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New names triggering May bounceback for Texas Rangers

The Rangers were able to pull themselves out of a mid-May tailspin thanks in part to unlikely contributions from Danny Santana and Willie Calhoun

DALLAS — On the whole, the twelve game stretch that occurred mostly on the road was not at all how the Rangers would have had it go. They finished under-.500, got swept by their biggest division rival on a weekend where they actually had a chance to get into first place, and had to face some stark realities regarding their pitching staff. 

They then faced the loss of their veteran stalwart when Elvis Andrus went down with a hamstring strain, but that set the wheels in the proper motion to allow for the return of Willie Calhoun who has done nothing but hit in the week he's been up. 

It’s been a couple of weeks with a lot of moving parts and really, given the bulldozer in the middle of this stretch of games, the Rangers turned out alright. At the quarter way point in the season, Texas is treading water and, well, that’s not a bad showing for the squad in 2019.

May 7-19

  • Opponents: @Pittsburgh Pirates, @Houston Astros, @Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals
  • 12-Game Record: 5-7
  • Overall Record: 21-23, Third Place in the AL West, 8.5 Games Back of Houston
  • Notable Injury Report: Edinson Volquez (60, Right Elbow Strain), Taylor Hearn (10, Left Elbow Tightness), Shawn Kelley (10, Throat)
  • MVPs: Joey Gallo (.293/.408/.585, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 6 Doubles, 8 BB), Willie Calhoun (5 games, .476/.476/.810, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 K), Danny Santana (pinch-hit HR and scored game winning RBI on a shallow sac fly with a sore ankle)

With the Bat

Let’s talk about Danny Santana and defining grit, first. After being drilled in the ankle by a Carlos Martinez heater the night before, the expectation was that Santana wouldn’t be available on Sunday afternoon. Not only that, there was a real belief and possibility that he would hit the injured list and be on crutches. Santana was not just available on Sunday, he got into the game, pinch-hitting for Ronald Guzman in the 8th and smashing a go-ahead homer. 

But that wasn’t all! Santana, sore ankle and all, had gone first to third on a game-tying Willie Calhoun single in the 10th and then, on a relatively shallow fly ball off the bat of Nomar Mazara, raced home with the winning run. Texas literally doesn’t win Sunday’s finale to take a series from the Cardinals without Danny Santana.

Now we get to an injury that has a slightly more long term impact on the team. Elvis Andrus ended up leaving after the 7th inning against Kansas City on Tuesday with a strained hamstring. Andrus has been the Rangers’ most consistent and productive hitter, with a .325/.373/.510 slash over 38 games. He hit the injured list, and while the injury isn’t that serious, it did force the team to make a significant call-up.

Calhoun got the recall and has more than adequately filled in the gap caused by Andrus’ injury. After hitting a homer in his first at-bat, Calhoun has shown the ability to hit to all fields, resulting in defenses not utilizing the shift against him. He’s been a highly productive member in his short time up, already accounting for 0.3 WAR in just his five games with the team.

Joey Gallo, too, remains a force to be reckoned with, as he is second in the American League in on-base percentage at .411 and slugging at .638. For all those that said you’d be happy if Joey Gallo were merely a .240 hitter with his slugging ability, Joey is currently at a cool .277, and even though he leads MLB with strikeouts at 62, he’s still worth 2.5 WAR on this team and has been one of the league’s most productive players. 

The best part about the improvement so far is that it looks as if this is who Gallo is now in 2019, without any signs of regressing back to just above the Mendoza line.

On the Mound

As we’ve said before about this year’s Rangers, offensive production isn’t going to be the issue. Where Texas runs into trouble is everything on the mound. Besides Mike Minor and Lance Lynn, the rest of the pitching across the board looks to be in bad shape. 

Shelby Miller turned in yet another stinker (1.2 IP, 8 ER) in his start in Kansas City and has now been relegated to bullpen duties. That decision, not just based off of the incredibly high rate of contact and number of runs, had to be made to preserve the already unstable bullpen. 

While it looks like Jose Leclerc is indeed regaining the confidence and command that earned him his extension, giving up just one earned run in his previous five outings, spanning seven innings, the team would gladly welcome Shawn Kelley back to the mix. 

Chris Martin, despite blowing the save on Sunday, has given up just two runs in his last five games, and has become slightly more reliable recently. But even with better efforts from those two late-innings relief option, after having surgery to remove two lumps on his throat, Kelley's return would lengthen and strengthen the Rangers’ bullpen and provide a more solid closing alternative.

Adrian Sampson and Ariel Jurado did enough in their previous starts to warrant another trip through the rotation, which, based on the back three the team featured at the start of the year, is a great sign for the club. Sampson, in particular, despite taking some pretty heavy shots against Pittsburgh and Houston, turned in a decent outing against St. Louis, showing that he can reverse course and rebound. 

Jurado did well enough in his first 2019 start that he could be stretched out further to be a starter option. Are they championship solutions? No, but that’s not what the 2019 team needs, and they don’t have to be that in 2019.

Ultimately, the story for the Rangers from the mound in 2019 will be figuring out the elaborate puzzle that is getting nine innings out of their ragtag group of arms every night for 162 games. That might come in the form of a traditional starter or, now that some of the veteran options are showing inconsistency, and the overall inefficient nature of their hurlers, Texas might opt to lean more toward the opener strategy or tandem starts as they've tinkered with in the last few weeks.

In the Field

They’ve said it on broadcast after broadcast – watching Joey Gallo throw the baseball from the outfield is tremendous fun. He’s logged two more assists from center field and left field over this stretch of games and deterred at least two or three additional runners from making advances. 

Arm awareness is the kind of weapon that isn’t calculated or measured, but much like his presence as a bat in the lineup changes a pitcher’s approach, Gallo’s arm changes a team’s approach to baserunning. For example: I guarantee you, if Joey Gallo catches that lazy Nomar Mazara fly in the 10th inning Sunday, Danny Santana isn’t running home.

Something to watch for over the next few weeks is going to be how Andrus’ hamstring impacts his range at shortstop. Not having missed time for this sort of injury before, Andrus might have to be a little more cautious making any quick movements to his left or right. Additionally, his backup, Santana is now nursing that sore ankle. While it might not merit time on the injured list, it might still have an impact on his defense. 

At Least They’re Not…

The Washington Nationals

On a team featuring Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin, along with young standouts Juan Soto and Trea Turner, you’d expect so much more. That’s been the story of the Washington Nationals the last several years – always expecting so much more than what they give. Currently in 4th place in the NL East, the Nats are 8-11 on the month, with a painfully underproductive lineup and an even more painfully ineffective bullpen. 

Rumors of manager Dave Martinez being on the hot seat already are starting to circulate, and it would seem this franchise needs a restructuring from the top down. The NL East is a tough division, but there’s no way that the Nationals should be 8 games under .500.

Up Next:

  • May 20-22: Seattle Mariners
  • May 24-26: @Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

How do you feel about the job the Rangers are doing so far this season? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.

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