Texas Rangers 2017 Thread

[ViperHorn]

I thought when Chuck Morgan cut All Along the Watchtower short going into the ninth that the jinx was in. However, the Rangers scratched out another win in the bottom of the ninth. Grandkids relieved. Keeping up with a recent Ranger trend, Martinez looked good until he didn't. I don't remember a time when the same staff seems to be great until they aren't. At least the bullpen has stepped up over the past 3 games.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

^Great job of rooting the Rangers on last night, Viper. I knew I was leaving it in good hands with you!

BTW, I did check my ESPN app on my cell a couple of times during the Rich Little show - just to be sure you were doing your job. Sounds like Nick did his job quite well. Nice to see the Rangers take advantage of the superb pitching and walk it off with the W.

They still need to get the offense cranked up. KC is not a great hitting team; upcoming opponents will have some more firepower - so the Rangers will not win scoring one or two runs per game. Need to see some 6-7 run outputs in order to allow for the pitching staff to keep posting Ws.

 

[FWHORN]

Rangers complete the sweep of KC this afternoon with 5-2 win. Darvish did his usual Darvish by giving up two solo shot home runs but he kept the walks to a minimum and from inning four through eight was downright dominant. Gallo is crushing it and gets his sixth HR of year. Interesting stat, the Rangers are 4-9 in the starts by Darvish, Perez and Hamels and 5-1 in the starts by Griffin, Cashner and Martinez. Three with Minnesota start tomorrow and I will be catching my second game of year tomorrow night as Martin Perez looks to extend this four game win streak and get the Rangers to .500 for the first time this season.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

Nice W to complete the sweep of the Royals. Rangers still need to generate better hitting throughout the lineup - upcoming opponents are not as offensively challenged as the Royals were, and it will take some runs to win. Pitching staff is going very well at the moment; consistent offense would help a lot to keep the Ws rolling.

 

[FWHORN]

My personal losing streak in the stands ran to four games last night stretching back to last season as the Rangers lost to the Twins 3-2. Perez walked the bases loaded in the fifth and then gave up a double which scored all three Minnesota runs. The wind was blowing really hard and killed at least two and maybe three Ranger home runs that could have changed the whole complexion of the game. Rangers don't get back to .500 as they fall to 9-11. Five more games on this home stand.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

Rangers still need to generate better hitting throughout the lineup - upcoming opponents are not as offensively challenged as the Royals were, and it will take some runs to win.

I didn't mean for that to be an immediate prophesy, but it turned out that way. Four runs - not a huge offensive output - would have made last night a W instead of an L. That was not a terrible pitching performance - not perfect, but certainly not terrible - and an average offensive output would have made the difference.

The Rangers have a potent offense - if everyone in the lineup will return to form. And it needs to be soon, before the Astros build a huge lead in the division. Tonight would be a great time to start.

 

[FWHORN]

Rangers explode last night for 14 runs and salvage the last game of the series with the Twins as Hamels gets his second win of the season. They are 5-2 on this home stand with 3 more against the Angels left. It is more and more obvious that it is going to be impossible to send down Gallo who has to my true surprise earned a place in the lineup so the Rangers are going to have to find somewhere to put him (likely the LF rotation, some 1B and DH) when Beltre returns. Profar probably heads to AAA. Day off today before Trout & Co. come to Arlington for weekend.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

it is going to be impossible to send down Gallo who has to my true surprise earned a place in the lineup so the Rangers are going to have to find somewhere to put him (likely the LF rotation, some 1B and DH) when Beltre returns. Profar probably heads to AAA.

FWHORN, I agree with your points. Gallo has earned the right to stay in The Show. Furthermore, when Beltre does come back into the lineup, it would be smart to ease him back in. A couple of days playing 3B followed by a day or two at DH would be good for him. Gallo has certainly made the defensive plays at 3B, so the Rangers wouldn't lose anything with him playing there. He can alternate 3B, DH, and perhaps some time at 1B and LF in order to keep him in the lineup.

As for Profar and Deshields - I'd like to keep Deshields on the 25-man. He can make things happen when he's in the lineup. And Profar simply hasn't done that. If Profar is going to have a chance to reach his potential, he needs to get the reps by playing every day, and Round Rock would enable him to get those reps.

A sweep on the Angels would be very nice. When the homestand started, I noted that IMO the minimum successful record for the homestand would be 7-3. A sweep would make it 8-2; winning two from Anaheim would make it 7-3, meeting my hope. At any rate, the Rangers need to be on a positive roll when they head to Houston for the first round with the Astros next week.

 

[ViperHorn]

IMHO Gallo has earned the right to play third. He still has issues at the plate, but every team has that. Usually it is the catcher or the SS, but Texas is solid at the plate at those two positions.

The Rangers currently do not have the pitching staff to win the Division or to take one of the wildcards, so I would leave Gallo at third when Beltre heals and use Beltre as the DH/occasional 3B. That would mean less field time for Choo and either trading Profar or Rua (hopefully for a young SP), but I believe would present a stronger team.

 

[FWHORN]

Rangers split first two games with the Angels and have chance for series win and to get the 7-3 record HHD hoped for on this home stand.

Gomez hit for cycle last night and Darvish threw 125 pitches in just six innings of work to get his third win of year.

Astros lost yesterday so Texas is 4 back in both the standings and the more important loss column and in spite of all the sturm und drang of this first month of the season is maintaining contact with Houston.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

A disappointing end to the homestand, going 6-4. Off to Houston for four. IMO, the Rangers really need to go 3-1 in Houston - a 2-2 split would be the minimum acceptable. The offense needs to find consistency, and quickly - it's tough to win when you score only two runs. And the Astro offense is clicking pretty well - hate to ask the pitchers to shut them down and hope for a 2-1 win.

 

[ViperHorn]

Spot on HHD.

 

[FWHORN]

Cashner, Hamels, Martinez and Darvish will go for Rangers who get lucky and will avoid Keuchel who is 5-0 and looking like his Cy Young year self of two years ago. Texas has dominated the last two years against Houston and that has been the difference in the AL West but this Houston team is much better and Texas has taken a step back. Must go 2-2 just to stay in contact (if 5 back is considered in contact) and really need to go 3-1 especially since the Rangers are avoiding Keuchel.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

really need to go 3-1

Not a good start last night for the series with Houston. Really need for Cole to shut down the Astros tonight. Where is the offense? Two runs per game won't hack it.

 

[FWHORN]

Darvish's next start has been pushed back a day to Friday so AJ Griffin will pitch the fourth game against Houston this week, which wont matter at all if Rangers offense continues its anemic output. The FWST says that Beltre may not be back before June 1. All in all things do not look good in Arlington. Cole Hamels looks to stop some of the bleeding tonight at the JuiceBox.

 

[FWHORN]

Hamels got scratched last night and may be out for a while or not who knows with strained oblique. Rangers blow another game late this time giving up five runs in the 8th instead of the 7th and lose 8-7. This team continues to find ways to blow games late and that is becoming a very disturbing trend. They now sit a full 7 games back of Houston and even though it is early May its getting close to being church on this AL West race.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

Wasted effort last night. Now it's really backs-against-the-wall time for the Rangers. They need to win the last two in Houston - if not, they will be losing ground to a hot Astros team and digging the hole deeper. Recall last season when the Astros let the hole get too deep early and couldn't make it up late - the Rangers appear to be headed in that direction. Time to suck it up and get serious.

 

[ViperHorn]

Hamels out for up to 8 weeks with strained oblique.

For all practical purposes puts an end to the Rangers chances at October ball.

 

[FWHORN]

My thoughts about this season after learning that Hamels is out until sometime in June earliest and that Beltre may not be back before then either.

 

[Hook 'Em Danno]

It's going to be a looong season fellow zealots as the Rangers return to at-or-below mediocrity. [heavy sigh]

 

[ViperHorn]

It's going to be a looong season fellow zealots as the Rangers return to at-or-below mediocrity. [heavy sigh]

An the finger pointing should be right at JD. Bannister is doing the best as he can with what he has to work with. On the bright side any thought of resigning Darvish should be out the door so JD should already be working on the best trade he can get - don't wait until the trade deadline when you could be left holding the bag.

 

[FWHORN]

Yep its 2014 all over again as the injury bug and just general bad play are combining to make for a long year in Arlington. I agree that Darvish is now trade bait for at least two and if they can three really good prospects, there will be quite a market for him even before July. Profar should also be on the block to move on and Lucroy too if they cant resign him to a long term deal by early July. What will hold my attention this summer is Beltre's chase for 3000 hits.

A part of me wants to believe that like 2015 this team can find some late summer magic but this is stacking up much more like 2014 than 2015.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

It's awfully close to decision time - much earlier in the season than it should be. Decision - (a) stay the course or (b) blow it up and start over. If it's blown up, who stays for the long run? My thoughts - Mazara, Odor, Gallo, Bush, Elvis, Chirinos, Hamels for sure, possibly Lucroy, Cashner, Ross, Martinez, Leclrec. Everyone else is available. Any team out there interested in trading for Darvish - OK, it'll take your best AAA starting pitcher and your best AA starting pitcher. And you may have to agree to eat Napoli and his contract as part of the deal (or Choo). I could go on and on, but the point is that JD needs to be having these thoughts.

 

[ViperHorn]

A part of me wants to believe that like 2015 this team can find some late summer magic but this is stacking up much more like 2014 than 2015.

You had to figure that a split with the Astros would be a stepping stone. If not for the BP they would be playing for a split this afternoon. Now the blame game and the strength of ownership is all we will have to talk about. I will start back with the Kinsler/Fielder trade. Kinsler's before the trade antics put me off so I was glad to see the trade. Now 3 years later what a disastrous trade made worse with the Choo signing. That was the beginning.

Also, while Beltre is needed at least in the clubhouse, hopefully the Rangers are now seeing all of the playing time Gallo spent at FB and in the outfield was wasted as he appears to be a natural at TB.

Mazara, Odor, Gallo, Bush, Elvis, Chirinos, Hamels for sure, possibly Lucroy, Cashner, Ross, Martinez, Leclrec.

Agree with the exception of Odor and possibly Elvis. Odor hasn't changed - doesn't hit for average (currently .194) and makes to many mental mistakes in the field and on the bases. I would offer a package Darvish, Odor, Profar and Napoli (Rangers would eat the contract) for #3 or 4 SP; best AAA starting pitcher; best AA starting pitcher; and best AAA infielder - not TB (unless you would use that person as the key to a trade for a starting MLB SB; make Rua the FB and bring Guzman up from RR to back-up Rua at FB). The Rangers might not get all of that, but now is the time to be bold.

 

[FWHORN]

Gallo is third baseman of future for sure. Viper I guess I have more faith/hope about Odor then you do and see him long term at second base and Elvis at short means long term the infield except for first base is set. Mazara and Deshields is 2/3 of your long term outfield. If the Rangers can sign Lucroy to long term then set at catcher with him and Chirinos. So what need to look for from trades of Darvish/Profar/Napoli (and maybe Gomez and even Beltre though I want to see him get 3000 in a Ranger uniform) are starting pitching, first base and outfielder who can hit. I would love to see them move Choo but no one takes that contract unless it is packaged say with Darvish.

Hindsight is 20-20 and when it happened I was in favor of the Kinsler-Fielder trade and judging it by what was happening at time and not what medically happened later it was still a good trade. in the law we have whats called the business judgment rule, you judge decision by what knew at time not what happened later and at time Kinsler was cancer in clubhouse, you had a second baseman in Profar that you thought was your future and you traded for what looked like a monster hitter who could DH, play first and by all accounts was great in the clubhouse. Now the Choo signing is a whole different story and JD should get dinged big time for that. But before we throw him too far under the bus he is also responsible for bringing on Bannister and for bringing Hamels in 2015 and Lucroy in 2016 in moves that now have two flags flying at the Ballpark (still cant bring myself to call it Globe Life).

 

[ViperHorn]

It will always be the Ballpark FW. I guess I am just tired of Odor's brain farts.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

^I'm with you, Viper. It is "The Ballpark in Arlington" - not Ameriquest Field or Globe Life Park. Guess I'm really a dinosaur.

 

[ViperHorn]

^I'm with you, Viper. It is "The Ballpark in Arlington" - not Ameriquest Field or Globe Life Park. Guess I'm really a dinosaur.

and the new one will be the Ballpark now matter what odd company steps forward with the sponsorship (even if Jerry steps in and names it either after himself or the Cowboys).

 

[HornHuskerDad]

Hope Perez can come through in Seattle tonight. Need to string together a big bunch of Ws quickly - Seattle and San Diego are there for the taking if the Rangers will play good, solid baseball. And it would help if the Angels could pull out a gmae or two against the Astros.

 

[HornHuskerDad]

Phooey!