1. Neftali Feliz says he would like to stay in the bullpen, that is great news.
2. Ogando throws 3 scoreless innings last night with 4 k's.
3. Webb is scheduled to face live hitters on Wednesday in bp.
4. Chris Davis, not sure if this is good news, but he is hitting .435 so far this spring.
Davis is getting plenty of AB's this spring with Beltre being out, and so far is making the most of his plate attempts. Chris has proven he can handle AAA and AA pitching, but has not been able to bring that success to the big club. First base is Morelands to lose, and with the addition of Napali and Young, being positionless, don't see a spot for the Chris Davis experiment to continue.
Ogando's success last night is nice to see, and going into the spring I expected him to have the best shot of a reliever moving in to a rotation spot. Three weeks away from opening day and the Rangers still don't have any real answers for the rotation. C.J., Colby, and then what? Hunter has one big problem, he throws too many pitches. Holland also has similar issues to Hunter, along with the fact that he is very inconsistant. Webb continues to get stronger and if all goes well tomorrow I suspect he will get his first spring training opportunity early next week.
Spring training is right up there with pre-season football, you see lots of young guys getting a shot to play, but have very little realistic chances to make the big club. What we do seem to know is Ian Kinsler will most likely hit lead-off and C.j. Wilson will most likely be the opening day starter. I admit I fell off the Kinsler band wagon a couple of seasons ago when he decided to become a "power" hitter, maybe hitting lead-off will make him more selective at the plate and get him back to hitting the ball to all fields. Wilson, on the other hand, was the biggest surprise last season, and I hope he doesn't pull a Feldman and fall off the map by the all-star break.
How are the Red Sox looking???...lol....I think the Rangers have got a lot of pressure on them this season...Expectations are sooooo high for this team after the World Series last year..Going back to 2005, The World Series has had a different team representing the AL....So its starting to get "rare" to see the same in the WS year in and year out...I think the Rangers have lost some keys players to that success of last season...I know Lee was a late acquisition but not having him is gonna hurt..Vlad being gone too is gonna hurt, even though he couldnt play defense, his bat will be missed...The pitching roation this year is so so, nothing that is gonna scare anybody...Shame on the Rangers for not going and getting a Garza or someone of that caliber...Just cause ya didnt get Lee, dont just quit trying to get a quality starter...So i wont feel sorry for the Rangers when everyone starts talking about how the pitching staff isnt that great...And hanging your hat on Webb to be the cy young pitcher he was back in 2006 is just "crazy talk"...i wouldnt have given that guy 1 million pennies...have fun watching him sit in the bullpen all year cracking sunflower seeds.... and keep talking about Davis he will be back in triple A quicker than you can blink...I hope im wrong about all this cause i did enjoy the Rangers in WS last year but i think the road to the WS doesnt go thru Arlington this year...
ReplyDeleteI agree on Davis, I don't expect him to make the big club, but Webb is well worth the risk. His contract is incentive based and cheap relative to the potential. I don't expect Webb to be the same as 2006, but with the ridiculous salaries of starting pitching now days the reward for taking a chance on Webb far out weighs the risk.
ReplyDeleteI will give my money to someone that i know is gonna be able to pitch, not someone i hope can pitch again....got a feeling if they are still in the hunt before the trade deadline, michael young will be gone....
ReplyDeleteand thats when they will get a pitcher....
ReplyDelete