Texas Rangers Baseball Thread

[BigTex]

One of the mistakes the MLB is making is denying the fan the satisfaction of seeing a shutout or a no-hitter. Martin Perez was pulled tonight throwing a shutout. He had 88 pitches. The Phillies pitcher was also pulled while throwing a shutout. He had 77 pitches.

[Mark]

Did anybody see the Eli White single in the 8th inning last night with the three base error by left fielder Brandon Marsh? Where was the best player on the planet, center fielder Mike Trout? Shouldn't he have been coming over to back up Marsh on that play? The ball got by Marsh in shallow left field and rolled all the way to the wall. Marsh had to run all the way to the wall to track down the ball. The speedy White easily made it around the bases before Marsh got the ball back to the infield.

The Rangers scored 7 runs in that 8th inning, and won the game going away. They're playing pretty well right now. After their horrible start, the Rangers are now within 3 games of .500.

[Mark]

Former Ranger great Wes Benjamin has signed to play baseball in Korea...





Wes Benjamin has signed with the KT Wiz of the Korea Baseball Organization, according to reports out of South Korea. He’ll make $331K in salary for the prorated portion of the season and is expected to report to the team early next month.

Benjamin, 28, had been in the White Sox organization after signing a minor league deal in February. The left-hander had started seven games with Triple-A Charlotte, posting a 3.82 ERA with a solid 24.6% strikeout rate across 30 2/3 innings. That seemed to make him a viable rotation depth candidate for a ChiSox club that hasn’t gotten much from back-end starters Vince Velasquez and Dallas Keuchel. It doesn’t appear Benjamin was on the verge of a big league call, though, and the Sox granted him his release to pursue this opportunity in Asia.

While Benjamin didn’t make it to the majors with Chicago, he appeared at the game’s highest level in each of the previous two seasons. Suiting up with the Rangers — the team that selected him out of the University of Kansas back in 2014 — he made 21 appearances from 2020-21. Benjamin tossed 45 frames of 6.80 ERA ball as a swing option in Texas.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/05/ ... t-wiz.html

[BigTex]

Yes I was watching the game last night. They are turning into a pretty fun team to watch. It's almost as if the first couple of weeks of the season was still spring training for them. And now things are coming together. Pitching still needs to improve.

[Mark]

I went back and watched the Eli White Little League homer on the MLB website today. Early on in that play, the camera showed the ball at the edge of the infield dirt, Walsh charging in, and Trout running from right center toward left. Trout did what he was supposed to do on that play. He was just way too far away to be of any use.

[Mark]

Another very nice win last night to complete the SWEEP of the Angels...

[BigTex]

Another very nice win last night to complete the SWEEP of the Angels...

If I got the numbers correct, Ohtani was 2-15 in the series.

[Mark]

Another very nice win last night to complete the SWEEP of the Angels...

If I got the numbers correct, Ohtani was 2-15 in the series.

2 for 14 is what I'm seeing. The Rangers seem to have figured out that he will reach if you break him low and away.

[BigTex]

Nice win by the Rangers Thursday on a ninth inning rally. Martin Perez with a quality start continues to impress.

[Mark]

Nice win by the Rangers Thursday on a ninth inning rally. Martin Perez with a quality start continues to impress.

We may be flipping him to a contender in about six weeks...

Or maybe the Rangers can work their way into contention in the AL West.

[Mark]

The Rangers jumped all over Oakland A's pitching yesterday and walked away with a blowout 11-4 win.

A win in Oakland today would get the Rangers to .500. Who saw that coming this soon after the horrible first two weeks of the season?

[BigTex]

Oh well, no sweep in Oakland. But the Rangers' needle definitely is pointing up.

[Mark]

The Rangers have placed Brad Miller on the DL today and designated Albert Abreu for assignment. Returning from Round Rock is Zach Reks, and being called up for the first time is Josh Smith. Smith was part of the package the Rangers received from the Yankees in last summer's Joey Gallo trade.

Smith has mainly played shortstop and second base throughout his minor league career, but this year at Round Rock, he has put in time at shortstop, third base, and center field. Hopefully, he is coming up to replace the black hole in the Ranger batting order otherwise known as Eli White's bat.

[Mark]

Smith is in tonight's lineup, playing third and batting eighth.

[BigTex]

Quite a debut for Josh Smith.

[BigTex]

Your .500 Texas Rangers.

[Mark]

It's a really long season, and there is a lot of ebb and flow to it, but the Rangers have played some of their sloppiest baseball of the season the past couple of days in Baltimore.

[BigTex]

True dat

[Mark]

The Rangers have an off day today before beginning a weekend series against the Twins in Arlington tomorrow. I believe they should have a mandatory fielding practice today from about 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm, at the ballpark, with the roof open.

[BigTex]

Really entertaining game Monday night. Rangers took advantage of a check swing hit, a balk, a couple of wild pitches, a Bill Buckner-esque error at first, and a pop fly collision to beat the A's. Allard tried to single handedly give the A's the game but Woody got him out of there. The highlight, of course, was Josh Smith's inside the park HR.

When they are on their game they are fun to watch.

I hated to see Gallo go but at this point I don't think he adds anything by coming back.