Woodward has his reason for not moving Gallo to first base, and it’s hard to argue it
After six weeks of spring training and less than two weeks into the 2019 season, the Texas Rangers get to enjoy an off day Monday back in Arizona.
It would seem unlikely that any of the players will make the trek from their tony hotel in Phoenix out to the Surprise Recreation Campus, unless they forgot something when fleeing town late last month.
There are players in Surprise, either minor-leaguers who didn’t break camp with a full-season affliate or players recovering from serious injuries. A few of the Rangers’ top prospects, including right-hander Cole Winn, are still in Arizona.
Some Rangers players might need the day to shake off the effects of their Sunday night. A birthday party for Adrian Beltre, who turned 40 on Sunday, was on the agenda for a good chunk of the team.
Party responsibly, kids.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 7-2 loss to Los Angeles Angels.
1. Not to be a Negative Nellie, but a slump is coming for Joey Gallo. A slump is coming for Mike Trout, too.
The Rangers are leaving town, after all.
All players go through slumps during a season, probably more than one. The key is finding a way to stop them quickly.
The players who do that best are the ones who believe in their approaches and swings and don’t go into panic mode and starting changing things.
And that’s where the strong start to Gallo’s season comes into play. The Rangers asked him to make some significant changes in the off-season (keeping the bat in the zone longer, shrinking his strike zone), and he should have the confidence to know that the changes are making him better and to stick with them when the slumps hit.
Manager Chris Woodward might also be onto something when he says he doesn’t want to disrupt Gallo’s current frame of mind by asking him to move to first base. Gallo would do it if asked, and maybe he gets a game or two there while Ronald Guzman is on the injured list.
But the Rangers will give him a chance to work their first rather than just throwing him into the fire and give him something to worry about other than just hitting the snot out of the baseball.
Gallo has never been this good in his MLB career, so why mess with it?
2. Shelby Miller has been better in his career, a lot better, but that was a trade, a disaster in Arizona and a Tommy John surgery ago.
Amid the base runners and high pitch counts through two starts, the right-hander is showing signs that the can be effective again. He is also showing that he’s going to need some time to get there.
The velocity is there. The stuff is there. The command is there only on occasion, and that’s a problem.
Command is often the last thing to come for a pitcher as he tries to come back from Tommy John. Miller’s comeback last season was thwarted by more elbow issues, so he’s still in the midst of working through things.
“Was my command as sharp as it was when my arm was perfect and I hadn’t had any surgery? Probably not,” Miller said. “But at the same time, my game play was simpler than me trying to throw fastballs by every single hitter there is. I’m just not using my pitches as efficient as I should.”
He worked on some mechanical tweaks between starts in an effort to keep his fastball from flattening out. Maybe there’s a tweak coming to help him dial in his command.
Miller needed only 16 pitches in a 1-2-3 first inning but threw 39 as the Angels scored four times in the second. It would have been seven if not for a terrific diving stop by third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera to end the inning with the bases loaded.
That was the hardest hit ball of the inning, though not the only hard-hit ball. There were also three walks (one intentional to Trout) and a hit batsman.
He was better in the third, but was undone by a shift-beating single and a Cabrera error before Woodward summoned Jeffrey Springs from the bullpen.
As difficult is it might be, patience is needed with Miller. And Drew Smyly for that matter, too.
3. The Rangers’ first road series of the season didn’t go too swifty, though it started out really well with their third straight win. It ended with their third straight loss, Trout connecting five times in the four games, and two key players (Guzman and Edinson Volquez) on the disabled list.
The culprit at the plate Sunday was the first three hitters Rangers spoiling a bases-loaded no-outs situation in the fifth inning. Shin-Soo Choo missed swung through a fastball, so did Rougned Odor after chasing ball four a pitch earlier, and Elvis Andrus lined to third.
Trout followed with his two-run shot an inning later.
Next up for the Rangers is a two-game interleague series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and some interesting lineup decisions ahead for Woodward. He has one thing working for him as National League rules take effect.
“I’m not a huge pinch-hit guy,” he said.
As such, the Rangers are leaning toward not calling up an extra bench player for the two games, and Delino DeShields will likely be out of the lineup Tuesday as Woodward tries to keep as many left-handed bats in the lineup against D’backs right-hander Zack Greinke.
The sense here is that Greinke will pitch better than his 9.37 ERA indicates. Greinke, who homers twice in his last start, will also be a handful for left-hander Mike Minor.
First up, though, is a day off back in Arizona.
This story was originally published April 7, 2019 at 7:22 PM.
