The Second-Half Road To Respectability (tm) for the Blue Jays starts in sticky Arlington, Texas -- and Arlington's own Vernon Wells will return to the lineup tonight to provide some much-needed offensive and defensive help. The Jays' pitching staff, however, faces a minefield of danger in the formidable Texas order, which puts up particularly scary numbers at home. Expect some Texas-style shootin' matches, as the Rangers have offered up some struggling pitchers for Toronto's consumption on Friday and Sunday, and a young starter on Saturday that the ol' Scout isn't sold on just yet.
This week's Scout includes some smoking hot bats, some surprising journeymen in the 'pen, some love for Rocket Roger and some hate for A-Rod. Plus, you can read about some front-office confusion on two fronts: first, a foreordained transition may not necessarily occur on schedule. And second, the Rangers have their sights set on a Blue Jay that ought not to be on the block.
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Rangers are clinging to first in the A.L. West, despite their rather pedestrian 5-6 record in July ... Offence has been the key to the club's surprising first-place perch at the All-Star Break: Texas trails the Yankees by just one run for the major league team lead in runs scored, and they've played one fewer game ... Their impressive .477 team slugging percentage easily paces the majors ... Texas hit an astounding 33 homers in their recent 14-game road trip ... Mark Teixeira: "It's fun hitting in this lineup...Hitting is contagious" ... Buck Showalter insists that his club's team defence has been an underrated contributor to the Rangers' success ...
* Owner Tom Hicks was delighted with his employees' showing at the All-Star game: "It's just part of Mr. Toad's Magical Ride...To have five players selected. To have the leading vote-getter. And to get the MVP, it's just magical" ... After vowing to decide whether to turn the GM reins over from John Hart to GM-in-waiting Grady Fuson over the All-Start Break, Hicks has given himself a three-month extension ... Hart is in the third year of a seven-year deal, but it was assumed that he would turn over control to Fuson during the contract and be reassigned to "Senior Advisor to the Owner" ... Hicks: "We're in first place. Our minor league system is better than it's been at any point since I owned the team. As far as I'm concerned, there is no reason whatsoever to make any changes" ...
* At the All-Star Game, Carlos Tosca expressed admiration for the young and dangerous Texas infield of Teixeira, Soriano, Young and Blalock: "It's really kind of scary how good they are, and how good they're becoming" ...
* Sarge's switch-hitting son, Gary Matthews Jr., has struggled from the right side, hitting just .231/.348/.333 against lefties ... 10 of his 12 extra-base hits have come when swinging from the left side ... Young Sarge isn't so young anymore: He turns 30 in August, and this is his seventh big-league franchise ... Junior on the legacy of Senior: "I'm proud of my father playing the game and the path he has laid out for me...I've never felt pressure" ...
* Tonight's starter, Ryan Drese, has been a steady starter -- and that's all the Rangers could've hoped for ... Surprisingly, he's been much better at home (4-1, 1.99, .214 BAA) than when he's away from the Metroplex bandbox (0-4, 5.40, .291 BAA) ... He's had a tough July, posting a 6.19 ERA with three no-decisions. He's walked six and struck out only three in three starts combined ...
* Highly-touted Mark Teixeira is heating up, as he's hit in 11 of his last 12 (.378) ... He's raking at a .366/.460/.878 rate in July, and despite only having played eleven games in the break-abbreviated month thus far, his six homers make him one shy of his career-best output for a month (7, this June) ... Teixeira richly deserved his Player of The Week honours for June 27-July 3 ...
* Reliever Ron Mahay has been steady this year, although opponents hit .300 off him, in the cozy Ballpark in Arlington ... Yeah, that's right, The Ballpark in Arlington. Take that, AmeriQuest! ...
* Flamethrowing All-Star Francisco Cordero has converted his last seven save opportunities, and and 27 of 29 overall ... Lefties hit just .190 off the closer, who's fanned 42 overmatched batters in 39 IP ... Teixeira has been gracious in his praise of Cordero and his mates: "I know we've got some good hitters and a great lineup, but our bullpen has been our collective MVP" ... Cordero picked off Pokey Reese at first during Sunday's tense ninth ...
* Not counting the Midseason Classic, All-Star MVP Alfonso Soriano has still homered in five of his last nine games ... Over that span, he's scored ten runs and knocking in ten ... Teixeira believes that Soriano's postseason experience will help the clubhouse down the stretch ... Soriano admitted to mixed feelings about taking ex-teammate Roger Clemens deep on Tuesday night: "[H]e was nice to me all the time...He was like a father in New York" ...
* Saturday's starter, Ricardo Rodriguez, is the proud owner of a 1.04 ERA, but that's a bit misleading ... Rodriguez pitched poorly at his second-to-last start in Minute Maid Park, but because the grand slam he allowed to Morgan Ensberg was preceded by a two-out fielding error by Michael Young, four runs were unearned ... That said, he was brilliant in his last start. Against his former club at Jacobs Field, Rodriguez fired a three-hit complete game shutout at the Tribe, walking two and striking out six ... The 26-year-old Dominican was making just his third start since his recall from AAA Oklahoma City ... Rodriguez was completely shut down from April 17 through June 5 after his appendix was removed. Showalter: "I think we'll have all our pitchers have appendectomies" ... Rodriguez was traded along with Shane Spencer last season for Ryan Ludwick. Seemingly a balanced trade, but Ludwick has missed the entire season recovering from knee surgery ...
* Outfielder David Dellucci has been a nice pickup for Texas ... He's getting the job done against righties (.288/.358/.519), but has been totally helpless against lefthanded pitching (.150/.280/.150) ... He's 3 for 20 against lefties, all singles ... Dellucci put up a career game last Thursday, hitting two homers (combined distance: 858 ft.) and driving in five for my power-starved fantasy team ...
* All-Star Hank Blalock has dipped into a mild funk in July (.233/.313/.395) ... 19 of Blalock's 23 homers have come off righties, whom he pounds (.316/.385/.631) ... It's not a skill set and blah blah blah, but he's come through in the clutch this season. He's gone .359/.457/.795 with runners in scoring position, two outs ... He's still finding his way on defence, but he's such a dangerous hitter at such a young age that the Rangers have to be mighty excited ... Although Michael Young remains friends with A-Rod, when asked about his current relationship with the erstwhile Ranger multimillionaire, a deadly serious Blalock snapped, "I don't ever talk to him" ...
* Fifth-round pick of the Blue Jays (sniff) in 1997, Michael Young, continues to swing a white-hot bat. He's hit in 21 of his last 23 games (.349) ... He's especially dangerous at home, where he puts up .372/.414/.567 numbers -- simply outstanding for a leadoff man ... The All-Star has led off three games with homers ...
* Andujar nominee Rod Barajas' midseason grip on the prestigious Batter's Box award is wavering ... He's slumped in July, hitting just .194/.219/.194 ... He really struggles with lefthanded pitching, hitting only .170/.184/.404 ... He's backed up by Danny Ardoin, who has appeared in his first big league games since his tenure as a 2000 Twin ...
* Brian Shouse has been an outstanding LOOGY, holding lefties to a microscopic .129 average ... Shouse has paid his dues. The 36-year-old earned cups of coffee with the Pirates in 1993, the Red Sox in 1998 and the Royals in 2002. Now, he's a steady regular in the Texas 'pen ...
* Journeyman Eric Young went a surprising 5-for-5 on Sunday, with four singles and a double ... His average hasn't dipped below .300 since May 25, and he has shown no discomfort with playing irregularly ...
* Tonight's starter, Kenny Rogers, has been, um, roasted of late ... His personal eight-game winning streak was snapped -- with authority -- by Boston on Saturday, as he was bombed for eight runs on nine hits (including three homers) while not escaping the second inning ... Rogers refused to speak with the press after his horrible outing, but Showalter said that his pulled hamstring in his right (lead) leg was not a factor ... His ugly line from two July starts: 7 IP, 16 H, 13 R, 2 BB, 3 K ... His ERA, an All-Star-worthy 3.42 on July 1, has increased by nearly a full run based on those two starts alone ... Cordero and Rogers became just the fourth pair of All-Star Ranger pitchers in club history ...
* Short man Frank Francisco has been generally reliable, but he coughed up the lead on Sunday before the Rangers regained the lead in the eighth for good ... Francisco gave up his first two homers of the season in the same inning on Sunday, getting tagged by Doug Mirabelli and Johnny Damon ...
* Not that the Rangers need more offence, but Kevin Mench has gratuitously supplied it in July (.353/.371/.882) ... Mench has homered seven times in his last eleven games, and has made it hard to reintegrate Laynce Nix into the offence ... Mench may not have deserved his big fly on Thursday, though. Cleveland rightfielder Jody Gerut jumped at the wall, getting a piece of it but dropping it onto the warning track. Umpire Marvin Hudson erroneously ruled that the ball struck above the yellow line in right ... Nix returned on Saturday from his sprained shoulder injury ...
* Old friend Brad Fullmer continues to be sheltered from lefthanded pitching, despite hitting lefties reasonably well in 36 at-bats. It's righties against whom he's been scuffling (.238/.313/.441) ... It's probably just a case of if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it that prevents Fullmer from dropping lower in the batting order. Mark Teixeira, for instance, would be a far more dangerous cleanup hitter ...
* The five All-Star Rangers were joined by five All-Star ex-Rangers: Pudge Rodriguez, Danny Kolb, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, and of course, E----n L----a.
* The Rangers signed Expo castoff Andy Fox this week, and assigned him to AAA Oklahoma ...
* So, what's new with longtime Rangers Don Slaught and Scott Fletcher? They're collaborating on RightView pro, a company that produces video analysis software to improve a hitter's swing technique .... Slaught founded the company, and Fletcher consults for it when he's not coaching at Emory University in Atlanta ...
* The Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers have been scouting Cory Lidle, Paul Wilson, Gil Meche and Ted Lilly as stretch-run rotation help. Yo, Texas: You ain't getting Ted ...
* So, what's new with Chan Ho Park? Nothing much ... Park got roughed up for six runs in 5 1/3 IP, including a bat-around inning, in his rehab start with the AA Frisco RoughRiders ... Meanwhile, fellow gascan Rick Helling is posting gaudy 1-4, 9.00 ERA numbers in AAA ...
* From July 21 through August 1, the Rangers play twelve consecutive games against the A's and Angels. It'll determine whether they're for real ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
7 E Young
DH M Young
4 Soriano
3 Teixeira
9 Mench
5 Blalock
8 Matthews Jr.
2 Barajas
6 Alexander
vs. RH
6 M Young
5 Blalock
4 Soriano
DH Fullmer
3 Teixeira
7 Dellucci/E Young
9 Mench/8 Nix/8 Conti
8/9 Matthews Jr.
2 Barajas/Ardoin
Pitching Probables
Friday: RH Drese vs. Halladay
Saturday: RH Rodriguez vs. Lilly
Sunday: LH Rogers vs. Batista
Bullpen Usage
Long: Brocail R, Wasdin R
Short: Almanzar R, Mahay L
Setup: Francisco R, Shouse L
Closer: Cordero R
This week's Scout includes some smoking hot bats, some surprising journeymen in the 'pen, some love for Rocket Roger and some hate for A-Rod. Plus, you can read about some front-office confusion on two fronts: first, a foreordained transition may not necessarily occur on schedule. And second, the Rangers have their sights set on a Blue Jay that ought not to be on the block.
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Rangers are clinging to first in the A.L. West, despite their rather pedestrian 5-6 record in July ... Offence has been the key to the club's surprising first-place perch at the All-Star Break: Texas trails the Yankees by just one run for the major league team lead in runs scored, and they've played one fewer game ... Their impressive .477 team slugging percentage easily paces the majors ... Texas hit an astounding 33 homers in their recent 14-game road trip ... Mark Teixeira: "It's fun hitting in this lineup...Hitting is contagious" ... Buck Showalter insists that his club's team defence has been an underrated contributor to the Rangers' success ...
* Owner Tom Hicks was delighted with his employees' showing at the All-Star game: "It's just part of Mr. Toad's Magical Ride...To have five players selected. To have the leading vote-getter. And to get the MVP, it's just magical" ... After vowing to decide whether to turn the GM reins over from John Hart to GM-in-waiting Grady Fuson over the All-Start Break, Hicks has given himself a three-month extension ... Hart is in the third year of a seven-year deal, but it was assumed that he would turn over control to Fuson during the contract and be reassigned to "Senior Advisor to the Owner" ... Hicks: "We're in first place. Our minor league system is better than it's been at any point since I owned the team. As far as I'm concerned, there is no reason whatsoever to make any changes" ...
* At the All-Star Game, Carlos Tosca expressed admiration for the young and dangerous Texas infield of Teixeira, Soriano, Young and Blalock: "It's really kind of scary how good they are, and how good they're becoming" ...
* Sarge's switch-hitting son, Gary Matthews Jr., has struggled from the right side, hitting just .231/.348/.333 against lefties ... 10 of his 12 extra-base hits have come when swinging from the left side ... Young Sarge isn't so young anymore: He turns 30 in August, and this is his seventh big-league franchise ... Junior on the legacy of Senior: "I'm proud of my father playing the game and the path he has laid out for me...I've never felt pressure" ...
* Tonight's starter, Ryan Drese, has been a steady starter -- and that's all the Rangers could've hoped for ... Surprisingly, he's been much better at home (4-1, 1.99, .214 BAA) than when he's away from the Metroplex bandbox (0-4, 5.40, .291 BAA) ... He's had a tough July, posting a 6.19 ERA with three no-decisions. He's walked six and struck out only three in three starts combined ...
* Highly-touted Mark Teixeira is heating up, as he's hit in 11 of his last 12 (.378) ... He's raking at a .366/.460/.878 rate in July, and despite only having played eleven games in the break-abbreviated month thus far, his six homers make him one shy of his career-best output for a month (7, this June) ... Teixeira richly deserved his Player of The Week honours for June 27-July 3 ...
* Reliever Ron Mahay has been steady this year, although opponents hit .300 off him, in the cozy Ballpark in Arlington ... Yeah, that's right, The Ballpark in Arlington. Take that, AmeriQuest! ...
* Flamethrowing All-Star Francisco Cordero has converted his last seven save opportunities, and and 27 of 29 overall ... Lefties hit just .190 off the closer, who's fanned 42 overmatched batters in 39 IP ... Teixeira has been gracious in his praise of Cordero and his mates: "I know we've got some good hitters and a great lineup, but our bullpen has been our collective MVP" ... Cordero picked off Pokey Reese at first during Sunday's tense ninth ...
* Not counting the Midseason Classic, All-Star MVP Alfonso Soriano has still homered in five of his last nine games ... Over that span, he's scored ten runs and knocking in ten ... Teixeira believes that Soriano's postseason experience will help the clubhouse down the stretch ... Soriano admitted to mixed feelings about taking ex-teammate Roger Clemens deep on Tuesday night: "[H]e was nice to me all the time...He was like a father in New York" ...
* Saturday's starter, Ricardo Rodriguez, is the proud owner of a 1.04 ERA, but that's a bit misleading ... Rodriguez pitched poorly at his second-to-last start in Minute Maid Park, but because the grand slam he allowed to Morgan Ensberg was preceded by a two-out fielding error by Michael Young, four runs were unearned ... That said, he was brilliant in his last start. Against his former club at Jacobs Field, Rodriguez fired a three-hit complete game shutout at the Tribe, walking two and striking out six ... The 26-year-old Dominican was making just his third start since his recall from AAA Oklahoma City ... Rodriguez was completely shut down from April 17 through June 5 after his appendix was removed. Showalter: "I think we'll have all our pitchers have appendectomies" ... Rodriguez was traded along with Shane Spencer last season for Ryan Ludwick. Seemingly a balanced trade, but Ludwick has missed the entire season recovering from knee surgery ...
* Outfielder David Dellucci has been a nice pickup for Texas ... He's getting the job done against righties (.288/.358/.519), but has been totally helpless against lefthanded pitching (.150/.280/.150) ... He's 3 for 20 against lefties, all singles ... Dellucci put up a career game last Thursday, hitting two homers (combined distance: 858 ft.) and driving in five for my power-starved fantasy team ...
* All-Star Hank Blalock has dipped into a mild funk in July (.233/.313/.395) ... 19 of Blalock's 23 homers have come off righties, whom he pounds (.316/.385/.631) ... It's not a skill set and blah blah blah, but he's come through in the clutch this season. He's gone .359/.457/.795 with runners in scoring position, two outs ... He's still finding his way on defence, but he's such a dangerous hitter at such a young age that the Rangers have to be mighty excited ... Although Michael Young remains friends with A-Rod, when asked about his current relationship with the erstwhile Ranger multimillionaire, a deadly serious Blalock snapped, "I don't ever talk to him" ...
* Fifth-round pick of the Blue Jays (sniff) in 1997, Michael Young, continues to swing a white-hot bat. He's hit in 21 of his last 23 games (.349) ... He's especially dangerous at home, where he puts up .372/.414/.567 numbers -- simply outstanding for a leadoff man ... The All-Star has led off three games with homers ...
* Andujar nominee Rod Barajas' midseason grip on the prestigious Batter's Box award is wavering ... He's slumped in July, hitting just .194/.219/.194 ... He really struggles with lefthanded pitching, hitting only .170/.184/.404 ... He's backed up by Danny Ardoin, who has appeared in his first big league games since his tenure as a 2000 Twin ...
* Brian Shouse has been an outstanding LOOGY, holding lefties to a microscopic .129 average ... Shouse has paid his dues. The 36-year-old earned cups of coffee with the Pirates in 1993, the Red Sox in 1998 and the Royals in 2002. Now, he's a steady regular in the Texas 'pen ...
* Journeyman Eric Young went a surprising 5-for-5 on Sunday, with four singles and a double ... His average hasn't dipped below .300 since May 25, and he has shown no discomfort with playing irregularly ...
* Tonight's starter, Kenny Rogers, has been, um, roasted of late ... His personal eight-game winning streak was snapped -- with authority -- by Boston on Saturday, as he was bombed for eight runs on nine hits (including three homers) while not escaping the second inning ... Rogers refused to speak with the press after his horrible outing, but Showalter said that his pulled hamstring in his right (lead) leg was not a factor ... His ugly line from two July starts: 7 IP, 16 H, 13 R, 2 BB, 3 K ... His ERA, an All-Star-worthy 3.42 on July 1, has increased by nearly a full run based on those two starts alone ... Cordero and Rogers became just the fourth pair of All-Star Ranger pitchers in club history ...
* Short man Frank Francisco has been generally reliable, but he coughed up the lead on Sunday before the Rangers regained the lead in the eighth for good ... Francisco gave up his first two homers of the season in the same inning on Sunday, getting tagged by Doug Mirabelli and Johnny Damon ...
* Not that the Rangers need more offence, but Kevin Mench has gratuitously supplied it in July (.353/.371/.882) ... Mench has homered seven times in his last eleven games, and has made it hard to reintegrate Laynce Nix into the offence ... Mench may not have deserved his big fly on Thursday, though. Cleveland rightfielder Jody Gerut jumped at the wall, getting a piece of it but dropping it onto the warning track. Umpire Marvin Hudson erroneously ruled that the ball struck above the yellow line in right ... Nix returned on Saturday from his sprained shoulder injury ...
* Old friend Brad Fullmer continues to be sheltered from lefthanded pitching, despite hitting lefties reasonably well in 36 at-bats. It's righties against whom he's been scuffling (.238/.313/.441) ... It's probably just a case of if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it that prevents Fullmer from dropping lower in the batting order. Mark Teixeira, for instance, would be a far more dangerous cleanup hitter ...
* The five All-Star Rangers were joined by five All-Star ex-Rangers: Pudge Rodriguez, Danny Kolb, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, and of course, E----n L----a.
* The Rangers signed Expo castoff Andy Fox this week, and assigned him to AAA Oklahoma ...
* So, what's new with longtime Rangers Don Slaught and Scott Fletcher? They're collaborating on RightView pro, a company that produces video analysis software to improve a hitter's swing technique .... Slaught founded the company, and Fletcher consults for it when he's not coaching at Emory University in Atlanta ...
* The Dallas Morning News reports that the Rangers have been scouting Cory Lidle, Paul Wilson, Gil Meche and Ted Lilly as stretch-run rotation help. Yo, Texas: You ain't getting Ted ...
* So, what's new with Chan Ho Park? Nothing much ... Park got roughed up for six runs in 5 1/3 IP, including a bat-around inning, in his rehab start with the AA Frisco RoughRiders ... Meanwhile, fellow gascan Rick Helling is posting gaudy 1-4, 9.00 ERA numbers in AAA ...
* From July 21 through August 1, the Rangers play twelve consecutive games against the A's and Angels. It'll determine whether they're for real ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
7 E Young
DH M Young
4 Soriano
3 Teixeira
9 Mench
5 Blalock
8 Matthews Jr.
2 Barajas
6 Alexander
vs. RH
6 M Young
5 Blalock
4 Soriano
DH Fullmer
3 Teixeira
7 Dellucci/E Young
9 Mench/8 Nix/8 Conti
8/9 Matthews Jr.
2 Barajas/Ardoin
Pitching Probables
Friday: RH Drese vs. Halladay
Saturday: RH Rodriguez vs. Lilly
Sunday: LH Rogers vs. Batista
Bullpen Usage
Long: Brocail R, Wasdin R
Short: Almanzar R, Mahay L
Setup: Francisco R, Shouse L
Closer: Cordero R
