Texas Rangers 2017 Thread

Yup

 

Rough Sunday afternoon watching first the Horns and then the Rangers blow late leads and lose games. Dyson gets another loss and the Rangers are on pace for a 65 win season.

 

You are right FW. Hopefully 65 isn't overly optimistic.

 

This is getting too hard to watch. The Padres are licking their chops at the prospect of getting well playing the Rangers. The Padres??? For cryin' out lod!

 

The Ranger team that took the field last night against SD was just going through the motions. Another game or two like that and it will be official - Bannister will have lost the team.

 

Rangers get walk off HR last night from Napoli, his second HR of game and win their third straight against the Padres. They still sit 4 games under .500 and 8 1/2 games back of the Astros who have been on fire for a month and a half. If they can get back to .500 by the end of May and if Houston slows down over the summer there is still a chance, not a great one, but a chance we could have meaningful baseball in August and September.

 

Nice to see some clutch situational hitting in the bottom of the ninth last night. Hope that means they have found it again - but one game is not a huge sample. Let's watch and see what happens in the next few days. But .500 is not within sight. It was very nice to see Perez put up a very good pitching performance with no meltdown inning.

By and large the starting pitchers have performed well and should have won more if the offense had delivered. We'll see what happens next.

 

Joey Gallo hits his 12th HR of year in bottom of ninth and it is second straight night that a three run HR in bottom of the ninth walks off a Ranger win. That makes 4 straight wins since that ugly performance Monday night. One thing about Bannister, he gets his team to forget the past pretty quick and just focus on what is ahead. Rangers now sit 3 games under .500 and that goal of being .500 by end of May is now realistic.

HHD is spot on regarding the starting pitching which even with Martinez included has been solid to pretty good and this team would have at least five more wins with a little offense and/or avoiding bullpen meltdowns. I am by nature a Ranger optimist and I want to see the cup half full, the last four days have given reason to think that is more than just hopeful thinking.

 

^FWHORN, I hope you're right. I'd still like to see more consistency from the offense - you can't count on walking off in the bottom of the ninth every time. Giving the starting pitcher an early lead would take a lot of pressure off, perhaps enabling the starter to go deeper into the game and saving undue wear and tear on the bullpen.

I still want to see Beltre back in the lineup. IMO, they will need to manage his exposure carefully. Gallo has been more than adequate at 3B. Maybe Banny plays Beltre two days at 3B and one at DH - and Beltre should never play 3B on artificial turf. But one thing is for sure - the presence of Beltre in the lineup brings a big bunch of leadership and inspiration to the others. And his 3000th hit will be one of the top highlights of the season.

 

Agree that on the whole the SP has been on a high level. Hopefully Perez and Martinez can hold up as they face teams for the second and third times. I cannot remember any season when the Ranger offense didn't have peaks and valleys, but it seems so far this season the peaks are shorter and the valleys are longer (probably due to the lack of Beltre).

The bullpen is the issue. Some bright spots, but junk overall. We are now past the point in the season where the SP's are pitch limited so some of the pressure should off the BP.

I am not sure JD needs to be wasting time in Japan, but it sure gets him away from questions here.

 

Rangers make it six in a row with yet another come back win today to sweep Oakland. They now sit in second place in the West just one game under .500 though still 7 1/2 games back of Houston. If this past week did anything, it certainly served as a reminder that this team is more than capable of making the West a race this season.

 

With 15 games left with the Astros anything can happen.

On a less positive note the DMN is now saying that nothing is happening on the Darvish front. I guess JD needs to read through this thread when he is trying to decide how to best use Darvish's trade value.

 

Nice to see the Rangers score runs without the long ball - need to string together hits and walks to score when the ball is not leaving the yard. Good things may happen when you put the ball in play.

 

Gomez to the DL for a while - let's see how the Rangers adjust to that. They will definitely miss both his bat and his defense. Deshields can fill in, but he is below average as a defensive CF. Not sure what other choices they have.

Astros have avoided major injury so far - sooner or later the injury bug should catch up to them. They are winning everything in sight with their normal lineup; we need to see how they cope with the inevitable injuries to starters. Perhaps that will open the AL West race up to the Rangers (and Mariners?).

 

HHD Astro fans will counter that last season was their "injury season". Still a lot of baseball to be played.

 

Rangers win their seventh straight and get to .500 at 20-20. Houston just keeps on winning but the Rangers are at least positioning themselves to have a chance for when Houston inevitably cools down.

 

^Agree, FWHORN. Sooner or later the Astros will slow a bit - either injuries or the normal slump that occurs somewhere during the 162-game marathon. Rangers need to continue to win each series so they can position themselves to challenge Houston - and as noted, there are a lot of head-to-head meetings to go.

Rangers need to continue posting Ws during this relatively easier part of the schedule.

 

Offense explodes last night as Deshields and Hoying go a combined 8 for 8 and rest of team combines with them for 17 hits and 9 runs to win 9-3 and push the win streak to 8. Hoying got his first major league home run and Bibens-Dirkx made his major league debut at the ripe young age of 32 after I kid you not 12 years in the minors and indy ball. Rangers move a game over .500 and have a winning record for first time this season.

 

Rangers win this afternoon 8-4 over the Phillies and that completes not just sweep of this series but an undefeated home stand and pushes win streak to 9 which is longest Ranger win streak since 2011. Yes it is 9 straight against three of worst teams in major league baseball but its still 9 straight and that is nothing to look sideways at. Rangers are two games over .500 and headed to Detroit to start a 9 game road trip that will also include Boston and the hated Blue Jays. DMN says this morning that Beltre is about two weeks away so looks like the push for 3000 will start around June 1.

 

Very sloppy 9th but a win is a win.

 

Delighted with the homestand. To be honest, before it started I would have been happy with 6-2, so I have to be ecstatic with 8-0 (even if it was against the bottom-feeders). With nine coming on the road, I'll have to be delighted with 6-3. Can they do it? They're playing well, but playing well on the road may be another matter. Guess we'll see. And it would help if Houston would cool off a bit.

 

Tigers, Red Sox and Blue Jays - 6-3 is going to be tough.

 

I would take 5-4 on this road trip in a heartbeat.

 

^Honestly, so would I - but they can go 6-3 if they win each series, and that's what I'm hoping for.

 

Rangers make it ten in a row with 5-3 win to start road trip in Detroit. Gallo and Napoli are both under .200 but both are hitting home runs and if they can be 25 and 100 guys then the hitting percentage really doesn't matter.

 

What FW said, but would add "as long as the outs are not with men in scoring position".

If there is a statistic that combines height and distance of HR's Gallo would be close if not on top. The ball he hit last night appeared on TV to go about the top of the stadium.

 

Not very pretty, but nonetheless a W. Not sharp at all, but the Rangers found a way to get it done - and against a very good team in their place. I'm encouraged (at least "mildly" encouraged) - but they need to sharpen it up in order to continue winning against good teams. I'm still holding out for 6-3 on the road trip.

 

First chink in the Astros - Keuchel to 10-DL with a pinched nerve in his neck.

 

^It was bound to happen somewhere along the line - injuries are part of the 162-game marathon. We'll see how well the Astros can cope with it. Rangers have done well with surprising depth in the rotation - we'll see if Houston can do likewise.

I'd still like to see more consistent contact from these guys. They need some singles/doubles/sac flies to go with the dingers - sub .200 just won't cut it in the long run. Nomar seems to have figured that out - hope Nap and Joey can do likewise.

 

Rangers win streak ends at ten as AJ Griffin gets hammered by the Detroit lineup giving up at one point three straight home runs. The win streak helped put Texas in a position to have a competitive summer and now it will be about playing about .575 ball the rest of the year, that might not be enough to catch the red hot astros but should get a wild card.