of baseball.

 

[Horns11]

I said at the beginning of the season that it all hinges on the starting pitching. I never thought that Ogando would come out of a setup role and take over like he did. I also thought Harrison would be the weak link in the rotation, but he's actually been pretty solid even with his .500 record.

I guess the bigger issue would be whether everyone outside CJ Wilson can withstand the June issues they had and regroup for the rest of the year. Holland's WHIP isn't great, and that might catch up to him. Teams have started to figure out Ogando a little better.

On offense, I think it's great that Michael Young leads the regular starters. For a guy who was so certain to leave for a comfy NL gig, the Rangers would have some serious issues without his bat. Hamilton is great and all, but we all know that he's not going to play more than 110 games or so.

I think it'll come down to the wire with the Angels.

 

[orangecat1]

what a streaky team. first 10, last 7 great. Big middle, pretty bad.

imo, no way does ogando do this well in 2nd half. need another starting pitcher from somewhere, if they plan to win the division.

bullpen is shaky even in wins- like the other day, did you notice that Feliz was behind every hitter?

That won't stand up for the rest of the summer.

Big wild card in pitching is Hunter, imo. Tommy might be a starting pitcher that can last the rest of the summer, if Ogando sputters like I think he will.

 

[Dewbrewer]

Orangecat you make an excellent point. Many leads were blown in the 7th and 8th, plus Feliz has not exactly been lights out.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

In reply to:

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[Hook 'Em Danno]

The bullpen has been this team's Achilles heel. Last time I checked, it led the majors in blown saves and it doesn't have any reliable set-up guys. Hopefully, that'll change. If not, this team isn't going anywhere.

 

[OUEngineer]

The crux of the team's inconsistency squarely falls on 2 factors:

1. bullpen
2. defense

If we had played even average defense, we'd have about 5 more wins, I bet. Others noted our late-inning struggles, and that hasn't helped, to be sure.

The main questions going forward are:

1. Can Ogando and Harrison maintain their pace?
2. Can the defense at least play up to its' capabilities? Even average defensive play would help a lot. We ain't gotten even that so far, although it's been better the last few weeks.
2. Can the bullpen get their **** together, including Neffy, who's been wildly inconsistent?
3. If the answer to one or all of the above is "No", what can be done? Can Hunter step into a starter's role again? Will we seek a trade for bullpen help?

Should be fun, if nothing else.

(And I'm not concerned about the hitting, no. We've got the horses on that front and we're finally seeing the results.)