Heating UP

Unfortunately the only thing heating up at the Ballpark is the mercury. The boys of summer were 1 hit last night and dropped 2 of 3 to the Padres. The Angels come to town tonight for 3 followed by 4 with the Mariners, this could be a critical stage in this teams season. If the next 7 games are as ugly as the previous seven, we could find ourselves 5-6 games back in no time.

All i'm hearing on the trade news is that Daniels would like to add bullpen help, and yes we probaby do need another solid arm in the pen. This front office is still refuses to admit this offense is going nowhere right now. If this is the plan stick with the young guns and see where this team is going for the future, then why in the hell don't we trade Millwood, Jones, Padilla and get some more prospects for our young system.

CHRIS

What a night for Chris Davis, 4 for 5 with a double and a HR. I honestly hope this was the beginning of something for him, being that i'm on that bandwagon to send him back down to AAA. His struggles have been the topic of many Ranger blogs and newspaper articles, but i'm sure that all of us critics will gladly eat crow if he continues to show signs of life at the plate.

The Rangers closed out the six game road swing 2-4 and managed to keep a .5 game lead in the AL WEST. It's early in the season, but the next 10 games could lend direction for the rest of the season.

Hellow Win Column

Good to see you again my friend!!! Padilla pitched a great game last night going 7 and allowing 1 run, in fact Padilla has had 4 starts now since clearing waivers in early June. Maybe being put on the waiver wire is what he needed, he's 3-0 and only allowed 6 runs in his last four starts.

I keep hearing that this line-up misses Hamilton and when he gets back things will get going. First of all, i like Josh Hamilton, but if your line-up goes into a talespin because a .240 hitter is missing you've got issues. Hamilton is one of the best defensive center fielders in the game and he had a great offensive year last year, but he has struggled at the plate thus far this season and honestly has no business being 3rd in the all-star voting for the OF. None the less, I will be glad to see him back in the line-up, just not sure him missing has anything to do with the woes.

a little break

lets get a little comic break from the bad baseball

Things could be worse!!

As bad as the hitting has been of late the Rangers still hold on to a slim lead in the west over the Angels and now surging Mariners. The truth is yes the bats are cold, but this team has only been 1 or 2 hits away from winning their last 4 games ( lost the last 4 games by a total of 6 runs) in large part due to the pitching staff which continues to be solid.

This morning in the Star Telegram, Gil Lebreton ( http://www.star-telegram.com/284/story/1445638.html ) argues to leave Chris Davis alone and look at bringing up a couple of more unproven young players to stick in the already struggling line up. If we were 10 games out already at this point I'd say sure, why not, but we're sitting a top of the A.L. West even through the recent struggles. If anything this team needs to add a couple of veteran hitters to the line-up, and that means that yes we would have to move some young talent elsewhere to get what this team desperately needs, solid AB's.

Is it just a funk?

The west coast road trip couldn't have started much worse, getting swept by the Giants after two great starts by Millwood and Holland. I'm really starting to question rather or not this last month of poor hitting is just a slump or something more. Hear me out, very few Rangers are getting quality AB's in this skid, a lot of first pitch swinging pop-outs. It's not unusual for 1 or 2 guys to struggle at any given point, but the whole roster is a bit concerning reguardless of what the players keep saying. The swings in this line-up are looking slow and extremely long. I keep harping on this, but I'm honestly starting to wonder outside of Young ( who gives you 200 hits a season year in year out) if maybe we are just an average team with guys that up to this point in the season were playing better than they are. Shorten those swings boys.



Go Rangers

Looking for the Positives

Tough loss last night, after blowing some chances in the 1st and 2nd inning the Rangers battled back to take a 4-3 lead in the 6th. Feldman found himself in a bad spot in the bottom of the 6th, with runners on 1st and 3rd with nobody out, Kinsler made a great play to double off the runner at 1st. The next batter Fred Lewis crushed the hopes of getting out of the inning when he took Feldman yard and the Giants bullpen did the rest.

Now lets look for the positives. Elvis Andrus really seems to be seeing the ball well right now going 2-4 last night. He is showing some patience at the plate that the rest of this team could learn from, he is becoming a tough out and not many Rangers can say that of late. Scott Feldman threw a decent game last night going 6 innings, the go ahead homerun he gave up in the 6th was not a bad pitch, and the Rangers did have plenty of chances in this game to score more runs. Michael Young went yard for the 2nd time in two games, and Byrd came through with a clutch double to give them the lead in the 6th.

I still believe in this team, but have two real concerns looking at the rest of the season. First, can this pitching staff continue to be solid, and more so will the bats wake up in time to make this a season to remember. This is a fun young team to watch and the pitching this far has definately been the big bright spot. Trying to keep it positive this morning, the reality post will probably come later.

Go Rangers