Results tagged ‘ Mitch Moreland ’
Texas Rangers Caliente y Frio: Week 7
Here’s a wrap-up of the week that was in Texas Rangers baseball. All stats listed are just for the previous week of play.
Rangers Record: 5-2
Overall: 29-15 (1st Place AL West) (+6.5)
Jalapeno Caliente (Offense):
Mitch Moreland .308/.345/.846 2 Doubles 4 HR 10 RBI
Adrian Beltre .448/.500/.655 3 Doubles 1 HR 5 RBI
Raspa Frio (Offense):
Ian Kinsler .125/.263/.125 And he hit the Disabled List to boot.
Jalapeno Caliente (Pitching):
Joe (Call Me Joseph) Ortiz 3 IP 1 Hit 3 K’s
Raspa Frio (Pitching):
Derek Lowe 2/3 IP 2 Runs (could be DFA’d today)
Last week I said a 3-4 record would be satisfactory with Texas at Oakland for 3 and home for a 4-game set against Detroit. Color me ecstatic today with the Rangers’ 5-2 record for the week. What made the weekend series with the Tigers so unique is the guys you expect to be the best pitchers, Yu Darvish and Derek Holland, both struggled against the vaunted Detroit offense, while the two we expected to get shelled, Nick Tepesch and Justin Grimm, both pitched well, though Tepesch was the loser of record in his start.
Just to show how weird baseball is, though: Texas entered the week with a 6-game lead on Oakland, took 2 of 3 from the A’s followed by 3 of 4 from Detroit and only managed to put another half game of ground between the second place A’s and themselves.
This week begins with three more against Oakland, this time in the friendly confines of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. After an off day Thursday, it’s off to Seattle for three against the improved Mariners.
Two DL moves in the last week as well. Alexi Ogando went on the DL Thursday. Cody Burns got the call from AAA Round Rock and pitched two games in relief this weekend, but Ogando’s official replacement is Josh Lindblom, acquired in the Michael Young trade, who starts tonight’s series opener against the A’s. Texas will have to make a move today and the popular opinion is that veteran Derek Lowe will get released, since Burns did so well in his first two games. Meanwhile, Ian Kinsler hit the DL on Saturday, with the roster opening taken by #1 prospect Jurickson Profar. Profar didn’t play in Sunday’s series finale against Detroit, but expect him at second base tonight and for most of Kinsler’s DL stay. Should be an interesting week of baseball!
The Stupendous Awesomeness of Yu Darvish Part 2
The pitching match-up of the year didn’t materialize as the pitcher’s duel of the year. It was actually Justin Verlander‘s worst regular season start. EVER. You can thank the Texas Rangers offense for that, particularly Mitch Moreland and, in the biggest surprise of the season, Geovany Soto, whose 3-run blast to left spelled the end of Verlander’s night.
Scintillating as the offense was, last night’s win cemented yet another incredible aspect in the game of Yu Darvish. If it had only happened once, I would shake it off as one of those things that happens. This, however, was not the first time it has happened and I have a feeling it will be integral in understanding the current and future success of the Rangers’ new ace.
Darvish did not have his best stuff last night. His fastball command was almost non-existent. Most of his other pitches were having a hard time finding the zone as well. Through the early innings, about the only pitch Darvish had working for him was his slider. Thus, it wasn’t surprising when he finally ran into trouble in the 3rd inning. Facing the bottom of the order, Darvish gave up his first hit, a home run that tied the game at 1. It was followed by a single. Then another single. A wild pitch. A sacrifice fly put the Tigers up 2-1. Miguel Cabrera doubled and Darvish intentionally walked Prince Fielder. Bases loaded. One out. A Victor Martinez sac fly on the 10th pitch of the at bat put Detroit up 3-1. Darvish was on the ropes, already at 31 pitches on the inning. It would take another five pitches before the inning ended. Darvish was already at 63 pitches in only three innings of work. It was looking like a bullpen kind of night.
Despite the Rangers heroics in the bottom of the frame, chasing Verlander with a 7-spot to take an 8-4 lead, Darvish came out in the 4th and immediately gave up his second home run of the night, this one to Jhonny Peralta, making it 8-4. That’s when it kicked in.
From that point on, Darvish retired 15 of the next 16 batters, including the last 10 Tigers in a row. Yu ended up going a career high 130 pitches over 8 innings in picking up his 7th win of the season.
Most pitchers, even quality ones, have games in which they struggle. Most of the time, it will be a struggle from beginning to end. On a rare occasion, they’ll recover and pitch effectively after their bad inning(s). This is the third similar occurrence in Darvish’s young career. On June 20, 2012 he was quickly down 2-0 in the second, expending 41 pitches to get through the two innings. From that point on, Darvish retired 18 of the last 21 Padres he faced including the last ten in a row.
On April 12th this year, the Mariners touched Darvish for 3 runs in the first inning. After the first? Fifteen of 17 Mariners were retired, including the last 12 in a row.
Less than two weeks ago, the Red Sox plated three runs in the first two innings. After a second inning home run, Darvish retired 17 of the last 20 Boston batters he faced, only one of them getting a hit.
Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, Darvish seems to have an innate ability to figure out within a game how to proceed based on how his pitches are working or not working. In this case he switched from setting everything up through his fastball to setting it up through his slider. There are few pitchers out there who can achieve such dramatic results on in-game adjustments. I’m just glad one who can pitches for the Texas Rangers.
Related articles
- Rangers pound Verlander; Darvish now 7-1 (scores.espn.go.com)
- The Stupendous Awesomeness of Yu Darvish (40yearrangerfan.mlblogs.com)
- Yu Got Great Stats! (40yearrangerfan.mlblogs.com)
Texas Rangers Caliente y Frio: Week 6 (Merrily We Roll Along)
Here’s a wrap-up of the week that was in Texas Rangers baseball. All stats listed are just for the previous week of play.
Rangers Record: 4-2
Overall: 24-13 (1st Place AL West) (+6)
Jalapeno Caliente (Offense):
Mitch Moreland .333/.385/.750 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR
Elvis Andrus .385/.448/.468
Raspa Frio (Offense):
Nelson Cruz .150/.143/.450 Despite only three hits in 20 AB’s, two of the hits left the park. Thus the high Slugging Percentage
Jalapeno Caliente (Pitching):
Derek Holland 1-0 1.29 ERA
Raspa Frio (Pitching):
Derek Lowe 2 Appearances, 6 ER in just 2 IP
Last week I said anything less than a 5-2 record would be a disappointment. The only disappointment is my addition. The Rangers only had six games scheduled in the week, not seven, so 5-2 was impossible. Instead, they went 4-2 and, incredibly, gained 3.5 games in the process on the second place A’s, who went 1-6 on the week.
You might say Texas has had an easy time of the first 37 games of the season, roughly 25% of the season to date. To date, Texas has played nine different teams. Of those nine, only three (Minnesota, Boston, Tampa Bay) start today with records at .500 or better. Of course, the Rangers are a combined 7-3 against those teams as well, so there’s that.
If storm clouds are going to begin appearing over the success that has been the Texas Rangers in 2013, they will start gathering in the next week and a half. Over the next ten days, Texas will be on the road for three games in Oakland, followed by a 7-game homestand featuring four games with the Tigers and another three games with the A’s. Oakland comes into this series under .500 themselves at 19-20. They have feasted on Houston and the Angels to a tune of 11-1. Against everyone else, the A’s are just 8-19. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is the Oakland starting pitchers, one of the best in baseball a year ago, have struggled mightily in 2013. Still, Texas knows they’ll be facing the defending AL West champions for six of the next ten games, so they won’t take them lightly.
Thursday night will be a pitching match-up just about anyone who is a baseball fan will want to see, when the homestand kicks off with Yu Darvish squaring off against Justin Verlander. Can’t wait to watch that one on TV.
Being on the road at Oakland to start the week, I think I’ll be happy satisfied if Texas goes 3-4 for the week. This will be a great week of baseball!
Texas Rangers Caliente y Frio: Week 5
Here’s a wrap-up of the week that was in Texas Rangers baseball. All stats listed are just for the previous week of play.
Rangers Record: 4-2
Overall: 20-11 (1st Place AL West) (+2.5)
Jalapeno Caliente (Offense):
Mitch Moreland .450/.542/.650 1 HR 2 RBI
Ian Kinsler .407/.429/.630 3 2B 1 HR 5 RBI
Raspa Frio (Offense):
A.J. Pierzynski .118/.167/.118 7 K in 17 AB
Jalapeno Caliente (Pitching):
Derek Holland 1-0 0.00 ERA 9 Strikeouts in 8 IP
Raspa Frio (Pitching):
Nick Tepesch 0-1, 6.75 ERA in 6.2 IP
Believe it or not, if Yu Darvish was on the list based on ERA alone, he’d be in the Frio column. Instead at best he gets an honorable mention in the Caliente column for accruing 23 more strikeouts in just 13 innings of work.
The Rangers started the week at home in a continuing funk at the plate, Tuesday’s 10 runs notwithstanding, and dropped their first series of the year when the White Sox took two of three. Pessimism reigned entering Friday night’s play. Of all the teams the Rangers had played thus far, only Friday’s opponent, the Boston Red Sox, was over .500 entering play. So, the skeptics said, here’s where the Rangers get exposed as pretenders and not contenders. All Texas did was sweep the Red Sox in convincing fashion. Derek Holland was dominant in Friday night’s shutout win, Alexi Ogando didn’t look dominant but was more than good enough in limiting Boston’s high-flying offense to a single run. Finally, on Sunday, Yu Darvish gave up two home runs early, putting the Rangers in a 3-0 hole, but shut down Boston the rest of the way, allowing Texas to tie in the 7th and walk off with the win and the sweep in the 9th.
This week, it’s back on the road with three different teams on the schedule. Today it’s a make-up game with the Chicago Cubs, facing former Ranger Scott Feldman. Tuesday through Thursday, another interleague matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers. The week closes out with three games at Minute Maid Park against the lowly Astros. Despite all seven games being on the road, considering the competition, anything worse than a 5-2 record this week would be a disappointment.
Texas Rangers Caliente y Frio: Week 4
Here’s a wrap-up of the week that was in Texas Rangers baseball. All stats listed are just for the previous week of play.
Rangers Record: 4-3
Overall: 16-9 (1st Place AL West) (+2.5)
Jalapeno Caliente (Offense):
Mitch Moreland .393/.393/.571 5 Doubles 3 RBI
Nelson Cruz .360/.467/.640 2 HR 9 RBI 5 Walks
Raspa Frio (Offense):
David Murphy .185/.241/.222
Jalapeno Caliente (Pitching):
Yu Darvish 1-0 0.00 ERA 11 Strikeouts in 6 IP
Justin Grimm 1-0 7 Shutout Innings
Raspa Frio (Pitching):
Derek Holland 0-1, 6.39 ERA in 12.2 IP
Joe Ortiz 0-1 27.00 ERA 5 ER in 1.2 IP
Considering all the games were on the road, 4-3 is an acceptable record but Rangers fans were hoping for more after starting the week 4-1 and having Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando on the bump for the last two games of the week. Sadly, the Rangers offense went south in those two games and the Twins broke close 1-0 games open in the later innings. Still, the Rangers were easily the best of the West for the week, picking up two games in the standings on the Oakland A’s and starting week 5 with a 2.5 game lead. This assures Texas of first place when April comes to a close.
This week it’s home cooking for the Rangers as they play six games against the American League’s pair of Sox: Chicago Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday followed by Boston Friday through Sunday. The highlight will be Tuesday night when Yu Darvish takes the hill for Texas. If Darvish wins the game, he will join Rick Helling, Fergie Jenkins, Jim Bibby, Aaron Sele and Bobby Witt as the only Rangers pitchers to earn five wins by April 30th. The way Darvish has been pitching, the odds are in his favor to join that elite company.
The weekend series will be interesting as well with the return of Mike Napoli and Koji Uehara to Arlington. As bad as the initial reaction to Josh Hamilton was in his first at bat in front of the DFW crowd, expect an equal but opposite reaction to Napoli’s return. He never said anything disparaging about Rangers fans and professed love for his time with the Rangers so he’ll get a warm reception his first time to the plate. As good as Uehara was in 2012 for Texas, he probably won’t elicit much of a reaction one way or another. That’s the life of a relief pitcher.
It’s Just One Loss, People!
There’s nothing more depressing than taking a Saturday afternoon to watch your favorite team and seeing them fall in a lackluster performance 7-2.
Mitch Moreland: Scapegoat(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Rangers pretty much looked awful in Saturday’s loss to the Twinkies. Mitch Moreland committed a key error early in the game. Ian Kinsler made two bonehead decisions on one play late in the game and didn’t even get charged with one error. The Texas offense could muster nothing against a mediocre right-handed starter, who somehow managed five scoreless innings despite Texas getting their share of hits off him. At one point, Texas had zero runs on five hits while the Twins had one run on one hit, and that hit wasn’t a home run.
Still, it was a winnable game until Derek Holland did the really inexplicable. With a runner in scoring position and first base open and a 3-0 count on Josh Willingham, he chose to challenge him instead of just walking him. Willingham is a Rangers killer with 7 home runs and 16 RBI in just 29 games against Texas. After Holland got from a 3-0 count to 3-2, Willingham crushed a curve right in the middle of the plate over the fence in left center, making it 3-0 and effectively ending the Rangers day.
There’s more than enough blame to go around. Dutch had a great game going through five but faltered badly in the 6th and 7th. Moreland’s error led to the first run. Kinsler’s weirdness brought another run home. Willingham’s blast plated two. Plenty of blame to go around.
What it isn’t is the end of the world. It was one loss. It isn’t proof positive that the Rangers HAVE to trade for a better first base alternative. It wasn’t the game to finally nail home the notion that David Murphy and Moreland have no right to face lefthanded pitching late in a game. It doesn’t prove Ian Kinsler is a bad second baseman or Michael Kirkman, charged with 3 runs in the 8th, has no future with this ballclub. While it is frustrating at times, it’s also no reason to question why a player getting a day off isn’t even asked to pinch hit in a game.
Even in defeat, things can have a purpose over a long season. A day of rest here could pay big dividends towards the end of the season when other teams are hurting. They can also have an effect on the next game. Take the previously mentioned Moreland. Mitch slapped a run-scoring double in the 9th inning to save the Rangers from being shut out. One could say, “Too little too late, Mitch”. Not me. That hit very well could impact tomorrow’s series finale. It kept the inning going against Twins closer Glen Perkins. Perkins ended up throwing over 30 pitches to get through the 9th inning, making it more unlikely he will be available tomorrow in a tight game.
Texas just didn’t have it today. In the first 24 games, they’ve had it twice as many times as they haven’t and that’s good enough for a three and a half game lead in the AL West.
When losing skeins hit four or five games, that’s a time to start questioning and looking for solutions. Today? Get off the ledge. It’s just one loss.
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- Twins’ Pedro Hernandez Gets First Major League Win (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
The First 10%: So What Do We Know So Far?
15 games in. If it hadn’t been for Wednesday’s rain-out, we’d officially be at the 10% point of the season. We all know individual statistics are pretty meaningless this early in the season. But, if you look at the team as a whole, is there anything we can discern from the season’s first 15-16 games? I think it’s possible.
Take my Texas Rangers for example. A year ago, the Rangers had scored 91 runs over the first 15 games. In 2013, 15 games have netted Texas a mere 55 runs. On the other side of the coin, the Rangers have given up 47 runs so far, compared to only 40 runs allowed over the first 15 games a year ago.
Taking it a step further, Texas scored their 91 runs last year while facing Detroit, Boston, Minnesota, Seattle and the Chicago White Sox. This year, 55 runs have been scored against Houston, the LA Angels, Seattle, Tampa Bay and the Chicago Cubs. This is why the early season returns concern me. The Rangers scored more runs and gave up less runs in the first 15 games a year ago while facing overall superior competition than they have faced thus far in 2013.
We knew the Texas Rangers were going to have a harder time scoring runs in 2013 than they did a year ago. You don’t lose the likes of Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli and, to a lesser extent, Michael Young, without that having some effect on your offensive line-up. Making matters worse is, with the exception of Ian Kinsler, just about every regular from last year’s line-up is off to a slow start this year. Elvis Andrus is at .224, Adrian Beltre .232, David Murphy is hitting .151, Mitch Moreland .163 and Craig Gentry is at .227. Nelson Cruz is at .298 but hasn’t been hitting for a lot of power so far. Outside of Kinsler, the best hitters in the Rangers’ line-up has actually been their two newcomers, Lance Berkman (.389) and A.J. Pierzynski (.289).
Keeping an optimistic tone, I haven’t seen any discernible differences in the way people are pitching to Beltre and Cruz now that pitchers don’t have to worry about Hamilton too. So there is hope the offense will be better than what they’ve shown so far. Overall, though, this is not a team that will be bashing a lot of teams this year. In the past three years, Rangers fans have come to expect their team to knock out a lot of starting pitchers before the sixth inning. Over the first 15 games this season, at best the Rangers have only “knocked out” two starting pitchers with their offense. Opposition starters have given up more than 3 runs to the Rangers only three times in the year’s first 15 games.
Texas pitching has thus far come close to matching the hot start of 2012, but storm clouds are already on the horizon. Matt Harrison is on the disabled list and his back has not been responding to treatment. No team can do without their #2 pitcher for any great length of time, especially when combined with a sputtering offense. Alexi Ogando has had problem with his command in each of his first three starts, Yu Darvish has been bothered by a blister in his last two starts and 40% of the starting rotation are rookies in Nick Tepesch and Justin Grimm.
The restructured relief corps has performed overall better than expected. Rookie Joe Ortiz has been tough as nails and picked up two wins along the way. Tanner Scheppers looks ready to make the next step. Derek Lowe and Michael Kirkman don’t exactly fill Rangers fans with confidence but they’ve mostly gotten the job done as we wait for the return of Joakim Soria and Neftali Feliz from injuries.
At 9-6, I’m not unhappy with the overall record so far, but I do have concerns. If the offense doesn’t pick it up and if Matt Harrison is out for a significant period of time, this is going to be a challenging season in Texas.
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Texas Rangers Caliente y Frio: Week 2
Here’s a wrap-up of the week that was in Texas Rangers baseball. All stats listed are just for the previous week of play.
Rangers Record: 4-3
Overall: 8-5 (2nd Place AL West) (-1)
Jalapeno Caliente (Offense): Lance Berkman .313/.450/.438 3 RBI 4 Walks
Raspa Frio (Offense): David Murphy .143/.143/.179
Jalapeno Caliente (Pitching): Joe Ortiz 2-0 0.00 ERA 5.2 IP 1 H .056 BAA
Raspa Frio (Pitching): Michael Kirkman 5.40 ERA in 3.1 IP
Texas ended their homestand by taking two of three from the Tampa Bay Rays, then travelled to Seattle where they split a 4-game set with the Mariners. Ask most Rangers fans and they’ll probably say they were a little disappointed the Rangers didn’t go 5-2 or even 6-1, as all four games with the Mariners were winnable. Instead, the offense has gone decidedly cold. Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz really haven’t provided the power punch in the early going, which in turn magnifies David Murphy’s typical slow start even more, not to mention the overall low results of Mitch Moreland and the center field combo of Leonys Martin and Craig Gentry. The offense is scraping, which is too bad, considering the pitching has been excellent overall. Only Michael Kirkman had an ERA above 4.50 for the week. Yu Darvish gave up 3 first inning runs then nothing else the rest of the way, but Texas could only manage one run of their own in the game.
Upcoming: Another week of both road and home games- Monday off, followed by three games in Chicago against the Cubs and three at home against the Mariners. Don’t expect to see much of Lance Berkman in Chicago. Texas will have to go by NL rules, which means no DH. Berkman could start one game at first base. Otherwise, he’ll be strictly a pinch hitter, especially with cold conditions expected in the Windy City.
Hot & Cold: Week 1 In Review
Here’s a wrap-up of the week that was in Texas Rangers baseball. All stats listed are just for the previous week of play.
Rangers Record: 4-2
Overall: 4-2 (2nd Place AL West) (-0.5)
Jalapeno Hot (Offense): Lance Berkman .450/.542/.750 1 HR 5 RBI 4 BB
Ian Kinsler .333/.407/.708 3 HR 8 RBI
Raspa Cold (Offense): Mitch Moreland .095/.130/.238
Leonys Martin .077/.200/.077
Jalapeno Hot (Pitching):Yu Darvish 2-0, 1.98 ERA 20 K in 13.2 IP
Alexi Ogando 1-0, 0.00 ERA 10 K in 6.1 IP
Raspa Cold (Pitching): Matt Harrison 0-2, 8.44 ERA 1.97 WHIP
All in all, a decent start to the season at 4-2, yet areas of concern are already popping up. Matt Harrison has not had a good start to the season. The Rangers are not going to contend in the AL West without Harrison at least staying consistent with what he’s done the past two seasons. Harry hasn’t been able to get his fastball down. Without that sinking heater, he can’t induce the ground balls and double plays he’s known for.
On the other hand, Yu Darvish has had an outstanding start, coming within one out of perfection in his first game and gritting through five innings with blister problems against the Angels in picking up the win his second time out. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Look for Darvish to be a Cy Young Award contender in 2013.
At the plate, Berkman and Kinsler led the way, but other notable performances came from Nelson Cruz, Craig Gentry and newcomer AJ Pierzynski.
The newly built bullpen is a work in progress, hoping to do a decent enough job while waiting for Joakim Soria and Neftali Feliz to return from injuries. What isn’t said is they need to come back from injuries and be as effective as they once were, which is no guarantee. Of the newcomers over the first week, Jason Frasor and Derek Lowe were busts, rookie Joe Ortiz was mediocre. Of the returnees, Robbie Ross was unscored on but hittable while Michael Kirkman and Tanner Scheppers showed they might be credible set-up men to Joe Nathan until Soria and Feliz are ready.
This week, Texas has three at home against the Rays before hitting the road for four in Seattle. Rookie Nick Tepesch will make his major league debut on Tuesday.
Yu (Almost) So Perfect
Jokingly, I can say the Texas Rangers love to torture me. History on the line and, once again, the deal just misses getting sealed. In 2011 it was Game 6 of the World Series and Tuesday night, it was as close as I’ve ever come to actually seeing perfection.
Yu Darvish (Photo credit: Keith Allison)
For 8 2/3 innings, the Houston Astros didn’t come close to touching Yu Darvish. Only one player even hit a ball to the outfield for the first 26 outs. Darvish had 14 K’s, a career high. He’s now had 10 or more strikeouts in 9 of his first 30 career starts. The only thing that came close to a hit was a soft liner by Rick Ankiel snared by Mitch Moreland. Then the mighty Marwin came to the plate with two outs in the 9th with the 24th perfect game in major league history on the line.
Yes, folks, the answer to the trivia question will be that well-known All-Star Marwin Gonzalez. He snaked a cutter on the ground through Darvish’s legs and just out of the reach of the new $120 million dollar man, Elvis Andrus and the bid for perfection was over. Without a doubt, the second game of the season is one Rangers fans are going to remember for a long time to come. What a pitching line: 8.2-1-0-0-0-14.
Hard to believe it, but after 6 innings, we Rangers fans were starting to harbor a nagging thought that Darvish would pitch superbly but still lose. It was just a 1-0 game after 6, but Texas was able to add two runs in each of the 7th, 8th and 9th innings to make it a 7-0 final.
So close and yet so far. Unlike Game 6 in 2011, though, the Rangers won the game and preserved the shutout.
There will surely be some who say “Yeah, but it was just the Astros”. Anyone who says that wasn’t watching how filthy Yu’s stuff was. His slider was dominating, his command of all his pitches was there all night, he only went to a 3-ball count 5 times the entire game.
Yu Darvish is going to have a monster 2013. Yeah, this is just one game and they won’t all be as great as this one, but last year’s 16-game winning rookie will be even better in his sophomore season.
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