Peeved Rangers determined to prove their critics wrong

Spring training 2015 is about to be underway for the Texas Rangers, whose pitchers and catchers reported Friday to the Surprise Recreation Campus and will have their first workout Saturday.

High spirits were flooding the Rangers’ clubhouse, as is the case every year in every camp. Every player is in the best shape of his life, every team is undefeated, the grass is green, and the baseballs are all still white.

But beneath all the giddiness is a team with a bit of an edge to it. The Rangers have been disregarded as contenders in the American League West in many early preseason forecasts, which also believe the Rangers will need a good deal of good fortune to be in the wild-card mix.

The team that four seasons running was a 90-win AL stalwart has been cast aside after a dismal 2014 that started with expectations of another 90 wins before injuries scrubbed the season.

Many Rangers are ready to flip the preseason script that has been written for them, and then flip something else when all is said and done. Being peeved in February could be a good thing come September.

“I feel it,” manager Jeff Banister said. “That’s a good fire-starter, really. As a competitor, when someone tells you you can’t do something, if you have any competitive bone in your body, it’s just extra fodder to prove them wrong.

“There is an edge. It’s the collective edge that probably means the most to me. You talk to all the guys in the clubhouse, and that’s really what has driven them all season long and gotten them to this point.”

Banister will be looking for this mentality to be built upon each day of camp. Win each day, which doesn’t mean going unbeaten through the spring schedule but getting better each day and staying healthy.

That won’t be easy, especially with the Rangers’ cursed injury luck last season still fresh in most minds. The resulting 67-95 mark left an impression on those paid to forecast the 2015 season, and an off-season that lacked a nine-figure free-agent splash didn’t change the losing perception.

Prince Fielder won’t be the same after neck surgery. Shin-Shoo Choo is a bust. Elvis Andrus is, too. Colby Lewis can’t be effective any more. Yu Darvish is a quitter. Neftali Feliz is a liability at closer.

Sound familiar?

Internally, though, the Rangers have moved away from 2014 by seeing how injured players have recovered, how those who underperformed in 2014 have trained, and by how young players have matured and continued their development.

The team that the same prognosticators thought would win the West last season is mostly back.

“Actually, I think we might be more talented,” said general manager Jon Daniels, who added Yovani Gallardo as the No. 3 starter, strengthened the numbers in rotation depth, and believes there are more young players who can make an impact this season.

“It’s a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately industry. We weren’t very good last year, and that’s the taste we left in people’s mouths. I get it. We’ve got some questions, if you’re on the outside looking in.

“We feel confident because we’ve been around these guys, we’ve seen the work that’s gone in this winter, we know the preparation from a staff standpoint, and to those questions we feel like we’re a lot more confident in some of the answers. But it’s going to play out on the field, and I’m looking forward to seeing it start tomorrow.”

Derek Holland is leading the charge among pitchers, continuing to pump the gas after returning from knee surgery in September, but veteran Colby Lewis sees an extra bit of motivation as he surveys those who arrived to camp early and those who bother to read season forecasts.

Just about every pitcher on the roster beat reporting day by at least a few days, and that has meaning.

“It shows we’re ready to go,” Holland said. “We’ve been waiting for this day. It means baseball is finally here.”

And a chance to shove those underwhelming preseason predictions has also arrived.

This story was originally published February 20, 2015 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Peeved Rangers determined to prove their critics wrong."