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The Rangers are off to just about the worst start imaginable. They're 8-13, last in the AL West. The good news is that they're 8-13, only 3.5 games out, and they're way, way better than they've played thus far.


Robinson Tejeda takes the ball in the opener. He's a righty in his third season who's been easily the Rangers' best starter this year. He has a pronounced windup but steps forward quietly when he actually throws the ball. It looks surprisingly effortless. He's a flyball pitcher with a good changeup.

The other three starters this weekend aren't doing quite so well. The chart's lines on Padilla and McCarthy speak for themselves.

Ian Kinsler is having a phenomenal season. Sammy Sosa's hitting like Sammy Sosa: lots of flyballs, lots of power, lots of strikeouts, not many hits that aren't homers. The rest of the lineup seems to be mired in a team-wide BABIP slump, especially old friend Frank Catalanotto. The Rangers will see plenty of pitches in the strike zone this weekend. So something has to give: the Jays' 3-4-5 starters continue to defy the odds and look really good, or the Rangers' luck finally starts to even out and they have their traditional offensive explosion against the Jays.

Credit section: Batted-ball, Leverage Index and balk data are available at Fangraphs. K% and BB% are strikeouts and walks as a percentage of plate appearances. Everything else, most notably the AL average statistics, is available at The Hardball Times.



Mini-Advance Scout: Rangers, April 27-30 | 13 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Alex Obal - Friday, April 27 2007 @ 04:38 PM EDT (#166732) #
Failed to mention: 8-13 isn't all that bad, but the Rangers are also dead last in the AL in the third-order standings, almost a full game behind the Royals.

Incidentally, the Jays are doing pretty well in strictly production terms, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see why they're two or three games short of their W3-L3. All else being equal, if B.J. Ryan's healthy the Jays are getting talked up as a serious juggernaut right now. (Unreasonably of course.)
FanfromTheIsland - Friday, April 27 2007 @ 04:43 PM EDT (#166733) #

Yay! I get to see Cat again.

On a random note, the last Hall of Names was before Opening Day, so yeah... 

HippyGilmore - Friday, April 27 2007 @ 04:44 PM EDT (#166734) #

The Rangers always - always - make Blue Jays fans nervous, and I'm no exception. I'd be really happy with splitting the set, so as long as one of Towers, Chacin and Ohka can avoid getting shelled, we should be okay. With Glaus back on Saturday (knock on wood), our offense suddenly looks that much scarier, so I'm gonna predict Towers gets shelled tonight, Chacin pitches well enough to win on Saturday with an offensive explosion backing him up, we lose one of those 15-13 affairs with the Ohka-McCarthy matchup and Halladay does what Halladay does on Monday.

For the 100th time: Thank god Kevin Mench is gone.

Mike Green - Friday, April 27 2007 @ 04:47 PM EDT (#166735) #
Cat's statistics are a bit strange.  GB, K and HR/fly rates way up.  LD rate way down.  You'd think that he was uppercutting to try to take advantage of the short right field at Ameriquest, but the increase in the GB rate doesn't fit with that.  Small sample.

Teixeira has hit left-handed pitchers better than right-handed so far in his career, notwithstanding the shape of Ameriquest.

BigTimeRoyalsFan - Friday, April 27 2007 @ 08:17 PM EDT (#166741) #
uch why yank towers so early. he could have given the team a couple more innings, his pitch count was really low, and he really wasnt pitching all that badly. to take him out after a 2 out lyle overbay error seems silly. another terrible move by gibbons, imo.
actionjackson - Friday, April 27 2007 @ 08:33 PM EDT (#166742) #
Happy Birthday Cat! Take it easy on you old team OK. No breaking out until after May 6, when the Jays are finished with the Rangers until August.
Geoff - Friday, April 27 2007 @ 10:29 PM EDT (#166745) #
What is happening with Jason Smith? He's having some of the poorest at-bats I've ever seen by a major leaguer. He's striking out while swinging with a hope and a prayer.

On another note, here's a picture to cheer up for the weekend. I worry about Torii finding his way to Boston, bringing his great defense and loose attitude to a team with more money to burn for those needs.

Oops, just spoiled the cheer.

dalimon5 - Saturday, April 28 2007 @ 12:02 AM EDT (#166747) #

I completely agree. Towers could have gone a couple of more innings. He is a competitor. By taking him out after someone reaches on an error, Gibbons is clearly showing his lack of support in Josh Towers. He must be so affraid that Josh will serve up a two run shot and put the Rangers up by 7. I am honestly wishing for a managerial change. Just this year, there is something about Gibbons. I don't think he is right for the team, and he has made some terrible terrible moves.

I think Chacin has to move to the fifth spot, McGowan 4th, and someone brought in for 3rd. This being said, it breaks my heart seeing Gibbons push Towers around. I am not sure if I read this at globe and mail.com, but it DOES seem to me like Gibbons is setting him up to fail, or at least not giving him enough of a chance. If he lets Josh go out there for a couple of more innings, and gives him the chance to keep the Jays in the game, then he is encouraging something. Instead, he openly removes Towers and more or less tells him, through suggestion, that he cant lead this team in a ball game. I completely understand that he wants a better arm in the ball game, but, does Gibbons forget that Towers IS his fifth man in the rotation? By cutting him short tonight, Gibbons is also doing anything BUT giving Towers something to build on for his next start. It only puts more pressure on the kid. Again, the look on Josh's face just broke my heart.
Barry Bonnell - Saturday, April 28 2007 @ 12:18 AM EDT (#166748) #
//uch why yank towers so early. he could have given the team a couple more innings, his pitch count was really low, and he really wasnt pitching all that badly. to take him out after a 2 out lyle overbay error seems silly. another terrible move by gibbons, imo.//

I think Gibbons lost all confidence in Towers dating back to last year and can you really blame him? The bats are hot, the bullpen is rested and the fact that the bullpen didn't give up any more runs and the Jays came within two runs of tying the game proves to me that he made a good decision.

ahitisahit - Saturday, April 28 2007 @ 03:37 AM EDT (#166750) #

I was loving Fletcher in the booth. He wasn't terribly prepared, but the man has forgotten more about baseball than Tabler will ever know.

14 K's for the Jays is deplorable. Jason Smith is not a major league hitter. The only guy I've seen this year take worse looking swings was Varitek vs Halladay on Tuesday.

FanfromtheIsland: What Island are you from? I am from Prince Edward Island.

FanfromTheIsland - Saturday, April 28 2007 @ 08:55 AM EDT (#166751) #
Actually, "Island" is missing an "s", so it should be "Islands", specifically the Philippines, the country with over 7,000 islands. But right now I'm residing in Mississauga, Ontario!
greenfrog - Saturday, April 28 2007 @ 09:16 AM EDT (#166752) #
I was OK with Gibbons's decision to remove Towers in the 5th. He had pitched well for a couple of innings. I think Gibbons felt that (1) the bullpen was rested, (2) he didn't want to risk falling further behind, and (3) Towers would be finishing on a relatively positive note (ie, having rebounded from the HR derby earlier in the game).

All the Jays pitchers are competitors. And no starter wants to get pulled after 4 2/3 innings. But after last year's debacle, Towers is on a short leash. He and everyone else in the world knows it. Towers has to earn the benefit of the doubt; his manager doesn't have to justify removing Towers in that situation.

Mylegacy - Saturday, April 28 2007 @ 12:49 PM EDT (#166766) #
I'm the fan from the island...Vancouver Island that is.
Mini-Advance Scout: Rangers, April 27-30 | 13 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.