Rangers Reaction: Hamels piles up the strikeouts ... and his pitch count

Congratulations are in order for catcher Robinson Chirinos, who in the sixth inning Tuesday night broke through with his first hit of the season in his 17th at-bat and then added another in the ninth inning.

Every regular in the Texas Rangers' lineup now has at least one hit this season — even Rougned Odor. He also broke out with two hits, each an RBI single, after not collecting a hit since his first at-bat of the season.

Ryan Rua? Give him another hit, too.

The struggling Rangers' lineup managed 10 hits as they snapped a three-game losing streak. One was historic, as Adrian Beltre's single to start the second inning was career hit No. 3,053.

That one was good for a tie for 25th all-time with Rod Carew and also tied career for the most by a native of Latin America. The only foreign-born hitter with more hits is Ichiro Suzuki with 3,082.

Here's some Rangers Reaction from a 4-1 victory.

1. Cole Hamels struck out the side in the first inning, then did it again in the second. He got the first two in the second before an A's hitter finally hit a ball at a Rangers defender.

The left-hander wasn't done, picking up three more strikeouts to finish with 11 in five innings. That's the most in franchise history in an outing of five or fewer innings.

He might have been effectively wild, as he threw in three walks and 42 balls among his 94 pitches. But he also had an effective slider and changeup working.

Everyone knows about the changeup, though the Rangers reinforced it to Hamels during spring training with some fancy numbers, but the slider is a relative newcomer.

"It's finally turning into something," he said. "I just have to trust it and I just have to throw it."

The ability to use both to get outs could be the best development from Tuesday night.

"When you really look at it, I've always been known to have a dominant changeup," Hamels said. "It's trying to get back to keeping that in the hitter's head. That will create that separation to allow the cat-and-mouse game that we're going to have."

Add in seven strikeouts from Opening Day, and Hamels looks like he can be a strikeout pitcher again. But with his 11 Ks were the extension of a troubling early-season trend.

No Rangers starter has seen the seventh inning and only two, Hamels in the opener and Bartolo Colon on Monday, have seen the sixth inning.

"When you go full count on everybody, it's not a good thing," Hamels said. "It [11 strikeouts] looks good, but ultimately I have to get to that 100-pitch mark and I have to do it deeper in the ballgame."

That's no way to keep a bullpen healthy and effective all season. Manager Jeff Banister knows it, too, and already this season, during the season-opening stretch of 14 games in 14 days, is trying to get relievers their rest.

"You'd have to have a lot of guys with frequent flyer miles ready to roll," Banister said. "It is for the health of everyone of these guys. Three days in a row, we're probably not going to see that yet. It is about the health and the longtime productivity of these guys."

To that end, pitchers aren't going to be restricted to just going two times through an opposing batting order. Doug Fister was lifted after five innings Friday with the Houston Astros about to get a third look at him.

That won't necessarily be the case when Fister starts Wednesday against the A's.

"We'll assess each situation as it comes," Banister said. "This is not, 'He's only going to go two times through the lineup.' There are a lot of factors in there."

2. Colon is likely to stick in the Rangers' pitching staff in some capacity, probably the bullpen with the occasional spot start.

General manager Jon Daniels said that he is leaning that way. Colon was good Monday night (one run in six innings), and the Rangers have very little pitching depth. They can't afford to just give a starter away.

Colon said in spring training that he was willing to work out of the bullpen. He did it in the 2015 World Series under the eye of Dan Warthen, who was the New York Mets' pitching coach and is now the Rangers' assistant pitching coach.

This has a chance to work.

Daniels and crew have until Thursday morning to chew it over. They have a lot of relievers who can be optioned, though some of those with minor-league options remaining aren't in danger of being sent down. Keone Kela, who earned the save Tuesday, is one example.

The list starts with Jose Leclerc. Matt Bush also has options. If Colon is going to be the long man, could Jesse Chavez's roster spot be in jeopardy? Maybe, but the Rangers would still need length out of the bullpen on days Colon does start.

But the biggest takeaway is that Colon won't be one and done. That will sit well with many players on the team but none more so than Martin Perez, who needs the roster spot Thursday so that he can start the series finale.

Perez has opened his ears and his mind when Colon has spoken, and the Rangers believe they saw the Colon influence in Perez's two spring starts. He trusted his stuff and threw quality strikes, just as Colon does.

Colon should rub off on others on the staff. They all have stuff. They don't all have trust in it.

The 44-year-old Colon throws predominantly fastballs at 85 to 88 mph. If he can trust that, there's no reason why the younger, harder-throwing Rangers can't trust theirs.

3. The signing of catcher Cameron Rupp to a minor-league deal wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to the slow start by Chirinos, nor was it a panic move after seeing the everyday catcher nearly have his leg swept Monday night in a play at the plate.

The Rangers had been in contract with Rupp's agent, former Rangers pitcher Bobby Witt, since the Philadelphia Phillies released him March 26. The deal was finalized Sunday and announced Tuesday morning.

But it does have a lot to do with Chirinos, who, history shows, has had a hard time staying healthy. It also has a lot to do with the pecking order behind him.

The Rangers' current No. 2 catcher is Juan Centeno, who has caught 102 games in the majors. Brett Nicholas has 37. Rupp? He has 296.

"I don't think you can ever have enough quality catchers," Banister said. "Adding Rupp to the mix is just another level of major-league catching. It's essential, really. We do know that any given night anyone of these guys can go down."

Before the deal with Rupp, a Dallas native, the Rangers might have turned to Double A Frisco catcher Jose Trevino, ranked as the best defensive catcher in the minors by Baseball America, had Chirinos been struck by a serious injury.

Rupp would get those duties now and he might get Centeno's duties soon, though Centeno is out of minor-league options and the Rangers might want to hold onto him. But Rupp isn't about to replace Chirinos as the No. 1 catcher.

Yes, Chirinos has struggled so far at the plate ... through six games. But he's the catcher the pitchers rave about, and Banister wants the Rangers' catchers to manage games first and worry about offense second.

Chirinos can't be an automatic out, and he won't be. It would hurt the Rangers if he were to be injured, but that's always a possibility with a starting catcher.

And, for now, that's Rupp's best chance at significant playing time with the Rangers.

This story was originally published April 4, 2018 at 1:13 AM with the headline "Rangers Reaction: Hamels piles up the strikeouts ... and his pitch count."