Volquez allowed only two runs but didn’t work four innings. Did he do his job for Rangers?
Not every team can have its season opener at home, and the Los Angeles Angels were one of the 15 clubs who had to start the 2019 season on the road.
It was a long road, too, as they went 1-5 at Seattle and Oakland.
Maybe that accounted for what felt like a lackluster crowd Thursday night at the Big A and a lot of empty seats for the Angels’ home opener.
The Rangers took out what starch the crowd had with a quick, powerful start.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from an 11-4 victory.
1. Edinson Volquez allowed two fewer runs while recording one fewer out than in his 2019 debut. Technically speaking, he was better his second time this season but still left plenty of room for improvement.
Oh, the Rangers won the game.
They also won Tuesday when Shelby Miller had a similar start against the Houston Astros. They nearly won Monday when Drew Smyly had, yes, a similar start against the Astros.
In four games started by the three pitchers coming off Tommy John surgery, the Rangers are 3-1. Neither of them has pitched more than four innings, but with the exception of Volquez’s first start have allowed only two runs apiece.
Keep in mind that the bare minimum task for a starter is to keep his team in the game.
So, have Volquez, Smyly and Miller done their job?
By today’s standards, with bullpens being relied upon more and more, the answer is yes. Maybe barely, but yes.
Volquez did it Thursday by limiting damage. The only runs against him were solo shots by Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout. The Angels had six other base runners, but couldn’t push across another run.
Manager Chris Woodward didn’t seem discouraged by Volquez’s outing.
“He battled,” Woodward said. “He didn’t feel like he had his best stuff today. He didn’t have much fastball command, but he battled through it. It was a real testament to his will to get through today.”
Volquez had enough moxy or guile or whatever to keep the Angels at an arm’s length. The offense had more than enough to put the Angels away.
2. The hitters picked up Volquez for the second straight start, but this time they staked him to a big lead rather than having to come from behind.
Joey Gallo connected for a towering three-run homer and Ronald Guzman lined a two-run shot just inside the foul pole in a five-run first inning, and the Rangers were up 6-2 when Volquez exited.
“When you can get some early runs and give your pitchers some leeway, it definitely helps,” Gallo said. “It was a huge first inning for us.”
Shin-Soo Choo collected career hit No. 1,500 and added a key three-run double with two outs in the fifth just when it looked like the Rangers might waste a bases-loaded no-outs situation.
That one took a lot of pressure off Woodward, who could use Jeffrey Springs for 2 1/3 innings, Jeanmar Gomez in the seventh, Kyle Dowdy for the final two innings and avoid the temptation of using Shawn Kelley and Jose Leclerc for a third straight night.
They weren’t available.
Thanks to Mike Minor’s seven innings Wednesday, the Rangers had six relievers working on at least a day’s rest. Lance Lynn should get the Rangers deep into Friday’s game and have a fairly full bullpen for Smyly and Miller on Saturday and Sunday if they go as short as Volquez did.
3. The minor-league season got under way Thursday night, and the Texas Rangers had some of their best pitchers on the mound: Taylor Hearn for Triple A Nashville, Brock Burke for Double A Frisco, Tyler Phillips for High A Down East and Hans Crouse for Low A Hickory.
They all did something good, even though none of the four was credited with a win. Hearn and Burke took losses.
Willie Calhoun did some good, too, going 1 for 3 with a double, an RBI and two walks as Nashville lost 5-4. Meanwhile, Nomar Mazara was nursing a sore left quadriceps on a previously scheduled day off.
Mazara said that he will be in the lineup Friday, which is good news.
That got Rangers Reaction thinking about what it would take for the Rangers to recall Calhoun.
The Rangers don’t want Calhoun to be a reserve outfielder, so it would take an injury to Mazara or Gallo or Choo, not an injury to Hunter Pence or Delino DeShields.
The Rangers could plug Calhoun in every day to replace one of the three lefty-hitting outfielders and keep Pence in a reserve role. If DeShields, who was hit by pitch Thursday on the left hand, were to hit the injured list, the thinking here is that Zack Granite or Danny Santana would be brought up from Nashville because they are center fielders.
They could back up Gallo in center and start there semi-regularly, and there wouldn’t be nearly the concern about the everyday at-bats they would be losing as there would be with Calhoun.
It appears as if he will be a Triple A for some time, just as he was last season before Mazara hit the disabled list to start the second half.
This story was originally published April 5, 2019 at 2:05 AM.
