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darkhorse 05-23-2019 02:25 PM

Texas Rangers 2019
 
The Rangers were fecking awful in 2018 limping across the finish line at 67-95, the team's worst record since 1985.

1985 is the year I went from a Rangers fan to fanatic after the mid-season hiring of Bobby Valentine and promotion of a handful of promising rookies, Oddibe McDowell, Steve Buechele, Geno Petralli, and Jose Guzman with many more young talents gleaming down on the farm. The following year Pete Incaviglia, Ruben Sierra, Mike Stanley, Jerry Browne, Edwin Correa, Bobby Witt, Mitch Williams, Dale Mohorcic, and Kevin Brown made their big league debuts. Texas was the most improved team in MLB adding 25 to the win column and posting an 87-75 won-loss the club's best record in a decade. The sky seemed the limit at that point but, as things often do in Rangers land, that potential was never fulfilled, as Valentine never again won that many games in a season in the following 6 years in charge.

After being shut out of the postseason for its first 35 years of existence, Texas finally clicked in 1996 and would make the playoff 3 times in 4 seasons but would get thumped by the Yankees in all three of their appearances with one win versus 9 crushing defeats. Still, it beat being a spectator for all those soul numbing years.

Texas took another decade long hiatus from the playoffs before playing in back to back World Series in 2010 and 2011 with the latter being the most brutal example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Between 2010 and 2016 there were a dizzying 5 postseason appearances in 7 seasons. I've never cared much for the Rangers GM, Jon Daniels, but all of that happened on his watch so some credit must be given.

2017 and 2018 saw the club slip out of relevance and the folly of the last season seemed almost certain to continue in 2019. Texas made only two changes to the everyday lineup and both were downgrades as C Robinson Chirinos (career 104 OPS+) fled to greener pastures in Houston to be replaced by ex-Angel Jeff Mathis (career OPS+ of 51) and Ian Kinsler-Falafel (81 OPS+ in his rookie campaign). At third base, Adrian Beltre retired after 8 superb seasons that made him a club legend and one of the most beloved players ever. The Rangers grabbed 33 year old Asdrubal Cabrera off the scrap heap to fill that spot. Cabrera hit .228 with a 79 OPS+ for the Phillies last year. The Rangers posted a horrific 89 OPS+ as a team in 2018 and now looked even weaker.

On the pitching side, Texas was below average in 2018 with a team ERA+ of 96. There were wholesale changes in the pitching staff with Cole Hamels fleeing for his life to the Cubs, Doug Fister retiring, Bartolo Colon released, and Martin Perez leaving as an FA to Minnesota. The bullpen saw an equally dramatic reshuffling with Jose LeClerc and Chris Martin the only notable returnees.

I was not unhappy to see skipper Jeff Banister let go at the end of the 2018 season. The new hire, Chris Woodward, doesn't seem to be getting in the way of success, so that is a positive. New hitting coach Luis Ortiz might be the hire of the offseason for all of MLB as that awful lineup has improved from a team OPS+ of 89 to a robust 107. Joey Gallo, Hunter Pence, Elvis Andrus, Shin-Soo Choo, Logan Forsythe, and Danny Santana have far exceeded reasonable expectations with Gallo playing like a superstar MVP candidate through the first 47 games of the season.

The pitching staff has posted the same 96 ERA+ to date as happened in 2018, but Mike Minor is pitching like an All-Star while leading all of MLB in WAR with a total of 3.3. Justin Verlander is 2nd at 2.6. That 0.7 gap between first and second is larger than the margin between 2nd and 10th. There've been some positive upward trends in the Rangers rickety pitching with Jose LeClerc, who got off to a horrendous start, now ringing up strikeouts at a frightening pace again and posting clean frames. Shawn Kelley is back from neck surgery and that is a very good thing. Lance Lynn has been a decent option as the #2 in the rotation. Filling those last three starting slots with adequate pitching will be a major challenge and go a long way toward determining whether this 24-23 record with wins in 7 of the last 8 games is substance or smoke.

Gallo and Minor's heroics have definitely raised the entertainment value of watching Rangers games and given a sliver of hope that Texas might become a factor in the 2019 wild card race.

David Watts 05-23-2019 03:13 PM

Holy crap, you just typed all that Ranger history and never once mentioned the Robin Ventura/Nolan Ryan dustup. :p Moved to Shreveport in 85. Still miss going to games at the old Arlington Stadium. Big fan of general admission seating and that stadium my dream come true. Lived in the Dallas area for several years, including a year in Arlington just down the road from Bobby's old restaurant. Moved here from Michigan. Back in 85 when you went to a Tigers/Rangers game in Arlington it was almost like a home game

darkhorse 05-23-2019 03:41 PM

The new park is scheduled to be finished by opening day 2020. The Ballpark at Arlington will be shut down just 25 years after its opening. That's a trend in baseball that I don't much care for as taxpayers invariably foot most of the bill for these new palaces.

They're installing synthetic grass as the playing surface at the new park which will make Texas one of only 4 teams not playing their home games on the natural stuff. Bleah!

The retractable roof will make those stifling hot summer days a lot more bearable at the ballpark, so that's a positive.

darkhorse 05-25-2019 01:33 AM

Damn! I just witnessed Mike Trout's first error in 268 games. The bungle allowed the Rangers to plate two runs and take a 4-3 lead in the 7th inning.

darkhorse 05-25-2019 02:24 AM

Massively cool win, 4-3 over the Halos, with Shawn Kelley fanning the best baseball player on the planet for the final out with a runner on 2nd.

darkhorse 06-01-2019 12:47 AM

Good win tonight against the Royals with Mazara walking with the bases loaded to knot the score 2-all then Gallo following up with his first career grand slam for the final margin, 6-2. Ariel Jurado had one of the best starts of his young career surrendering both runs and whiffing 6 KC hitters in 6 IP. The Rangers were a perfect 3 for 3 with RISP. Hunter Pence continues to rake. Very nice to get local lad Pence in a Rangers uniform even if it does come in the twilight of his career.

darkhorse 06-01-2019 10:49 PM

Gallo smashed his AL leading 17th home run to lead Texas to another 6-2 win over KC. Lance Lynn continues to pitch well and solidify the top of the rotation. Jose LeClerc came on in relief and fanned both batters he faced. He now has 21 K's in his last 9.2 IP. His stuff is filthy.

Gallo came out early with tightness in his left oblique. Vital to keep him healthy as he's currently batting .276/.421/.653. Hunter Pence banged out two more hits and remains red hot. Texas back to two games over .500 at 29-27.

darkhorse 06-02-2019 08:29 PM

The Rangers keep on keeping on with a 5-1 win over the Royals this afternoon. Adrian Sampson pitched the best game of his life with a career high 11 K's, 0 walks, and only one run allowed in 7 IP. Sampson earned his first MLB victory as a starter after winning his previous 3 decisions in relief of an opener.

Texas put Joey Gallo on the 10-day DL after straining his left oblique and Danny Santana lashed a pair of hits in his absence. Mazara and Ronald Guzman also had multi-hit games and the latter raised his batting average over the Mendoza line. Gallo is expected to miss two weeks. Ouch!

Texas now 13-5 since bottoming out on May 15 at 17-22.

darkhorse 06-08-2019 01:17 AM

The Rangers will retire Adrian Beltre's number 29 in a ceremony Saturday night. He'll join Pudge Rodriguez and Nolan Ryan as the only players in Texas history so honored. Looking forward to the day Adrian is inducted into the HOF wearing a Rangers cap. One of a kind.

darkhorse 06-27-2019 05:42 PM

Joey Gallo missed 24 days with an oblique strain. He doubled and drew a walk yesterday in his first game back then today Joey homered twice and drew another free pass. His progress this year has been extraordinary and I'm so happy that the long layoff doesn't seem to have broken his groove. Gallo is still Top 10 in WAR and now batting .279/.427/.676 with 19 round trippers. He should be a lock for an All-Star berth.

Rangers pitching has made major strides over the past two months and has been a team strength during June while Gallo was idled. Mike Minor and Lance Lynn give Texas a strong one-two punch at the top of the rotation and Adrian Sampson's development has solidified the #3 spot. Jesse Chavez's fine recent performances have thrown his hat into the ring as another potential difference maker in the rotation.

After holding lowly Detroit to a single run in each of the past two games, the Rangers are on a season best 5 game win streak and are 9 games above .500 for the first time this year at 45-36. This team was so bad last year in all phases of the game finishing 67-95. The progress made this year has been so unexpected and delightful.

darkhorse 06-27-2019 05:58 PM

#5 hurler Ariel Jurado pitched 7 shutout innings today in the 3-1 win over Detroit. He improved to 4-1 as a starter on the season.

darkhorse 06-28-2019 11:24 PM

The Rangers splendid starting pitching continued with Lance Lynn hurling 8 innings of 3-hit shutout ball (10 Ks, 1 BB) against Tampa Bay and earning his 10th win of the season. The 5-0 victory moves Texas into a tie with the Rays for the second wild-card spot. Now on a season best 6 game winning streak. Good pitching and defense cures so many ills.

joefromchicago 07-01-2019 10:55 PM

I'll be going to the Rangers game on July 4. Anything I should do/see while I'm there?


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