Surprise Five: Tennis balls are yellow, and Darvish is in Cubs blue
The biggest debate of spring training went down Wednesday morning in the Texas Rangers' clubhouse.
Are tennis balls yellow or green?
The overwhelming majority of those polled, and there were a lot of them on a slow day, said yellow. Michael Young was on Team Green, foolishly, but yellow-camper Jake Diekman provided evidence — an actual Penn tennis ball — that had Young leaning the right way.
Third baseman Adrian Beltre, being his usual coy self, responded with, "You tell me." But even he quickly provided the correct answer of yellow.
Manager Jeff Banister was in the same camp, but infielder Trevor Plouffe quickly voted green.
That's not why he was told that he won't be making the team out of spring training.
Ah, yes, there was news amid the silly debate.
Here's the Surprise Five from Wednesday.
1. The biggest crowd for a Rangers game this spring was filled by mostly with Chicago Cubs fans who came out in droves to watch what looked like an Opening Day batting order and to see Yu Darvish pitch against his old team.
He left his old team fairly helpless at the plate, allowing only one run on three hits. Two of them came in the first inning, so that hasn't changed with Darvish, and the third was a solo homer by Juan Centeno.
Maybe the catcher, acquired in the off-season on a waiver claim from the Houston Astros, remembers a thing or two from those World Series scouting reports.
The Rangers would have taken Darvish back gladly, but they didn't want to spend the money it would have taken. It turned out to be not nearly what the early market forecasts projected, but Rangers ownership didn't want to open their wallets.
Darvish looked like he normally does, though he pitched with more tempo. Granted, the Rangers didn't put many runners on base to slow him down.
They sent some trash talk his way, friendly in nature, and he and Banister exchanged tips of the cap when it was all done.
Darvish then did his usually duty with the media, first with the Americans and then with the Japanese. Yes, we had to wait on him.
That hasn't changed either.
But that's fine. He's with Cubs now, so their beat writers get to experience the joys that can come with talking to him.
The Rangers, though, miss their friend. They'll miss that caliber of pitching.
They could have had him.
2. The roster decision creating the most angst on the Twitter was Destin Hood being told he would start the season at Triple A Round Rock, which means that Ryan Rua will be on the Opening Day roster for the fourth straight season.
Hood has been one of the Rangers' best offensive players this spring, though his power numbers are similar to Rua's. He plays right field well, left field adequately and is learning first base, while Rua plays left field better, right field adequately and know first base.
Rua also has a place on the 40-man roster, which Hood doesn't. The Rangers don't either after sending cash to the Philadelphia Phillies for infielder Eliezer Alvarez, who had been designated for assignment.
Hood wasn't thrilled with the news, but it didn't ruin his confidence.
"I did all I could, so I can't be disappointed in that," Hood said. "It's just something that happens in decision-making times. Unfortunately, it wasn't a decision in my favor."
The sense is that Hood will be with the Rangers at some point this season if he continues playing at his current level. The Rangers want him to play more in left field and at first base once a week.
Mix in his right-handed power, and he sounds a lot like Rua.
Banister said that Hood "has been a joy in camp," and Hood has warm-and-fuzzies for the Rangers organization.
Don't lose track of this player.
3. The Hood news also means that Carlos Tocci will make the team if — and this is a big if — the Rangers go with seven relievers. That would allow them to go with four bench players.
But a case is being made for eight relievers, which the Rangers used much of last season. Going with eight could allow them to find a spot for Kevin Jepsen, though they would have to zap someone from the 40-man and option a reliever to the minors.
They could also put Tony Barnette (back) on the disabled list, but he said that he's feeling better.
If the Rangers have designs on using Jesse Chavez as a spot start, it would seem like they would need an eighth arm in the bullpen. They have told Chavez to focus on being a reliever, but that won't prevent him from swinging into the rotation.
An eighth reliever is probably more important to the team than a defensive-minded outfielder. Drew Robinson can hold his own in center field if something goes awry with Delino DeShields, who, the Rangers have said all spring, is nearing elite defensive status.
The Rule 5 status Tocci carries will be a factor in the decision-making process. There's no doubt that he is a nice defender, but his hitting is lacking too much for the Rangers to hide it for 162 games.
He might be in limbo until next week as the Rangers mull seven or eight and three or four.
4. The Rangers' starting pitcher struggled for a second consecutive day. Doug Fister allowed seven runs on 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings Tuesday, and Matt Moore followed that up with five runs on eight hits in two-plus innings against the Cubs.
It was his second straight clunker as the hitters start to catch up with the pitchers. Of particular concern for the left-hander is how lefty hitters fared against him coming off a season in which they rattled him at an MLB-high .363 clip.
The Cubs' three lefty hitters batting .750 against Moore. Granted, it was only 3 for 4, but the three were a sharp single (Anthony Rizzo), a roped solo homer (Kyle Schwarber) and a double (Jason Heyward). The sacrifice fly Schwarber had in the first drove DeShields to the center field wall.
Moore, though, actually pleased with his stuff but maybe not his pitch selection. He conceded that he needs to be better against lefties, but it hasn't been a major springtime focus.
"I did notice it," Moore said. "That can't be the case, or you're not going to be around long."
The Rangers haven't exactly been playing cleanly. Right fielder Nomar Mazara had an adventure Wednesday, with three dicey plays behind Moore. The Rangers' offense has disappeared the past three games, and they haven't won a game since last Thursday.
These games don't count, and lineups are often littered with minor-leaguers who won't be on the Opening Day roster. So, this 0-6-1 stretch with three days left in camp isn't terrible disconcerting to Banister.
"Do you want to get the mind-set of winning games? Absolutely," he said. "Anytime you suit up you want to win a game, but ... we really haven't had our full complement of players on a consistent basis. We're getting closer to that."
5. It was a good day, however, for the bullpen.
Keone Kela and Chris Martin completed their back-to-back tests with scoreless innings, and Matt Bush had his best inning of the spring as a reliever or a starter.
He pumped his fastball as high as 98 mph, which Darvish took before it even left his hand. Bush said that he made a mechanical adjustment after his three outings, in which he allowed nine runs.
He saw on video that standing more upright helps his command and allows his power to be more effective. That's what Banister saw in a perfect inning, and they shared a big bear hug before Bush reached the dugout.
"I think that was more on his end," Banister said. "We talked about a few things, and he put them into play."
Banister and Kela also had a chat following his scoreless inning. He told Banister that he is ready, that there should be no more concerns about the shoulder stiffness that slowed him for 10 days.
"The biggest thing is I feel healthy," Kela said. "It was just simply dead arm. I went through that stretch where I amped up a little too quick."
Those looking for a silver lining from Wednesday can look at the bullpen.
This story was originally published March 21, 2018 at 7:09 PM with the headline "Surprise Five: Tennis balls are yellow, and Darvish is in Cubs blue."