We are a few games shy of being 1/5 of the way throught the season. After a really hot start we ran into some bad luck with injuries and are just doing enough not to fall into the gutters. I think once we get Josh, Feliz, and Tommy back this team could get hot again.
Heres my report card at this point
Infield (B)
1st Base- Moreland (A-)This kid is good and has a chance to be great. He seems to always have quality at bats. He's batting .276 with a 370 OB%. He has really earned his spot as an everyday player. Before the season started I heard Rhyner on the Ticket say that he was told by a scout that Moreland is a player that this team will be built around in 4-6 years. After watching him some more this season I definately see where that is a possibility.
2nd Base- Kinsler (C )Ian started off on fire at the plate, but has really cooled down batting just .230 as the lead off man. He does have a decent OB% and is drawing walks frequently. I just feel the effort that I came to love about this team has not been there with Ian. In back to back games against Oak he sluffed out of the box on grounders to 3rd that got booted eventually to be thrown out. The old Ian would have ran his butt off and made it on base. In the field he still makes great plays with the glove, but has made some definate mental lapses and with 5 errors. It is safe to say he is playing very sloppy right now. He needs to pick up his game big time.
SS- Elvis (B) He has been having some great at bats recently after slumping below .200 to begin the year. When there are runners in scoring position and Elvis is at bat you have a pretty high confidence level that we are going to score. The bad: 8 Errors. Elvis makes some crazy plays, and there probably isn't another SS in the league I would take over him. I guess sometimes you just have to take the good with the bad.
3rd Base- Beltre (A) Quickly becoming one of my favorite players. He makes playing 3rd look so easy and has really done a great job in the clean up spot. It seems like you can count on him for a big at bat when needed. Let's be real... even if he was batting .200 I would give him an A based soley on his defense. Anything he does with his bat is gravy.
Catcher- Yorvit (A) This guy has been a great surprise this year. I really wanted Max Rameriez in the off season... glad I'm not the GM. Yorvit has done a great job thowing out runners, and really seems to do a nice job calling games and calming the pitchers down. On top of that the guy cares and really wants to win. I'm really glad this guy is a ranger. I liked Treanor, but this guy is so much better than MT it's not funny.
Backup Infielders (A-)
Michael Young has had an amazing start to the year at the plate. He is really dialed in. He is still very difficult to watch playing infield though.
Napoli has been a great situational player. Depending on how long Nellie is out for he could see quite a bit more playing time at 1st with Moreland in right.
Blanco is hard not to like. He comes in and plays hard when Wash calls his number. I like this kid a lot, he is good insurance to have if Elvis or Ian end up on the DL.
Davis- Don't look now, but Davis is batting .250 and hit his first homer last night. If he can get comfortable at the plate he will be a very good situational matchup hitter down the stretch... Or be a valuable piece in a trade to shore up the pitching staff. It really seems like the kid has been humbled a little bit and lost that giant chip that was on his shoulder when he first had success at the bigs. Hopefully he can keep his attitude in check here.
Outfield (B)
Josh (incomplete) not much to say here. If he comes back and plays as well as when he left we are in good shape.
Cruz (C )Nellie just hasn't been himself at the plate. I'm actually hoping he gets put on the 15 day DL here. I think with the Rangers depth it wont hurt them much. He needs to get refocussed and would like him to get a couple good at bats in AAA. Last year when he came off the DL he was a monster when he came back. He may be trying too hard. Saying all that Nellie is still great in the field. He has the wheels to make all the plays and a great arm to hold runners. Moreland in RF is not near the player that Nellie is. An outfield of Moreland, Murphy and Borbon is not going to hold many runners.
Borbon (B+)Call me crazy, but Julio is not as bad as he looks in his uniform. He covers good ground in the outfield eventhough he has the arm strength equivolent to a middle school girl softball player. At the plate he has really picked up his game. He is bating .262 which is better than Beltre, Kinsler and Cruz! He has had trouble getting bunts down, which is troubling. Overall he is not the huge liability in the lineup I expected him to be, in fact he's been a pleasant surprise.
Murphy (B+) David Murphy is a great guy to have on the team. Batting .270 and plays some underated OF ypu have to appreciate what he has meant for this team during Josh's absence. He's no Josh Hamilton, but he is one heck of a role player.
Starting Pitching (B+)
Overall the starting 5 rotation has been solid. really curious to see how Harrison repsonds Friday against the Yankees and Colby tonight. In 30 starts (31 if you include the Bush start) they are 15-8 with 18 quality starts.
CJ- (A-) He got of to a bit of a slow start this year. You are only as good as your last game and CJ pitched a bauty last night. While he doesn't have the intimidating swagger of a Lee, Halladay, Johnson or Lincecum. He is showing some maturity on the mound. I really hope the Rangers lock him up in a longer term deal prior to All Star break.
Colby- (D) I may have said you are only as good as your last start, but Colby has had a few too many stinkers to start the season to get the same treatment. I think Colby pitched pretty well for 4 innings in his second to last game and then things came uncorked in the 5th. He pitched well in his last outing. He really needs to put up 3/4 or 4/6 quality starts in his next few games. I hope he can, because I really want to root for Colby. He seems like a good dude.
Harrison- (D or B+) I guess we can make that call Saturday morning. He looked amazing in his first couple of starts. Unfortunatley the last 2 have been the old Matty H. Not much else to say here. Another short outing and he will find himself on the DL with dead arm.
Holland- (B+)I think we are getting to a point where we can start planning Holland's Bar Mitzvah. He's about to become a man. He has at times shown his immaturity wearing his emotions on his sleeve when he can't get his pitches or gets shelled. I noticed that earlier this season, but since he has remained composed on the mound. I used to chalk up his bad starts as him being young, but after the WS last year and seeing the Giants young pitchers pitch lights out I've lost some of my patience and I'm ready to see him grow up and pitch up to his ability. His ERA is a bit high right now, but I think he is going to be fine. I really wish Wash would have stretched him out one more inning in his last start against Oak. He was at 102 pitches through 7 and was really pitching well with a 1 run lead. Then the 2 40 year olds came in and screwed it up.
Ogando- (A) He has been geat this year. I absolutely love him as a starting pitcher. Saying that this blister that keeps showing up in the 5th or 6th inning worries me. If Tommy Hunter can come back and pitch well as a starter and we can't improve our bullpen with a trade, I would be ok with Ogando moving back to bullpen as the 8th inning guy. I hate saying that, becasue I really love what he brings to the starting rotation, and I think if it wasn't for the blister he would be the staff Ace right now... but when he gives us 6 great innings and the bullpen can't keep the lead... this story is getting old fast.
Bullpen- (F)
Feliz- (B+) He's probably worthy of an A, but after being on the 15 day DL his absence has really hurt the pen. Hopefully his shoulder doesn't flair up anymore.
Eppley- (A) I really, really like this kid and at this point I think he deserves a shot at being the 8th inning guy. I'd rather he be a situational matchup in the 7th platooning with Oliver and Rhodes with a real 8th inning guy, but we don't have that right now.
Oliver- (D) Probably a bit unfair of a grade, but he just doesn't give me any confidence.
Rhodes- (C ) See Oliver
O-Day- (F) At least he is on the DL, can't screw anything else up
Lowe- (F)He is being called back up, maybe the visit to AAA did him some good.
Strop- (D) Back to the minors for him. He has really good stuff, just needs some confidence.
Bush- (A) He's been a solid long reliever and exceded expectations
Tomko/Tucker/Tobin/etc.- If we have to call on any of these guys we are in trouble.
Overall B, but slowly sliding downward.
The AL West race is way closer than it needs to be at this point. Weaver and Haren are pitching well for the Angels and the A's have a great staff too. We really need to suck it up and beat these teams head to head and take them out of the race. With this lineup there is no reason we should struggle
We stuck it out through the delay. Buddy had the hook-up with the seats.
You take the good and you take the bad with this guy.
