The Rangers and Derek Holland took on their own minor league team, the Roundrock Express, this evening. Battle of the systems!!!

Since the game wasn’t on tv or on MLB radio (Stupid non-broadcasted games- I’m not bitter or anything, I swear), this is all I can tell you.  Moreland, Beltre and Hamilton all bombed homers and the final score was 10-8 Rangers…Apparently our farm system can hit too.

But don’t worry!!! Even though I can’t tell you much about the game there are a couple of things to go over before the season starts!!!

The Rangers finalized their bench for opening day: Craig Gentry, Brandon Snyder and Alberto Gonzalez will all be there. Julio Borbon (who’s been the Rangers starting center fielder on Opening Day for the past two years) will not. He will start the season in Triple A.

Side note: Washington is going to let Round Rock manager, Bobby Jones, decide whether it will be Borbon or top prospect Leonys Martin starting in center. It should be interesting!

There was some close competition between Alberto Gonzalez and Luis Hernandez but in the end Gonzalez had more major league experience.

There was also talk of moving Hamilton to left but it looks like Hamilton will start in center making room for someone else in left…. (David Murphy!!! Come on Wash make it happen!)

The Rangers will take on Mexico City’s Diablos Rojos del Mexico tomorrow night at the Ballpark at 7:05 pm CST.

COUNTDOWN TO OPENING DAY! 4 DAYS!!!!!

The Rangers win! Thaaaaaaaa Rangers win! Oh…it’s just spring training. But after going into the game with a 4 and 12 record, it’s nice to get another win even if it was against a Chicago Cubs split squad.

PITCHING: In Mesa, Arizona, the big news that came out of today’s game is that Neftali Feliz, the Rangers superstar pitcher, came out of the game an inning early with a sore shoulder…uh oh. He was scheduled to pitch four innings, but was removed after the third.

The 3 innings Nefti pitched were 3 scoreless, solid innings. On 49 pitches, he gave us 2 hits with 2 punch outs and a walk. He also was able to get out of a few jambs, which is always good news for a starter-in-training.

» Continue reading “Texas Rangers: Is Feliz’s Shoulder Okay?”

After a night of gambling in a Las Vegas gas station (okay, not really, but I like to think so), Derek Holland took the mound for the Rangers and dominated the Cubs with 4 innings of 1 hit ball. He ended his mound time with 0 runs, 2 punch outs, and 0 walks…pretty dang nice if you ask me.

Holland also threw 36 strikes on 52 pitches, and it was his third straight outing without giving up a walk. He would end up with the win for the Rangers, his second this spring.

» Continue reading “Texas Rangers: Derek Dominates Cubs In Vegas”

Derek Holland took the mound for the Rangers in his 2nd outing this Spring.  Holland spent the outing working mainly on his fastball-changeup combination.  He breezed through his first 2 innings, but ran into a bit of trouble in the 3rd.  A lead0ff double, followed by a single, a wild pitch and then a sac fly, gave the Indians their only run.  Derek went 3 innings, allowed 3 hits and struck out 4.  Overall, a pretty good outing for the lefty.

» Continue reading “Errors And Doubles Give Rangers Win Over Indians”

Pitching dominated the game for both teams today, the big difference being the White Sox started what could be considered their Opening Day lineup, while the Rangers started a combination of kids and players vying to make the roster.

The Arms:

Colby Lewis was sharper than Don Draper, pitching 4 perfect innings, striking out 5, including the side in the bottom of the 2nd. He struck out the lead off hitter in the first two innings. His command of off-speed stuff was mid -season form.  Scott Feldman pitched next, went 3 innings, and gave up the first two hits for the Pale Hose. He struck out 3.

» Continue reading “Texas Rangers Waste Lewis’ Perfect Outing In Loss”

The Rangers took the field again Friday afternoon, playing themselves yet again.  The highlight of this game was, by far, Yu Darvish taking the mound.

Darvish seemed a bit nervous and had some control issues.  He fell behind in the count to both Kinsler and Andrus, but was able to get both out (Kinsler flied out to left and Andrus struck out).  A walk to Hamilton prompted Mike Maddux to visit the mound which must have been magical since he got ahead of Beltre 0-2 and was able to get the third baseman to ground out.  Darvish threw 21 pitches, 11 for strikes.

You can see Darvish making his first pitches here.  (BTW the music is sort of weird, and it’s kind of far away and shot from the side, so don’t get too excited.)

I’m interested to see how he does next time around now that he has that first time on the mound thing out of the way.  Darvish’s first official Spring Training start will be Wednesday against the Padres.

A few other notes from Friday:

• Beltre and Cruz both played on Friday, but were limited on how hard they could run on the base paths – just precautionary measures since neither are injured.
• Torrealba was out again Friday with the same illness that plagued him Thursday.
• Colby Lewis, Scott Feldman, and Michael Kirkman will be taking the mound agains the Royals on Sunday for the Rangers’ first Spring Training game.
• Both Leonys Martin and Julio Borbon played the entire game in Center Field.  Since they are both competing for the CF position with Craig Gentry, many are speculating that one may be traded before everything is said and done.
• Neal Cotts, a left-handed relief pitcher who was signed to a Minor League contract a couple of weeks ago, has been quite impressive at camp thus far.  If he keeps it up, he may get some consideration for a spot in the ‘pen.

No game action Saturday, but the Rangers take the field against the Royals on Sunday at 1:05pm.  Yay baseball!

Texas, who has been struggling to provide run support in its last several games, managed to put together a couple of solid innings tonight. Michael Young and David Murphy both hit solo home runs early in the game. Julio Borbon tripled to bring in two more runs in the second inning, and he ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly from Ian Kinsler. Derek Holland struck out three batters in the first two innings, and things were looking up for the Rangers, who had a 5-0 lead after two.

All signs were pointing to Holland getting another quality start on the season, but something went terribly wrong in the third, as he walked four batters and gave up as many runs. Holland managed to get out of the inning with the Rangers still ahead, but when he walked the first batter to start the fourth, his night was finished.

Brett Tomko relieved Holland and pitched well until he gave up the game-tying home run in the sixth by Nick Swisher. However, Texas immediately regained the lead on a squeeze play to score Mitch Moreland and added another run on a single by Michael Young. The Rangers went up 7-5 in the bottom of the sixth and would not relinquish that lead. Neftali Feliz, who just returned from the DL, came in to close. He forced all three batters in the ninth to ground out and got his sixth save of the season.

The final game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1:05 CT.

Texas signed 23-year-old Leonys Martin from Cuba to a five-year, $15.5 million deal. According to the Rangers official website, the 6-foot-1 outfielder is “currently working out in extended Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona, and will most likely begin his season at Double-A Frisco. He is a left-handed hitter with the speed and on-base ability to be a leadoff hitter and is considered a potential premium defensive player.”

After Josh Hamilton went down with an injury early in the season, Mitch Moreland and David Murphy have both been playing in the outfield regularly and have done a decent job. Julio Borbon was named the starting center fielder even before Hamilton went down, but after committing several errors leading up to the season, Texas does not have a lot of confidence in him. Nelson Cruz is by far the best outfielder the Rangers have, and he left yesterday’s game against the Mariners with a tight quad. All to say, Texas could certainly use some help in the outfield.

Martin’s set of skills sounds an awful lot like Julio Borbon. He has exceptional speed and the ability to cover a lot of ground, but he is not a powerful hitter. He will find ways to get on base by using his speed and can do a lot of damage as a baserunner. With a powerful arm and strong defensive skills, the Rangers hope that he will help the team in a myriad of ways once called to Arlington.