The Rangers come into town swinging some heavy lumber, aided considerably by a top four in their batting order as dangerous as any in the American League. It's audition time for the Rangers, both in the bullpen and in the outfield, as John Hart continues to replenish Texas' farm system. One position that won't see an audition this season, though, is designated hitter; Rafael Palmeiro vetoed another trade last night and will likely not be swayed before the end of the month.
Texas comes in with nine rookies on their roster, including an All-Star third baseman, a fleet-footed centrefielder who was a stone-handed minor-league middle infielder as recently as six weeks ago, and a starting pitcher who quotes Major League. It'll be an interesting test for Corey Thurman tonight, who's himself auditioning for a starting job for next season.
Lots of good stuff this week. Enjoy the series!
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Rangers have won 8 of 11 overall, and against solid opposition (Seattle, Boston, Cleveland, New York) ... They've scored 79 runs over that 11-game span ... Texas now has nine rookies on the roster ... Texas has a four-dinger lead over the Braves (!) for the big-league home-runs-by-a-team top spot ... They've already hit 18 out of the park against Blue Jay pitching, but 10 of those came from Juan Gonzalez or Carl Everett ...
* The Rangers are out of contention due to an incredible 2-20 spell in June ... John Hart: "Best thing we did," as it enabled him to convince Tom Hicks what Doug Melvin never could: Texas needs to rebuild through their farm system ...
* Rafael Palmeiro, having a rare "down year" by his standards, has flourished in August, with four home runs already ... Showalter: "You always think the next swing or the next at-bat that he will revert to his track record" ... The smooth-swinging lefty has gone 9-for-20 (.450) so far this month and says he's hitting with more confidence ... He hit the tiebreaking double against Cleveland on Saturday ... Palmeiro: "I'm still here to help the young guys learn how to play and help the team win games" ... He's up to 518 career longballs ...
* John Thomson has cleared waivers ... Juan Gonzalez and Ismael Valdes cannot be placed on waivers as injured players ...
* A-Rod has been blazing hot after his widely-reported comments about being amenable to a trade ... He's currently on an 11-game hitting streak (.429) with 10 walks and 3 strikeouts -- his BB/K ratio had been a problem all season ... During his streak, he's been 4-for-4 on the basepaths for good measure ... He's homered in an incredible six of his last seven games ... Showalter on A-Rod: "As much as you're impressed with him offensively...His defense has been lights-out" ...
* Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News: "The problem isn't A-Rod's millions. It's Chan Ho Park's $13 million salary. It's Rusty Greer's $7 million. It's Gonzalez's and Palmeiro's refusal to consider trades that could have helped the franchise to rebuild" ...
* Palmeiro cleared waivers, but re-refused a trade to the Cubs last night ... "Raffy's made it very clear that he's not going anywhere," said a frustrated John Hart ... The deal was for Jose Reyes, a 19-year-old catching prospect, and two PTBNLs from two pools of talented Cubs pitching prospects ...
* 23-year-old rookie outfielder Ramon Nivar is struggling in his big-league debut at 125/160/208 since his July 30 callup ... But he impressed the Rangers with his hustle ... The Rangers thought they had collected the ball from Nivar's first base hit in the second inning last Saturday -- but it was scored an error. Then he reached again in the third inning, and the Rangers collected the ball -- again, ruled an error. Finally, Nivar left no doubt with a triple off the left field wall in the seventh ... Showalter: "We're keeping all three, just to make sure" ... Nivar has one of the fastest times to first base in the majors -- to which fellow Rangers have attributed the errors he's been causing ... Nivar is the 31st Ranger to play centre -- since the Ballpark opened in 1994! ... Nivar wasn't even considered an outfielder until June. He was a poor-fielding middle infielder until AA Frisco manager Tim Ireland suggested he might make a better defender in the outfield ... Nivar has no strikeouts, but has only taken 36 pitches since he's been called up ... He even swung at (and fouled off) an Armando Benitez splitter that bounced in ...
* Highly-touted 22-year-old rookie Laynce Nix is struggling with plate discipline, as he's walked just 4 times compared to 21 strikeouts ... 8 of his 15 hits have been for extra bases ...
* Lefty reliever Erasmo Ramirez has recorded four straight scoreless outings -- and three straight hitless outings, all of which have been more than one inning ...
* Tonight's opponent, R.A. Dickey, has been used as a swingman this season ... His problem has been hits allowed, as opponents are raking him to the tune of .309 ... His seven-inning performance on Sunday, earning the win despite giving up four runs, was the longest outing of his career ... Dickey on his Sunday outing: "I feel like I didn't have my best stuff. Our offense and defense really picked me up" ... Dickey threw 36 pitches in the first inning alone on Sunday ... Dickey paid homage to a fictional Cleveland club after his team's sweep of the actual Cleveland club: "It's starting to come together, Pepper. That's exciting!" ...
* New closer (and remnant from the Juan Gonzalez trade) Francisco Cordero has shut the door his last three times out, and has 68 K's in 60 2/3 IP this season ... A sharper breaking ball has been the reason for his recent success ...
* Ex-Jays draftee Michael Young is at a respectable 315/349/460 on the season, and has been 10 of 12 on the basepaths ...
* Marcus Thames is starting against lefties for Texas ... The booty in the Sierra trade has been struggling as a Ranger, though, hitting just .207 and slugging .310 ... He's no spring chicken, either, at 26 ...
* Saturday's opponent, Robert Ellis, has been in and out of the rotation -- but went seven strong in beating Boston last Wednesday ...
* Einar Diaz is just 2 for 14 (.143) in August, and is slugging just .357 on the season ... He's still enjoying something of a renaissance, though, after hitting just .206 for Cleveland last year ... Showalter: "Diaz is quietly hitting .270 for us...The guy is one of the toughest catchers I've ever had. He's been a rock for us" ...
* Sunday's opponent, Colby Lewis, has been matriculating at the School of Hard Knocks this semester ... He's given up five or more runs in seven separate starts, earning him a gaudy 8.11 ERA ...
* 24-year-old rookie reliever Rosman Garcia has had a rough season, yielding 45 hits in 36 1/3 innings ...
* Donnie Sadler continues to be Donnie Sadler, hitting .229 and slugging .354 ... Sadler injured his finger on a bunt attempt in yesterday's matinee ... Meanwhile, Todd Greene continues to be Todd Greene, hitting .211 and getting on-base at a .228 "clip" ...
* Veteran lefty Ron Mahay has been surprisingly excellent as a reliever this year, and his last four appearances have amounted to five perfect innings ... He's walked just 4 all season, contributing to his 0.81 WHIP ...
* 26-year-old rookie corner outfielder Jason Jones hasn't shown much at 179/281/286 ...
* Aaron Fultz got off to a great start as a Ranger ... But he's now trying to rebound from an awful June (8.68 ERA) and a numbingly wretched July (14.63 ERA) ... Just for the sheer macabre effect of it, Fultz's composite line from July: 8 IP, 13 H, 14 R, 5 HR, 6 BB, 8 K ...
* OK, so we knew Hank Blalock's .411 average as of April 26 wouldn't last. But he's having a great season ... The All-Star hero is slugging .537 this season, and hitting .389 thus far in August ... It wasn't quite as big a stage as the U.S. Cellular extravaganza, but Blalock recently had another successful pinch-hitting appearance against a feared closer. Wednesday night, Blalock came in against Mariano Rivera in the ninth, and came through with a go-ahead two-run single ... Heading into Wednesday, the Rangers were 0-59 when trailing after eight ... And he's not yet 23! ...
* Poor Rusty Greer, who's already undergone major surgeries on both his left shoulder and left elbow, wants to skip his planned surgeries on his right hip and left knee ... He'd like to play for the Rangers by late next season -- but if the club isn't interested, he'll retire ... He has no interest in playing elsewhere with 5-year-old triplets starting school ...
* Chan Ho Park has been informed that a hamstring strain led to mechanical overcompensation on his part, which in turn led to the lower back and rib cage injuries he's currently battling ...
* There's been a delay in the rigourous series of physicals the Rangers are giving to Vince Sinisi before they decide to meet Scott Boras' demand for a $2 million signing bonus ... The Rangers withdrew their $1.2 million bonus to current Jays farmhand Tyrell Godwin when he failed the club's physical in 2000 ...
* Pitcher Jose Dominguez won his first decision for AAA Oklahoma on Tuesday, making his record 10-0 with a 2.87 ERA, split over three minor-league levels ... His killer changeup has held opponents to a .210 average, with more than one strikeout per inning ... However, after never throwing more than 67 IP in a season, he's already up to 131 2/3 this year; with this in mind, Texas may shut him down rather than call him up in September ... Then again, they haven't ruled out his replacing Joaquin Benoit in the big-league rotation to see what he can do ...
* Ismael Valdes threw for the first time on Saturday since hitting the DL with a sore knee ...
* Canadian Jeff Zimmerman threw off a mound on Tuesday, and suffered a minimal amount of "creakiness" on Wednesday morning ... Zimmerman will come up to Toronto with the team this weekend, and will likely pitch a simulated game ...
* Juan Gonzalez will likely not return to the lineup until Monday ...
* The first members of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame were enshrined last weekend: Nolan Ryan, Charlie Hough, Johnny Oates and Jim Sundberg (sorry, Coach) ...
* Tragic news: Oates is battling an inoperable, terminal brain tumour. There was hardly a dry eye at the Ballpark in Arlington when Oates promised the crowd that Buck Showalter would lead the team to its first World Series: "The only thing I ask is, Buck, make it quick. I want to see it" ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
4 Young
5 Blalock
6 Rodriguez
DH Palmeiro
9 Spencer
3 Teixeira
7 Thames
8 Nivar
2 Greene/Diaz
vs. RH
4 Young
5 Blalock
6 Rodriguez
DH Palmeiro
3 Teixeira
7 Spencer/Jones
8 Nivar/Sadler
9 Nix
2 Diaz
Pitching Probables
Friday: RH Dickey vs. Thurman
Saturday: RH Ellis vs. Escobar
Sunday: RH Lewis vs. Lidle/Hendrickson
Bullpen Usage
Long: Powell R, Ramirez L
Short: Shouse L, Mahay L
Setup: Fultz L, Garcia R
Closer: Cordero R
Texas comes in with nine rookies on their roster, including an All-Star third baseman, a fleet-footed centrefielder who was a stone-handed minor-league middle infielder as recently as six weeks ago, and a starting pitcher who quotes Major League. It'll be an interesting test for Corey Thurman tonight, who's himself auditioning for a starting job for next season.
Lots of good stuff this week. Enjoy the series!
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Rangers have won 8 of 11 overall, and against solid opposition (Seattle, Boston, Cleveland, New York) ... They've scored 79 runs over that 11-game span ... Texas now has nine rookies on the roster ... Texas has a four-dinger lead over the Braves (!) for the big-league home-runs-by-a-team top spot ... They've already hit 18 out of the park against Blue Jay pitching, but 10 of those came from Juan Gonzalez or Carl Everett ...
* The Rangers are out of contention due to an incredible 2-20 spell in June ... John Hart: "Best thing we did," as it enabled him to convince Tom Hicks what Doug Melvin never could: Texas needs to rebuild through their farm system ...
* Rafael Palmeiro, having a rare "down year" by his standards, has flourished in August, with four home runs already ... Showalter: "You always think the next swing or the next at-bat that he will revert to his track record" ... The smooth-swinging lefty has gone 9-for-20 (.450) so far this month and says he's hitting with more confidence ... He hit the tiebreaking double against Cleveland on Saturday ... Palmeiro: "I'm still here to help the young guys learn how to play and help the team win games" ... He's up to 518 career longballs ...
* John Thomson has cleared waivers ... Juan Gonzalez and Ismael Valdes cannot be placed on waivers as injured players ...
* A-Rod has been blazing hot after his widely-reported comments about being amenable to a trade ... He's currently on an 11-game hitting streak (.429) with 10 walks and 3 strikeouts -- his BB/K ratio had been a problem all season ... During his streak, he's been 4-for-4 on the basepaths for good measure ... He's homered in an incredible six of his last seven games ... Showalter on A-Rod: "As much as you're impressed with him offensively...His defense has been lights-out" ...
* Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News: "The problem isn't A-Rod's millions. It's Chan Ho Park's $13 million salary. It's Rusty Greer's $7 million. It's Gonzalez's and Palmeiro's refusal to consider trades that could have helped the franchise to rebuild" ...
* Palmeiro cleared waivers, but re-refused a trade to the Cubs last night ... "Raffy's made it very clear that he's not going anywhere," said a frustrated John Hart ... The deal was for Jose Reyes, a 19-year-old catching prospect, and two PTBNLs from two pools of talented Cubs pitching prospects ...
* 23-year-old rookie outfielder Ramon Nivar is struggling in his big-league debut at 125/160/208 since his July 30 callup ... But he impressed the Rangers with his hustle ... The Rangers thought they had collected the ball from Nivar's first base hit in the second inning last Saturday -- but it was scored an error. Then he reached again in the third inning, and the Rangers collected the ball -- again, ruled an error. Finally, Nivar left no doubt with a triple off the left field wall in the seventh ... Showalter: "We're keeping all three, just to make sure" ... Nivar has one of the fastest times to first base in the majors -- to which fellow Rangers have attributed the errors he's been causing ... Nivar is the 31st Ranger to play centre -- since the Ballpark opened in 1994! ... Nivar wasn't even considered an outfielder until June. He was a poor-fielding middle infielder until AA Frisco manager Tim Ireland suggested he might make a better defender in the outfield ... Nivar has no strikeouts, but has only taken 36 pitches since he's been called up ... He even swung at (and fouled off) an Armando Benitez splitter that bounced in ...
* Highly-touted 22-year-old rookie Laynce Nix is struggling with plate discipline, as he's walked just 4 times compared to 21 strikeouts ... 8 of his 15 hits have been for extra bases ...
* Lefty reliever Erasmo Ramirez has recorded four straight scoreless outings -- and three straight hitless outings, all of which have been more than one inning ...
* Tonight's opponent, R.A. Dickey, has been used as a swingman this season ... His problem has been hits allowed, as opponents are raking him to the tune of .309 ... His seven-inning performance on Sunday, earning the win despite giving up four runs, was the longest outing of his career ... Dickey on his Sunday outing: "I feel like I didn't have my best stuff. Our offense and defense really picked me up" ... Dickey threw 36 pitches in the first inning alone on Sunday ... Dickey paid homage to a fictional Cleveland club after his team's sweep of the actual Cleveland club: "It's starting to come together, Pepper. That's exciting!" ...
* New closer (and remnant from the Juan Gonzalez trade) Francisco Cordero has shut the door his last three times out, and has 68 K's in 60 2/3 IP this season ... A sharper breaking ball has been the reason for his recent success ...
* Ex-Jays draftee Michael Young is at a respectable 315/349/460 on the season, and has been 10 of 12 on the basepaths ...
* Marcus Thames is starting against lefties for Texas ... The booty in the Sierra trade has been struggling as a Ranger, though, hitting just .207 and slugging .310 ... He's no spring chicken, either, at 26 ...
* Saturday's opponent, Robert Ellis, has been in and out of the rotation -- but went seven strong in beating Boston last Wednesday ...
* Einar Diaz is just 2 for 14 (.143) in August, and is slugging just .357 on the season ... He's still enjoying something of a renaissance, though, after hitting just .206 for Cleveland last year ... Showalter: "Diaz is quietly hitting .270 for us...The guy is one of the toughest catchers I've ever had. He's been a rock for us" ...
* Sunday's opponent, Colby Lewis, has been matriculating at the School of Hard Knocks this semester ... He's given up five or more runs in seven separate starts, earning him a gaudy 8.11 ERA ...
* 24-year-old rookie reliever Rosman Garcia has had a rough season, yielding 45 hits in 36 1/3 innings ...
* Donnie Sadler continues to be Donnie Sadler, hitting .229 and slugging .354 ... Sadler injured his finger on a bunt attempt in yesterday's matinee ... Meanwhile, Todd Greene continues to be Todd Greene, hitting .211 and getting on-base at a .228 "clip" ...
* Veteran lefty Ron Mahay has been surprisingly excellent as a reliever this year, and his last four appearances have amounted to five perfect innings ... He's walked just 4 all season, contributing to his 0.81 WHIP ...
* 26-year-old rookie corner outfielder Jason Jones hasn't shown much at 179/281/286 ...
* Aaron Fultz got off to a great start as a Ranger ... But he's now trying to rebound from an awful June (8.68 ERA) and a numbingly wretched July (14.63 ERA) ... Just for the sheer macabre effect of it, Fultz's composite line from July: 8 IP, 13 H, 14 R, 5 HR, 6 BB, 8 K ...
* OK, so we knew Hank Blalock's .411 average as of April 26 wouldn't last. But he's having a great season ... The All-Star hero is slugging .537 this season, and hitting .389 thus far in August ... It wasn't quite as big a stage as the U.S. Cellular extravaganza, but Blalock recently had another successful pinch-hitting appearance against a feared closer. Wednesday night, Blalock came in against Mariano Rivera in the ninth, and came through with a go-ahead two-run single ... Heading into Wednesday, the Rangers were 0-59 when trailing after eight ... And he's not yet 23! ...
* Poor Rusty Greer, who's already undergone major surgeries on both his left shoulder and left elbow, wants to skip his planned surgeries on his right hip and left knee ... He'd like to play for the Rangers by late next season -- but if the club isn't interested, he'll retire ... He has no interest in playing elsewhere with 5-year-old triplets starting school ...
* Chan Ho Park has been informed that a hamstring strain led to mechanical overcompensation on his part, which in turn led to the lower back and rib cage injuries he's currently battling ...
* There's been a delay in the rigourous series of physicals the Rangers are giving to Vince Sinisi before they decide to meet Scott Boras' demand for a $2 million signing bonus ... The Rangers withdrew their $1.2 million bonus to current Jays farmhand Tyrell Godwin when he failed the club's physical in 2000 ...
* Pitcher Jose Dominguez won his first decision for AAA Oklahoma on Tuesday, making his record 10-0 with a 2.87 ERA, split over three minor-league levels ... His killer changeup has held opponents to a .210 average, with more than one strikeout per inning ... However, after never throwing more than 67 IP in a season, he's already up to 131 2/3 this year; with this in mind, Texas may shut him down rather than call him up in September ... Then again, they haven't ruled out his replacing Joaquin Benoit in the big-league rotation to see what he can do ...
* Ismael Valdes threw for the first time on Saturday since hitting the DL with a sore knee ...
* Canadian Jeff Zimmerman threw off a mound on Tuesday, and suffered a minimal amount of "creakiness" on Wednesday morning ... Zimmerman will come up to Toronto with the team this weekend, and will likely pitch a simulated game ...
* Juan Gonzalez will likely not return to the lineup until Monday ...
* The first members of the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame were enshrined last weekend: Nolan Ryan, Charlie Hough, Johnny Oates and Jim Sundberg (sorry, Coach) ...
* Tragic news: Oates is battling an inoperable, terminal brain tumour. There was hardly a dry eye at the Ballpark in Arlington when Oates promised the crowd that Buck Showalter would lead the team to its first World Series: "The only thing I ask is, Buck, make it quick. I want to see it" ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
4 Young
5 Blalock
6 Rodriguez
DH Palmeiro
9 Spencer
3 Teixeira
7 Thames
8 Nivar
2 Greene/Diaz
vs. RH
4 Young
5 Blalock
6 Rodriguez
DH Palmeiro
3 Teixeira
7 Spencer/Jones
8 Nivar/Sadler
9 Nix
2 Diaz
Pitching Probables
Friday: RH Dickey vs. Thurman
Saturday: RH Ellis vs. Escobar
Sunday: RH Lewis vs. Lidle/Hendrickson
Bullpen Usage
Long: Powell R, Ramirez L
Short: Shouse L, Mahay L
Setup: Fultz L, Garcia R
Closer: Cordero R
