DALLAS — It was a homestand for the Texas Rangers that should have been so, so much better. Once again, there was only one game in seven where every facet of the game for Texas was clicking on all cylinders. The opening game against Boston, in which Texas shellacked David Price, was easily the most optimistic the (Replacement) Rangers have looked. In every game since then, even with the return of Adrian Beltre during the Tigers series, there has been something about which to groan.
May 3-9
- Opponents: Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers
- 7-Game Record: 3-4
- Overall Record: 15-24, 9.0 Games Back of Houston
- Injury Report: Rougned Odor (10, hamstring), Elvis Andrus (60, fractured elbow), Carlos Tocci (10, hip contusion), Chris Martin (10, Forearm Irritation), Martin Perez (10, right elbow discomfort), Drew Robinson (10, hip soreness)
- Notable Stats: Nomar Mazara during Homestand (.360/.467/1.040, 5 HR, 9 RBI), Delino Deshields during Homestand (.360/.484/.480, 5 BB, 3 SB, 9 R), Team Average with Runners in Scoring Position Overall (.210 – 29th in MLB), Bottom 3rd of the Lineup (.172/.225/.305, 164 K), Errors Committed Overall (35 – 1st in MLB), Strikeouts by Hitters (385 – 1st in MLB), Strikeouts by Pitchers (297 – 20th in MLB)
On the Mound
Once again, aside from Matt Moore, the starting rotation wasn’t all that bad. The lines will betray performances like Bartolo Colon’s against Boston (four solo home runs over seven innings, but one hit otherwise), Doug Fister’s against Boston (two runs through five, but two big homers at the end of his outing) and Mike Minor’s against Detroit (five runs in the first two innings, but five shutout innings after that. With that said, you can’t go back and take those mistake pitches back, as much as you might want to.
Cole Hamels gave a nice quality start against Boston, going six innings and giving up two earned runs. Matt Moore, on the other hand, had a rough outing, allowing nine hits and five runs. It looks, though, as if the Rangers are going to have to deal with more of Moore. That’s to be expected, I suppose. In a season with nothing to gain and nothing to lose, a pitcher with talent is going to have a home even if he constantly gets beat up.
The problem is going to come if Moore can’t give the Rangers innings, but if Texas is going to trade away even one of their current veteran rotation pieces, Moore is going to have to be there for them. That’s not even the worst news, if you’re looking for change – with much of the same on the horizon for 2019, Moore might be back in the same role. Although, at $10 million, there might have to be a reworking of his deal.
The bullpen has been the saddest part of the pitching saga in 2018 for me. As with 2017, the expectations for the bullpen were extremely high. While the relievers haven’t reached the lowest of lows from last year, performances have not been up to expectations. It would appear that the “Reliever Regression” bug, which Alex Claudio had evaded for two years straight, finally caught up to the funky lefty.
While on this homestand, Claudio wasn't awful, surrendering only two runs in 7 1/3 innings (by the way, 7 2/3 innings in seven games for a reliever probably isn’t going to be listed as a best practice anywhere), for the season, he’s been used in 19 games (tops on the club) and surrendered twelve earned runs, giving up two leads in the process.
Elsewhere in the relief corps, only Jose LeClerc has established himself as an effective, reliable reliever, posting a 2.19 ERA in 11 games with just under a 3-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio. Jake Diekman and Kevin Jepsen are far too up and down to be extremely reliable setup men, Jesse Chavez is the token long-man/mop-up reliever, and closer Keone Kela has looked absolutely dominant at times, including striking out five Tigers in the Detroit series, but even he can be prone to allowing inopportune home runs.
Right now, Texas relievers have pitched 137 1/3 innings, second in the AL. They’re barely holding things together now, and are still being called upon too many times. The next week should be a welcome respite for the relief corps, with off days yesterday and Monday before starting a 20-game stretch.
At the Plate
As mentioned last week, the hitters you expect to produce are producing. Delino Deshields, who, by the way, leads the Rangers in WAR at 1.1, has been making things happen at the top of the lineup, going into Thursday’s off-day with a 15-game on-base streak. In just 18 games, he’s scored 14 runs, which is a pretty good, albeit probably unsustainable pace of 126 runs this season.
Nomar Mazara has been on an absolute tear, putting up seven home runs during the homestand and slugging an outstanding 1.040 during that time. Not just that, but The Big Chill has been calmly and coolly hitting close to .300 for the season, including a brilliant .277 versus lefties, a struggle for him in the past.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa continues to display something of a clutch gene, hitting .263 with eight RBI with men on base. The return of Adrian Beltre on Tuesday also injected a measure of life and length into the lineup, as the Captain, with no rehab games whatsoever, came back on Tuesday against Detroit and went 4-for-6 with four RBI in his two games after returning from a Grade 1 hamstring strain ahead of schedule.
It’s the bottom third of the order that has practically turned into a black hole in the lineup. Going into Wednesday’s contest against Detroit, the Rangers sat dead last in the Majors in batting average from the 7-9 hitters at .172.
After tallying just two hits in 10 at-bats on Wednesday, that number isn’t likely to budge much. That’s a sad state, as Texas has people that can get on base in front of them. The way the lineup is constructed, there’s a lot of pressure on Joey Gallo and whoever the No. 6 hitter is to perhaps lean on their power game a little more, with nothing behind them to help produce.
Take Gallo, for instance. While he obliterated three home runs against Boston, he went 0-for-7 in the last two games against Detroit with five strikeouts, looking like he was trying to make one homer count for ten. With some combination of Ryan Rua, Ronald Guzman (who has cooled off considerably), Carlos Perez, Drew Robinson or Robinson Chirinos behind him, Gallo looks like he’s trying to take care of the production so those guys don’t have to be relied upon.
This lineup could really use Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus back, if nothing else than to lengthen the lineup and reduce the number of “easy outs” in the batting order.
In the Field
Nowhere was the absence of Adrian Beltre felt more than defensively. No, Beltre hasn’t exactly been his usual Gold Glove self, goofing on a few throws here and there, but Renato Nunez has been a virtual empty spot at the hot corner. Nunez, acquired from Texas for his bat, not for his glove, has actually made a couple of nice stops on rockets hit his way, but has been unable to convert the outs.
The former Oakland Athletic has been responsible for five errors, all at 3rd base, in his eight games, including two throwing errors on Wednesday and a key fielding error on an easy chance in Saturday’s loss to Boston.
Adrian Beltre being back in the lineup not only helps the offense, but as Beltre starts easing back into fielding regularly, the less we get to see of Nunez with a glove on his hand. One of the easiest calls I can see being made is sending Nunez down when Odor comes back up and using Kiner-Falefa at 3rd when Beltre isn’t playing.
A call that is significantly more difficult to make is what sort of outfield alignment gives the Rangers the best defense. Gallo, athletic as he is, isn’t exactly a polished left fielder. Nunez shouldn’t be in the field at all. Deshields is rapidly ascending the ranks of “good” defenders in center field, but can only do so much.
Right field is the biggest problem area – as graceful as Mazara moves, his routes and speed are certainly not optimal, and his cannon of an arm usually has to come into play because he’s allowed a runner to get to a point where they can get to third or home. Shin-Soo Choo is on the downside of his career defensively, being utilized as a designated hitter more often now, and he’s a better right fielder than Mazara, which doesn’t say a lot and isn’t ideal.
The other problem is that there’s not really a lot of depth in the outfield as you go to the minors. Sure, you can say bring up Willie Calhoun and trade him out for Ronald Guzman and put Gallo back at first, but if you’re speaking from a defensive standpoint, that doesn’t make your outfield any better. Besides, Guzman is still saving a decent amount of errors from his infielders. While the Rangers still lead the Major Leagues with 35 errors, that number could be considerably higher without Guzman’s reach and flexibility at first.
Texas should have won Saturday’s game against Boston, but the bullpen coughed it up. They probably should have swept Detroit, but Mike Minor put the team in an early hole on Tuesday. Really, this homestand should have finished up at 4-3 at worst. So, despite a few exciting wins and the return of Beltre, the below .500 homestand can only be categorized as frustrating.
Their next two series are probably going to be less than fun, as they take on Houston for three and Seattle for two, but Texas at least gets to enjoy a couple of off days between each of those series and they have played better on the road this season. It’s the 20 game stretch after that that will be far more trying.
Up Next:
May 11-13: @Houston Astros
May 15-16: @Seattle Mariners
Do you have hopes for a winning road trip by the time Texas returns to Arlington later this month? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
