Scatter-shooting While Wondering What Happened to Dave Hostetler

I know we need this off-day today. The Detroit Tigers, who didn’t enjoy an off day may or may not need one. I don’t know. I do know they probably didn’t enjoy their game against the Yankees. The Tigers banged out 13 hits but couldn’t get it done against the Yankees. I posted the pitching match-ups previously and don’t really want to think too much about facing the three pitchers we are pitching. Two aren’t pitching great for the last couple of weeks and the third is Justin Verlander. He just smoked the Yankees but hasn’t had a great couple of weeks either. But these guys are always up for the Rangers. Fortunately we are home. While it is just these three games against the Tigers at the Ballpark, anything is better than playing them in Detroit. Oh how I miss Tiger Stadium. It played a little different from the cavernous park that is Comercia. I just hope something changes with two of them. Yu Darvish met with Ron Washington who assures us his head is screwed on right. Not a peep as to the attachment of Derek Holland’s.

As to the title of this post? If you have been a Ranger fan as long as I have, you will remember the name Dave Hostetler. The 26-year-old first baseman had all of the makings of the next Dave Kingman. Of course that was good news and bad news. Kingman known for his moderate number of mammoth homers but his outs were almost all strikeouts. His numbers dwindled and so did his playing time upon the arrival of Pete O’Brien. He sure hit some memorable blasts before he departed though. Hostetler, a USC grad, at last report is in sales at Ridell.

Rangers Sneak out of Boston with Win and Series

Before I get into all of the ballgame, I just need to say Adrian Beltre is the most unlucky Ranger right now. He is punishing ball after ball but he is hitting them right at people. In the top of the ninth it worked out great. He hit a deep fly right at someone but we had a runner on third. That runner tagged and scored the eventual winning run. So the baseball gods threw him a bone.

Honestly, we shouldn’t have needed that. But after two very nice outings in relief (and appearing on his way to a third) by Roy Oswalt, he missed on a pitch. Badly. With two runners on, he threw two wicked breaking balls for strikes to Will Middlebrooks. The next pitch was supposed to go outside. Soto setup there and we could all see it coming. The problem was, the ball did not go to the outside. In fact it appeared to freeze right over the middle of the plate so Middlebrooks could line it up and take it home. That he did. Suddenly the game was tied and all of Oswalt’s work disappeared. the game was tied.

It had been a fruitful game for Ranger hitters. Showing once again that for the last week, sans Monday, our offense is recovering more and more each game. Especially one Josh Hamilton. After showing signs of breaking out, the Wednesday matinée in Boston let him shake the rest of the cobwebs (or whatever it was). He absolutely punished in inside offering from Josh Beckett in the fifth. On the day he was 3 for 5 with 4 RBI’s.

Pitching wise, we weren’t so lucky. Besides the Oswalt miscue, Matt Harrison had one of his worst road starts of the year. Ryan Dempster was the pitching star of the series.  Harrison left after 4.2 innings and 97 pitches. Thankfully Beckett was worse. Joe Nathan got his second save in two days. Maybe that cortisone shot worked.

While Thursday is an off day for the Rangers, I hope they enjoy it. Their next one is on August 28th. And there aren’t many gimmes in there after the off day either. Three at home vs. Detroit,  four at Yankee Stadium. Then to Toronto, where our last trip found us falling back to earth. Then Baltimore, Minnesota and Tampa Bay. The one good thing about those teams will be a long 10 game home stand.  Our division? Well it just got weird. The A’s took two of three from the Angels in Oakland. It saw both starters and their bullpen punished by the no longer lightweight Oakland bats. They’re 5.5 games out while the Angels check in at 7 back. Detroit will send Scherzer, Verlander and Porcello to the hill while we counter with Feldman, Darvish and Holland. Love to see those last two guys drink whatever Feldman’s been drinking.

Tough Night in Beantown

Winning streaks are very fragile. Losing streaks, rough patches and slumps are not. They’re very tough and durable. They can get traction on the least little thing. While there are several blogs that will crunch numbers until there is no tomorrow, I tend to look at the more intangible things.  We saw several things in the last couple of days that are momentum busters. Each one on their face are probably not enough (yes even the Oswalt thing) to undo any good that came from the dramatic split with the Angels. But gathered together, well, you could see those things unfold on the field in tonight’s 9-2 loss to the Red Sox. Pepper in a healthy dose of a pitcher that, let’s face it, is still learning his trade and it will cause a team to press at the plate. Yu Darvish is in a much tougher league than anything he ever faced in Japan. When you look out to the mound when he pitches, you can begin to see it weigh on him.  What’s worse, he is trying. Trying is different from doing. They all will say it. Let the game come to you.

I’m not one of those fans who throws in the towel. I am not a defeatist. We struggled last year in August (although not as badly as we did in July this year). I know the season ebbs and flows. But our struggling was contained to the field and the disabled list. This year it appears nerves are frayed.  Tempers are short. Frustration comes quicker. Maybe as we get closer to the post-season the hangover of last year’s tragedy comes to mind quicker. We have remained in first place to spite ourselves in a way. But there are two teams gunning for us and while they each have their own problems, they appear to be playing together as a team.

About Today’s Game

A lot of fingers could be pointed following the Rangers 7-6 to the Royals in 10 innings today. You’ve got Mike Olt’s errant throw that ultimately cost us the game. You’ve got the suicide squeeze being called with nobody out and a runner on third today. There were a couple of other small things that could have helped stop the loss, but ultimately today’s Fickle Finger of Fate goes to starting pitcher Derek Holland. Once again he gave up the long ball and couldn’t hold a lead. But the problem I saw repeatedly today was keeping the ball up in the zone. He struck out a couple of guys with high fastballs but he was betrayed by more than a few. What’s funny is, I felt like maybe another change in the rotation should have been considered before Roy Oswalt did something very un-Ranger like, in refusing to take the mound in the 9th inning. He has been exactly the guy we wanted him to be in these two relief appearances and if it was anger that made him be that way, that’s fine. Whatever.

Speaking of Olt. Yeah his wild throw into right field brought the winning run home, but he worked a great walk in the ninth inning and ended up on third with nobody out after a missed hit-and-run gave him his first stolen base. All of his at-bats were good today. Even one that he eventually struck out. His presence at the plate suggest a player who has been in the big leagues much longer than just a few days. We had a few missed opportunities today but nothing like what was seen most of the month of July. Speaking of…

In the wire report of today’s game, I thought it was uncool to point out that the Rangers were 13-15 since the start of July. I prefer to think of them as 4-1 since they started turning things around at the plate. And today goes in that column. It was totally winnable too.

We’re off to Boston.  I hope someone spends some time with Mr. Oswalt on the plane tonight. If in fact he is even on the plane. He needs an explanation of how we are not the Houston Astros or the Philadelphia Phillies.  I don’t know what the situation was there except that the Phillies bought a rotation and the Astros, well they are the Astros. We do this as a team. If that won’t work, here’s your last check and some parting gifts.

Here’s the matchups for the three-game set:

Darvish (11-7) Cook (2-5)

Dempster (5-5) Lester (5-9)

Harrison (13-6) Beckett (5-9)

Darvish has gone on record and said he is walking more because he is trying too hard to walk fewer. So he isn’t going to think about it anymore. Maybe he needs to talk to Scott Feldman about getting out of one’s head. Bless Ryan Dempster’s heart. Out of the fireplace, into the fire. Pitching at Fenway ain’t no picnic either. I read a story on ESPN.com that says he will hurt his value being a free agent in the off-season because he is playing in the big boy league now. I hope Ryan read that too. Will Matt Harrison have another quality start to launch himself into the “ace” role again?

Work days end early for me tomorrow and Tuesday as the games start at 4:10 my time. And Wednesday? I’ll be “out of the office” as the game starts at 10:35 my time.  Let’s get it done and put the A’s and Angels (who also both lost today) further back in the rear view.

Did We Turn a Corner?

If we go into the post-season in a good place, you have to wonder if we look back on last night as the turning point. The Dallas Morning News Kevin Sherington, holding court in a chat room this week, said that the Rangers needed their swagger back and that they way to get it was to be more aggressive at the plate. He thinks (and I concur) that the Rangers were getting a couple of guys on and then waiting on a three-run homer. Last night was not like that. Every at-bat seemed to be about working the pitcher and getting on. In other words, fighting. Somewhere in the middle of the game last night the Rangers did just that. They took what the pitcher gave them. But they also continually worked themselves into favorable counts. Just like they did in April and May. It was only the second time in their history that the Rangers came back from a three-run deficit in extra innings to win a game. The other time? In 1975 against the Tigers. The man providing the winning hit was in the booth last night. Tom Grieve.

Elvis Andrus, who has been the most consistent hitter in this Rangers lineup, provided the winning hit. After getting a head in the count 3-0, he took two straight strikes and based on recent history, you could just see it not happening. But Elvis turned on a fastball and fired a shot down the third base line leaving no question that the tying and winning runs were coming home. But one of the other key hits of the night belonged to Nelson Cruz. He hit one of the longest homers I have seen at the Ballpark. It cleared the bullpen and landed on the walkway above. Like every other team, Ernesto Frieri seemingly owned the Rangers. It was so unfathomable to Mike Scioscia that he would fail, he sent Frieri back out for the 10th inning. Cruz took him deep. It shows that while Joe Nathan has been unreliable of late (including last night), maybe Angels GM Jerry DiPoto shouldn’t have stopped at Greinke. They’re bullpen has been one of the few things wrong with their team the last month and a half.

A couple of other notes from last night. I Tweeted that because Darvish is pretty strong in the first two innings, maybe we should consider moving him to the bullpen and putting Alexi Ogando in the rotation. I am pretty sure we are holding Ogando in the bullpen to possibly replace Scott Feldman, but maybe starter #5 could be Martin Perez. We have watched Darvish take nothing but steps backwards since June. Seemingly over-matched by MLB hitters. Josh Hamilton failed last night back in the #3 spot in the batting order. Maybe some more time in the five-spot would do the trick, but he looked like the struggling Josh as opposed to the getting back on track Josh from the previous two nights. The other thing of note is the call-up of Mike Olt. Everyone is guessing that he will take playing time from Michael Young. It’s a good guess.

The Curious Case of Yu Darvish

It’s only a hunch. It certainly isn’t his biggest problem either. But me thinks one of the problems facing Yu Darvish is a lack of respect from the hitters. Stay with me here. In Japan, there extra emphasis on respect. Actually i the game of baseball, probably too much. Here it’s different. You earn respect not just by being good and lauded. You earn it. One batter at a time. It changes the approach of a hitter that is facing you. I don’t think for a second that Yu Darvish is overly cocky. But I do believe before he left Japan, there was a certain amount of “don’t you know who I am?” while Darvish faced much weaker hitters. I think he is learning about respect in the MLB. There is none for him. not on the level of someone stepping in against him not thinking they can’t get on. From working a walk to going yard.

Here’s the thing. Nolan got this one wrong. The scouts got this one wrong. He has tremendous stuff no doubt. But he needs to spend some time in the minors. Earning a different kind of respect.

Think We Can Split?

No I don’t mean bail. I mean split this series.  Here’s the box tonight. I would say it shouldn’t count because Weaver pitched, but we killed him in Arlington last time. And the numbers for Weaver aren’t his normal at the BPIA. Tonight was really like so many other games in July. Only problem being, we didn’t have as many guys to strand in scoring position. There are good signs here and bad signs. Ian Kinsler is in a slump. Look at the number of pitches he saw tonight.  As a leadoff hitter he should see way more than that and with his on base percentage he usually does. Not tonight. Elvis is in a slump, not even hitting .200 for the last week. But, Elvis is still up there battling. Beltre. Really? Nine pitches? Nellie is on the verge of busting out. We have seen it this week. So close. Josh got another hit tonight. Last night he was going the opposite way ON PURPOSE. He’s figuring some stuff out. Still could have worked it a little more, but no K’s. Where do you start with Michael Young? He had two hits tonight. A good sign. He saw 19 pitches at the plate, but that is still less than four per at bat. And he still hasn’t walked since 1985. Napoli got a walk. He’s shown some signs, but a lot of them have come against the Angels. He still has an axe to grind. Mitch appears to be pressing a bit. Making up for lost time and trying to get more playing time. And Murph is heating up again. I know it’s hard on platooned players who want to play everyday to not press. He’s been up and down all year, like normal, but it appears he is ready to make it happen. We didn’t get it done and lost 6-2.

All in all, we do look a little more confident at the plate.

Rangers	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	#P	AVG
I Kinsler 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	12	0.27
E Andrus SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	20	0.286
A Beltre 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	9	0.311
N Cruz RF	4	0	0	0	0	3	17	0.261
J Hamilton CF	4	1	1	0	0	0	10	0.287
M Young DH	4	1	2	0	0	1	19	0.269
D Murphy LF	3	0	1	2	0	0	11	0.293
M Napoli C	2	0	0	0	1	0	17	0.226
M Moreland 1B	3	0	1	0	0	0	10	0.273
Totals	32	2	5	2	1	5	125

 

On the other side of things,  Derek Holland was either outstanding or awful. He’s leaving the ball up to much. Missing his spots. And worst of all, he left the ball up to dangerous hitters. From now till the end of the season, he just can’t do that. Especially the leaving the ball up. Four walks? No bueno. Scheppers, Ogando and Perez finished it out and were “efficient”.  I am still pretty certain Martin Perez is hanging around for a spot in the rotation instead of moving Ogando there. Again, it depends on Feldman. If we get Oswalt some longer outings perhaps he can work things out. I know he doesn’t want to be in the bullpen. And we paid a lot of money for him to NOT be in the bullpen.

Tomorrow Yu Darvish is on the hill and it would be nice to see him figure things out. I wonder if they will put him with Soto. Some new input from behind the plate may help him out. Thursday night we get our first look at who ESPN calls “Mr. Dependable”.  I just hope he isn’t the only one.

The best news? The next game WON’T be in July.

Rangers Lose, Hamilton Boo’d

Tonight Ranger fans finally showed their frustration with Josh Hamilton. They showed it with rare Ballpark at Arlington home team boos. I have been following from the beginning and can only think of a handful of times that this happened. Evan Grant and I think Tim Collishaw of the Dallas Morning News called fans on Twitter “fickle” tonight. I beg to differ. I think an immense amount of patience has been shown.  Yes I agree with Evan, we have an outstanding record and are in first place. But these aren’t just Cowboy fans. The Rangers have created a new culture of baseball in D/FW. Subtlety is not lost on all of them. They see the gray area we are operating in right now. Forget the team not playing up to their potential. There are several players who are having career worst stretches right now. On a night most were aware the Angels were reloading their guns, we watched a guy, in his walk year, continue to flounder. Not just at the plate, where he struck out two more times and left runners in scoring position, but made bonehead plays in the field. Josh Hamilton is not in the building right now.

I understand everyone’s need to protect Josh. I get it. But he is a pro ballplayer getting paid tons of money, on the verge of asking for more tons. As I pointed out on Twitter, it’s not so much the epic failure of Josh these last two months, it’s the appearance of not caring. I doubt that is true, but perception is reality. He did look aggravated Wednesday night at one point, but he totally misplayed a fly ball that he DID see and made a care-free throw into second base that allowed a runner to turn a long single into a double. That is not Ranger baseball. Worse still, when Josh strikes out with men in scoring position, it is putting a new kind of pressure on Adrian Beltre. One I am sure he can and will handle. But for now, it’s new.

With the performance of Yu Darvish and Alexi Ogando tonight, I would hope that we are kicking the tires a little harder on Josh Johnson. I will not move in not wanting James Shields. Maybe Jeremy Hellickson. But not Sheilds. I am totally behind the front office in withdrawing from the Geinke sweepstakes even without a demand for Olt or Profar. He is a rental. I know the Marlins are asking for a Teixera type deal for Johnson. I know that we won’t pay that and I am good with that. I would hope the price drops on Tuesday and/or they can add one or two players to their side. Something like, yeah we’ll include Olt and Perez, if you include Stanton.

A guy can dream can’t he?

So the Angels got Greinke and perhaps a full game in the standings. The Angels lead the Rays 3-1 in the 7th as I finish this.

Excuse Me, Who Was That?

Who was that guy who hit two jacks yesterday? It was someone who has been missing since the first part of May. I guess after suffering for so long with Mike Napoli, it was nice for him to break out right in front of the man who deemed him not worthy of catching for the Angels. There were money shots of Mike Scioscia yesterday like that great one last September. But I’m sure he is wondering from who he can purchase a break when Napoli is in town. Bottom line for us was the fact that this was the time he needed to shake whatever had been bugging him at the plate since May. Now let’s see if he can take this with him when the Rangers return home.

Yu Darvish had more flashes of brilliance than the past several games and struck out 11 Angels in the process. Make no mistake. He will be even better. Next year.

But for now I could even live with getting out of Anaheim with a five game lead. But I’d rather Matt Harrison tie those big bats up again tonight.

Elvis Can’t Do It All

Elvis Andrus is having a year like a player in his contract year. The only problem? It’s not a contract year. What has happened is our, still young shortstop is figuring it out. He put a run on the board with a homer in the first and stopped a run later on with a perfect strike on a relay throw to the plate. What hurts the most about this? Two players in their contract year are NOT having contact years. By the way, what usually burns me up about players is, a contract year the year before they get to re-negotiate a new contract, inspires many players to have a career year. We have two  players currently going against that history. Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli. Now Naps last night did get on a couple of times against his former teammates, but Josh has regressed so badly that he is almost a liability when he comes up. He had the bases loaded last night and hit into an inning killing double play.

There are references to Josh being “streaky” in the local papers and on the web. But this isn’t streaky. Being hot for two months and then terrible for two months (and running) isn’t streaky. Streaky is like Nelson Cruz is. Well like Nelson Cruz was, last season. While we wait for the guys to get out of their Ron Washington described funk, we are going to take a hit from the Angels. They have streaky players too, but not all get hot at the same time and conversely, cold at the same time. Like we have with the Rangers. The thing that bugs me is that there are no answers or quick fixes. But when you rely on just one or two players, that isn’t championship caliber baseball. That’s .500 baseball. And Derek Holland, to top things off, has become  Derek Holland again. Meaning, good start, bad start. Somebody like Arizona (Upton) or Tampa Bay (Shields) might think they have better success turning Dutch around.

Yu Darvish, third in the American League in walks, catches a break today as the Angels don’t like to take walks very much. But  even if that happens, we have to convert our opportunities or Cy Young himself won’t help this team.