Texas Rangers Notes: Why Jeremy Guthrie Could Add Pop to the Rotation

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For the last few days a lot of the trade talk has centered around relievers like Heath Bell, Francisco Rodriguez, and a few others.

While the bullpen is definitely something general manager Jon Daniels and CEO Nolan Ryan will need to address, they also need to do something about the starting rotation. They need to bring in a starter, or two, who will allow them to move struggling Alexi Ogando back to the bullpen and possibly into the seventh or eighth inning role.


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Jeremy Guthrie, a 32-year old right hander with the Baltimore Orioles, is a guy the Rangers could bring in and plug in as the number two starter behind ace, C.J. Wilson.

Guthrie is currently 3-9 with a 3.93 ERA but don't forget this is for an Orioles team that is hitting .260 as a team and really doesn't have much of a chance to win their own division. Especially when that division already boasts the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and Tampa Bay Rays.

In four of the last five seasons, Guthrie has finished with an ERA under 4.00 including a career low 3.63 back in 2008 and has posted three consecutive 10-win seasons.

He's a solid starter and all of his experience has been in the AL East, a division most would call the best in baseball.

His fastball velocity will range any where from the high 80's to mid 90's and he's able to paint the corners with it. His slider will stay around the mid 80's but he has been known to ramp it into the low 90's as well. Those are the two pitches he's thrown the most over his career but he will mix in a curve and changeup as well but, according to fangraphs.com, he won't use those two pitches near as often.

Over his career, Guthrie has thrown his fastball and slider 83.6% of the time with the other 16.4% centered around the curve and changeup.

Guthrie has always gotten off to fast starts to every season. He has a career 3.29 ERA in the month of May but for the rest of the season he'll hover around the 4.30 to 4.70 mark.

He's a guy who won't cost the Rangers their top prospects but the Orioles will look to acquire the likes of Craig Gentry and possibly a few other minor leaguers maybe of the mid-level variety.

Bringing in Guthrie allows the team to make some changes to their rotation in order to strengthen their bullpen. They can roll with Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and possibly Colby Lewis at the back end of the rotation, at least for now.

But with Wilson and Guthrie leading the staff, this team and it's rotation, automatically becomes the best in the AL West and allows them a little breathing room between themselves and the rest of the division.

Texas Rangers Notes: Ogando, Kazmir, Bell, Scheppers, Webb

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Alexi Ogando the Hard Luck Loser

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You can't blame Alexi Ogando for what happened on Sunday against the Atlanta Braves. He did exactly what he was supposed to do.

Thanks to two mental lapses by catcher Yorvit Torrealba, and a wild pitch by Ogando, the Braves were able to get three runs that inning which ended up making the difference in a 4-2 Atlanta win.

Ogando went five innings and gave up three runs though only one was earned. The only reason Ron Washington didn't go with Ogando into the sixth inning was because he was already at 105 pitches after he finished the fifth inning.

After a 7-0 start for Ogando, he's come up with losses in each of his last two decisions.

Rangers Interested in Scott Kazmir

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After the Los Angeles Angels released pitcher Scott Kazmir, you knew there were going to be more than a few teams who were going to show interest in signing him. Especially since he could be had for cheap.

According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Texas Rangers are apparently one of those teams showing their interest. The other four teams, Cafardo says, are the Padres, Rockies, Marlins, and Diamondbacks.

Heath Bell Could be on Rangers' Radar

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According to a source I spoke to over the weekend, the Rangers apparently met with the Padres' brass at Petco Park three weeks ago. Though they couldn't say what was talked about, you have to believe the Rangers are showing interest in some of the San Diego relievers.

ESPN's Buster Olney talked about the Padres trade of their closer on Twitter saying "I'd bet that the Padres' sweep, at the hands of the Twins, will accelerate their decision-making on when to trade Heath Bell. It makes sense."

Olney went on to say, "The sooner that the Padres trade Bell, the more than can ask for -- certainly more than if they wait until July 31 deadline."

Tanner Scheppers Dominates

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The Texas Rangers officially re-activated one of their top pitching prospects, Tanner Scheppers, and sent him to the bullpen of the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders. Though two innings, Scheppers looked nothing short of dominant.

Through two innings of relief, the young right hander didn't give up a single hit, struck out four, and has his fastball up around the mid-90's.

While he was expected to be a starter, his domination out of the bullpen could have him seeing the big leagues sooner rather than later.

However, it's going to be awhile before he moves himself back up to Triple-A Round Rock, which is where he was before he went to the disabled list back in late April. Rangers' general manager Jon Daniels has already been quoted as saying they want to make Scheppers prove he's ready to move himself up to the next level.

Things Could Not be Worse for Brandon Webb

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I don't know if Brandon Webb is going to make it back to the big leagues let alone make it out of Double-A.

Webb made the start for the Frisco RoughRiders on Sunday and couldn't have looked any worse. The right hander lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up four runs on six hits before being taken out with two outs in the very first inning.

You have to wonder just how much longer the Rangers are going to wait for him to come around. From the way things have looked, I don't know if things will ever 'come around' for him.

Texas Rangers Notes: Ogando, Kinsler, Cruz, Kazmir

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Alexi Ogando is apparently human after all, at least in the eyes of the New York Yankees.

For the second time in as many starts against them, Ogando was taken apart on Tuesday night in the Bronx in what was his shortest outing of the 2011 season. After a scoreless first inning, Ogando was tagged for six runs in the second inning and was pulled by manager Ron Washington with two outs in the second inning.

Back on April 17th, his third start of the season, Ogando gave up five runs to the Yankees but was able to get through 6 1/3 innings.



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 The last time Ogando gave up five runs or more was back on May 29th at home against the Kansas City Royals.

Another guy who had a tough time last night, and who's been having a tough time most of the season, is second baseman Ian Kinsler.

When he popped out in the 5th inning with runners in scoring position and nobody out, it dropped his batting average with runners in scoring position to an abysmal .196. That average is even worse on the road (.182). Kinsler needs to be a bigger part of this offense or the Rangers will be left relying on Josh Hamilton and Michael Young.

The reason I didn't mention Nelson Cruz among the players the Rangers will rely on is his continued struggles which carried through Tuesday night's game.

After a strikeout in the sixth inning, Cruz lengthened his hitless streak to 14 straight at bats to go along with nine strikeouts.

Another pitcher who had a tough outing was Angels' left hander Scott Kazmir who, during a minor league start against Sacramento, gave up six runs on over an inning and two-thirds. The Angels are probably regretting giving him the $14.5 million contract and will not be able to trade him to a team who's willing to take on that kind of money.

The Texas Rangers will probably look to make a deal for a starter or two and possibly look to strengthen their bullpen at the trade deadline. Kazmir is a guy I thought the Rangers should keep an eye on and if he's released by the Angels, I would at least be willing to take a flyer on him to see if he can at least help you in the bullpen.

Allow pitching coach Mike Maddux to work with him a little bit and see if it's something he can work out whether it's mechanics, focus, or confidence. It's not going to cost the team prospects and it might be worth the risk.

On the downside, I know the Rangers are already taking a flier on one pitcher, Brandon Webb, who isn't having the same kind of success he's had in the past. Adding another might not be the best idea.

But if one of both of these guys can fix their problems and be even 80 to 90 percent of what they were before, it's a win for this ballclub.

Texas Rangers Being Kept Afloat By Bad AL West Division

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If you're the Texas Rangers and you are only give games above .500, there has to be something inside you thanking your lucky stars things aren't much worse.

Through almost mid-June, the Rangers currently sit two games in front of the Seattle Mariners and four and a half games in front of the Los Angeles Angels in the American League's Western Division.

At the start of the 2011 season, though my predictions for this division don't look all that great at this point in the season there is still a lot of time left.



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 The Texas Rangers have dealt with losing Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz to the disabled list and now will be without catcher Mike Napoli who was just put on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique.

But not only have they struggled with injuries but their starters, outside of C.J. Wilson and Alexi Ogando, have struggled as well. Matt Harrison, Derek Holland, and Colby Lewis have brought their share of good starts but, as of late, have brought their struggles along as well.

After eight innings of shutout ball against Tampa Bay, Lewis has given up 15 earned runs over his last two starts (4.2 IP). He gave up nine runs against Detroit (3.1 IP) and six against the Minnesota Twins (1.1 IP) in his very next start.

Matt Harrison, after not giving up a single run in back-to-back starts (14.1 IP) against the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals, he's given up six runs over his last two starts (10 IP) against Detroit and Minnesota.

Though Derek Holland was more than impressive against the Cleveland Indians in early June, throwing a complete game shutout, outside of that one start the young right hander has given up 13 earned runs (17 IP) in his previous three starts.


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This team can not keep counting on Wilson and Ogando to right the ship every time it looks like it's going to tip over.

We can blame the pitching staff all we want and the battle some of the starters are going through just to figure things out and get themselves right. But after starting the month of June with a perfect 5-0 record, the Rangers have dropped five of their last seven games including losing back-to-back series against the Tigers and Twins.

Over the next month and a half, the Rangers front office will be collecting names and talking to their scouting department about possible deals they could make at or before the trade deadline at the end of July.

They know they need to focus on pitching, both in the rotation as well as the back end of the bullpen. Owner Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels both know they are just one or two moves away from running away from the rest of the division.

It's not going to be just any move. It's going to take the right move for this team to be able to put some distance between them and those chasing them in the AL West. If they wait for the Mariners or Angels to make a move, they could be watching as they are the ones who get left in the dust.

As for right now, a bad AL West dvision is keeping them afloat when it should have already drowned them.

Texas Rangers Salvage Third Game of the Series Against the Detroit Tigers

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If you don’t think the Texas Rangers aren’t thrilled to be wrapping up a three game series with the Detroit Tigers, all you have to do is look at the season series between these two teams thus far.

Coming in to Wednesday night, the Rangers had lost two of three in Detroit and dropped each of the first two games of this series here at Rangers Ballpark.

In Detroit, the series wasn’t really that bad. The two teams were dead even on total runs (8) but Detroit won back-to-back one run games.


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Here in Arlington it’s been a completely different story. The Tigers have treated this ballpark like they were feeling right at home. After an 18-hit barrage on Monday night, the Tigers came right back with 20 hits on Tuesday night and have outscored the Rangers 21-8 coming in to the third game of the series.

Colby Lewis, Monday night’s starter, struggled giving up nine runs. His highest total all season. The following night it was left hander Matt Harrison’s turn to struggle – and struggle he did. He lasted just four innings giving up four runs on eight hits, never able to get himself in a groove.

On Wednesday night, Alexi Ogando took the mound and the fans in the ballpark, and the media in the press box, were expecting different results. But when Tigers’ third baseman Don Kelly launched a 1-0 pitch into the right field seats, a collective “here we go again” could be heard throughout the ballpark.

The Rangers young right hander would settle in and though he wasn’t hitting his spots he was still able to battle through hitters and get his team out of the inning. It didn’t hurt that his offense decided to show up on the same night the team fired their hitting coach.

While the first two Ranger runs of the night came on a throwing error by the Tigers, Hamilton would add further damage to the inning with a 2-run double down the right field line.

Shortstop Elvis Andrus would add another run on an RBI single to extend the Rangers lead to 5-1 by the fifth inning. An RBI single from Adrian Beltre as well as his 12th home run of the year pushed the Ranger lead even further along and the team was off and running to what was a very convincing, 7-1, win on a getaway day.

With two wins in six games played it would seem like the Tigers have the Rangers number. Call it pitching struggles, call it not being able to score runs at the opportune times, call it what you will.

Detroit has just been better than the defending AL Champions though six games this season with one more three game set to play in Detroit in the first part of August.

As for right now, the Tigers can’t get out of town fast enough.

At Full Strength, the Texas Rangers Seem to be in Cruise Control

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The Texas Rangers have always played third fiddle to the Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Mavericks. You may as well consider them the little brother who never really gets noticed by their older siblings.

Enter 2010 and little brother is no longer waiting for big brother to tell him he's doing a good job.

The Rangers disposed of the Tampa Bay Rays followed by shocking the defending champion, New York Yankees, in the ALCS in front of a sold out crowd at Rangers' Ballpark in Arlington. They did all that while the Cowboys and Mavericks watched, wondering why they couldn't have that kind of success.

Although the Mavs tasted it once back in 2006 and are doing so again in 2011, the Dallas Cowboys have "lost that lovin' feeling" since Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith decided to hang 'em up. After 16 seasons the Cowboys had just a single playoff victory.

With the 2011 season into its third month, the Texas Rangers find themselves on top of the AL West and are playing like they were at the beginning of the season.

Of course it doesn't hurt getting Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz, their two big bats in the lineup, back from the disabled list. They were able to tread water for awhile and stay just close enough to make this kind of a run when they were back to full strength.

The only question remaining at this point is what will the team do at the deadline and will they make a move to shore up their bullpen? We have talked a lot about the potential players they could be after and what kind of a deal it might take to land said players.

At this point, with the way the Rangers are playing, they may be able to ride this team right back into the playoffs and maybe back into the ALCS. However, it won't come by offense alone.

You can look at guys like Hamilton, Cruz, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young and imagine the team scoring six or seven runs per game. They have shown all year they can put up crooked numbers night in and night out. That's all well and good but this team will not succeed as they did last year unless their pitching staff and bullpen remain strong.

Starters like ace C.J. Wilson, first year starter Alexi Ogando, or young left hander Matt Harrison have each had their big starts for this team. Wilson has shown that he can be the ace of this staff even after Cliff Lee decided he didn't want to come back to Texas. Opting instead to pitch behind All-Stars Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt, making it look more like the Miami Heat than Philadelphia Phillies.

The Rangers do have lady luck on their side. The American League's Western Division is not nearly as strong as it has been in years past. If the first few months of the season are any indication, the Rangers are a team who could go on a run and put this division in the rear view mirror by the All-Star break.

But before all that can take place, this team needs to take care of business on the field. They need to be able to beat the top team in the American League and not just make a habit of beating up on the bad ones.

For now it's a work in progress. For the future, it's something that still needs to be fixed.

Can the Texas Rangers Stay Afloat, or is There a Move on The Horizon?

Through the first few weeks of the 2011 Major League Baseball season, the Texas Rangers looked every bit like the defending American League Champions. In fact, they looked better than the team who made it to the World Series in 2010.

Two weeks later, the Rangers are without team MVP, Josh Hamilton, for the better part of two months with a small fracture in his right shoulder and their young closer, Neftali Feliz, who was put on the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his pitching shoulder.

Without Hamilton, the rest of the offense began to struggle. Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Elvis Andrus, and Adrian Beltre all seemed to have lost their stroke. The only one who still had it, Michael Young, was a player the Rangers almost traded before the start of the season.

There have been a few games where the offensive power stroke re-emerges and the Rangers go on a home run binge. Then there are nights where they can not seem to get much going at all and struggle just to drive runs in.

However, the on and off nights for the offense isn’t the biggest concern for manager Ron Washington. The struggles of his bullpen and his rotation have left some wondering if this team needs to make a move sooner rather than later.

Most will tell you there won’t be a trade to be made until the trading deadline at the end of July. I’m not sure the Rangers can wait that long.

With Feliz out, Washington has had to turn to aging pitchers Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver to assume the closing duties and wonders if veteran pitcher Brett Tomko is going to hold down the fort or implode from one night to the next.

Mark Lowe was sent to the minors because he couldn’t get anyone out and Darren O’Day’s struggles with command have also reared their ugly head.

So what is Ron Washington to do?

First I’d stomp into general manager Jon Daniel’s office and say a simple, “thanks for nothing,” or he can try to put things together the best way he can to try and stop the bleeding.

Through the first month of the season, aside from the Red Sox and Orioles, the Rangers have struggled against the best the American League East has to offer, losing two of three to the New York Yankees and dropping the first two of a three-game set to the Toronto Blue Jays.

The four losses in five games really can not be blamed on the lack of offense which scored 17 runs over those five games. It has been the pitching rotation, aside from the ace C.J. Wilson, who can not seem to figure out how to get the job done against the teams who could play a major role in their playoff lives down the stretch.

Alexi Ogando, untouchable before making his very first start against the Yankees, would give up three home runs in just over six innings of work. His offense gave Ogando the lead twice and both times he coughed it up.

Another starter who has yet to have even a decent start is Colby Lewis. Through four starts (22.0 IP) Lewis has given up 17 earned runs, eight of which have been of the long ball variety.

Derek Holland, a young pitcher Ranger fans watched as he struggled in the World Series, has only been effective a few times so far this season.

After winning his first two starts of the season, giving up just three combined runs over 12 complete innings of work, Holland has given up 10 earned runs over his next two starts (14.2 IP) including three home runs.

Then there’s Matt Harrison. He looked like a star in the making. A young pitcher who the Ranger fans loved to come out and watch and he was a guy they knew would take the ball every fifth day and get their team a win.

It all came to a screeching halt on a Tuesday night against the Blue Jays. He lasted just three innings and was hammered for seven earned runs.

There are more questions than there are answers with this team. Three of their starters are struggling, they are missing one of their best hitters, and they are missing their closer.

While most teams would not make a trade this early in the season, maybe it’s time for Daniels and team owner Nolan Ryan to look in to their minor league system to see if there is anyone who can help them get through the rough patches.

If you listen closely, you might just hear the name Tanner Scheppers through the halls of Rangers’ Ballpark. He is the Rangers’ best pitching prospect and a young man who has received a ton of hype and praise from this franchise.

Assuming things do not change soon, Scheppers might be seeing the big leagues sooner than he realizes.

Luckily for the Rangers, the AL West isn’t going to be the strongest division in the American League or in baseball for that matter. They should have enough to stay afloat until both Feliz and Hamilton return to the team.

Once they are at full strength they might be a hard team to catch.

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Texas Rangers Drop Two of Three to the New York Yankees

The Texas Rangers needed to see what they were made of and they needed to see what kind of team they were.

After dropping two of three to the Detroit Tigers in disappointing fashion, the Rangers traveled to the Bronx for a rematch of the American League Championship series against the New York Yankees.

Most of the fans and the media as well weren’t sure the start this team had gotten off to was for real. They wanted to see more and they wanted to see it against better competition than what they had faced at the beginning of the season.

Say what you want against the Boston Red Sox but just because they look solid on paper doesn’t mean they are going to turn out that way. You might want to ask the Boston fans how that’s working out for their team right now.

In game one on Friday night, young Rangers’ left hander Matt Harrison continued his dominance. The kid who most didn’t know a lot about and didn’t really trust to be all that effective, has opened everyone’s eyes.

The soon-to-be 26 year old was absolutely masterful, holding the Yankees  to two runs in his eight complete innings of work. He made way for closer Neftali Feliz who closed out his fourth save in as many chances as the Rangers went on to win the first of a three-game set, 5-3.

Game two, however, was a completely different story.

Another young starter, right hander Derek Holland, towed the rubber in the exact spot his troubles began out of the bullpen.

Though he would work into the eighth inning, Holland would give up five runs including two-run shots from Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano.

So, with the two teams splitting each of the first two games, the Rangers and Yankees returned to Yankee Stadium to close out the final game of the three-game set.

The Rangers jumped on Yankees’ left-hander C.C. Sabathia in the very first inning thanks to a two-run shot from third baseman Adrian Beltre.

Though he and Michael Young both had big nights for the Rangers, the Yankees’ offense refused to let Texas repeat what they had done to them in the ALCS a little more than six months ago.

Rangers’ starter Alexi Ogando, previously untouched in his first two starts of the 2011 season, was tagged for five runs thanks to a solo home run from Robinson Cano and two runs shots from Curtis Granderson and Russell Martin, kept the Yankees in the game.

Every time Texas went ahead, the Yankees always seemed to have an answer.

And, in true Yankee style, they brought in closer Mariano Rivera to close out back-to-back wins on Saturday and again on Sunday.

So, after losing two of three in two consecutive series, the Rangers will limp home hoping to right a ship that seems to have lost a little bit of the strong winds that have carried them to this point.

Blame it on their bullpen or blame it on the struggles of their offense or one of their starters, the bottom line is this team may not be as good as we first thought.

It is still early in the season and there is a lot of baseball to be played. The sooner they can get past series losses to both the Tigers and the Yankees, the better off they are going to be.

Don’t jump off the bandwagon just yet, there is a lot to enjoy about this team and more still for them to prove.

The Rangers brought their measuring stick with them and it turns out they weren’t quite where they were hoping to be.

Without Josh Hamilton in the lineup, guys like Michael Young, Nelson Cruz, and Ian Kinsler will need to step up to fill the void left by Hamilton’s injury.

The biggest question facing this team is how they are going to fix a bullpen who continues to struggle. If it doesn’t get better soon, manager Ron Washington may have no choice but to rely heavily on his starters to do more than what they may have been asked to do before.

With the Angels coming to town and as well as they are playing, this will be another tell-tale sign of where this team is.

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Texas Rangers, New York Yankees Ready for ALCS Rematch

When the 2010 American League Championship Series came to a close, the New York Yankees sat in an unfamiliar position. They were the ones sitting in their dugout watching as the Texas Rangers celebrated their first ever American League Championship.

More than six months later, the Rangers and Yankees will meet again in the Bronx for a three-game set which gets underway on Friday night.

Both teams have changed both aren't the same as when they met back in October of last year. The Rangers are off to their best start (9-3) since 1989 while the Yankees are currently sitting at 6-4 through their first 10 games of the 2011 season.

Texas will be missing the one key ingredient that was one of the biggest factors in their ALCS win over the Yankees, Josh Hamilton, after the outfielder suffered a small fracture in his right arm in a game against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday afternoon.

They're also missing their ace, Cliff Lee, who moved on to the Philadelphia Phillies after deciding against re-signing with Texas and not signing with the Yankees.

New York also has their fare share of changes.

Pitcher Andy Pettitte decided for retirement instead of returning for yet another season with the Bronx Bombers.

Without him, the Yankees' rotation has struggled after ace C.C. Sabathia. Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, and A.J. Burnett have each had their struggles so far this season but Hughes has gotten the worst end of them.

He's given up 11 earned runs through just six innings pitched while Burnett has given up at least two runs in each of his first three starts.

As for the Rangers, their rotation has been better than most thought it would be. Young left hander Matt Harrison and first year starter Alexi Ogando have opened everyone's eyes and have proved a lot of people wrong.

Ogando has dominated with just two pitches, fastball and slider, and has been this side of unhittable. As for Harrison, he's given up just two earned runs through 14 innings pitched, dominating both the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox to start the season.

While it seems manager Ron Washington doesn't have many worries with his starters, it's his bullpen that might make him reach for the Tums to cure the heartburn created by aging relievers Arthur Rhodes and Darren Oliver, not to mention the struggles of Mark Lowe.

The only bright spot for them thus far has been young closer Neftali Feliz who has converted each of his first four save opportunities and has yet to give up a run through just over six combined innings (6.1 IP).

When these two teams converge at the new Yankee Stadium, there will be a new feeling in the air and a clean slate where each team has a chance to prove last year was either a fluke or the real deal.

Without Hamilton, the Rangers will need their offense to step up and fill in the gap left by their 2010 MVP. Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, and Michael Young will need to be the catalysts and they'll need help from the rest of the lineup to stay afloat for the next two months at least.

This series against New York will be telling to see just where this team is at this point. Was their fast start a fluke or can they handle a little adversity right off the bat and show their championship selves once more?


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The Texas Rangers Are Off to Their Best Start in More Than a Decade

The Texas Rangers are off to their best start since 1996. Those who doubted probably still do, but they didn’t expect this kind of a start for a team who doesn’t look all that strong on paper.

But, that’s why there’s the all too familiar saying “that’s why they play the game.”

After a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, the perennial favorites in the American League, the Rangers followed that up with a series win over the Seattle Mariners. Not a bad way to open the defense of the American League Championship, the first in franchise history.

They’re not only getting good pitching, the Rangers’ offense has been nothing short of amazing.

On two straight nights, both in his first at bat of the game, second baseman Ian Kinsler would hit his first and second home runs of the year. Not to be outdone, outfielder Nelson Cruz would hit four runs, one in each of the first four games. He’s in good company in that category because only the great Willie Mays and the infamous Mark McGwire have accomplished that feat.

What most didn’t expect is how the back end of the rotation would perform.

Left hander Matt Harrison and right handers Derek Holland and first time starter Alexi Ogando had solid performances.

The three young pitchers combined to give up just four runs and 14 hits through 19 solid innings of work. There isn’t anyone who could have predicted that kind of start for these three young pitchers.

They were the concern coming in to the season. Everyone knew what C.J. Wilson brought to the table as the team’s ace and people saw what Colby Lewis was capable of doing in the rotation last season.

But after the struggles Holland went through in the playoffs last year, I don’t know that I could blame any of the fans for having their doubts about how he would perform. Though he was shaky through a few innings on Monday night, he finished with two big strikeouts to get out of a jam that definitely could have gotten out of hand.

Neftali Feliz still dominates

It took almost a full four games before Ranger fans got to see closer Neftali Feliz trot out to the mound from the bullpen to lock down his first save of the season.

He did so with the same kind of flash and domination that has become somewhat of a trademark around Rangers’ Ballpark.

In a 5-3 win on Monday night, Feliz had no trouble getting the save though I think both Ranger and Mariner fans enjoyed seeing the matchup between the young closer and Mariners’ star Ichiro Suzuki.

One night later, Feliz would pick up his second save of the season and again without giving up a hit. For those of you who wanted to know why he was put back in the bullpen as the team’s closer, you saw why over the last two nights.

Nelson Cruz in power mode

For those of you who watched this team all of last season, and especially in the playoffs, you got to see this young outfielder put on a display of power this franchise has searched for long and hard.

His walk off home runs last season became almost expected. However, his four home runs in four games certainly came as a surprise to just about everyone. Though it’s left most wondering, “what will he do this season for an encore?”

Michael Young still a Ranger

Super utility man Michael Young still remains in Texas and still dons the Ranger jersey. He’s received his share of playing time this season but you can bet it’s not the kind of playing time he’s been used to in the past.

So far, there hasn’t been much drama since the blowup between him and general manager Jon Daniels at the beginning of spring training. However, you have to wonder how long Young is going to be a “team player.” Those who have watched him over the years believe he’ll do what’s necessary to help the team when.

However, when push comes to shove, an every day player turned utility man isn’t going to get used to riding the bench much longer.

Rangers hit the road

The Texas Rangers will begin a nine game road stretch beginning on Friday night when they travel to Baltimore to take on the suddenly hot Orioles managed by none other than former Rangers’ manager Buck Showalter.

After that, it’s off to Detroit for a three-game set against the Tigers before they head for the Bronx and a rematch of the ALCS with the New York Yankees.

This could be the most telling sign for this team. Sure they can play well at home, but how will they fare in hostile territory?

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