Bullpen bites Texas Rangers again, but Shin-Soo Choo gives them something to chew on
Anyone who follows the Star-Telegram’s Texas Rangers/baseball coverage knows that baseball cards are a hobby of ours.
For those with really sharp memories, I’m one shy of completing the 1960 Topps set (No. 563, Mickey Mantle All-Star) and have under 100 to go on the 1962 Topps set.
I’ve jumped on some cards for the 7-year-old boy to have when he gets into the hobby, and Anthony Andro was kind enough years ago to give us a Mike Trout rookie card.
The card is currently being graded, and if it comes back 9.5 or higher, I’m telling Andro it was a 7.
Anyhoo, Saturday is National Baseball Card Day. Topps is recognizing the holiday by offering free packs of cards at participating card shops throughout the country as well as at participating Target and Wal-Mart stores.
SMP Sportscards in Grapevine; Superior Sports Investments, an online store that operates out of Mansfield; Collectible Investments in Bedford; and Gil’s Infield in Duncanville are among the area dealers Topps has lured into participating.
It sounds like fun, more fun than the Rangers are supplying right now.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a 6-4 loss to the Oakland A’s.
Message from Choo?
Shin-Soo Choo has been an everyday player for much of his career even though the left-handed hitter has struggled against lefty pitchers, with a .242 average and a .691 OPS.
But he entered Wednesday with only three plate appearances this season against lefties and didn’t play in the series opener Tuesday against a lefty. In essence, he has been a platoon player so far this season.
He started Game 2 against lefty Sean Manaea, though, and launched the first pitch of the game for a leadoff home run. The homer was a jolt the Rangers’ offense needed.
“That’s something Choo does really well for us,” manager Chris Woodward said. “He’s had a lot off success against Manaea, so I was anticipating that. He’s going to give you a quality at-bat. I’ve challenged Choo vs. lefties to be more productive. If he continues to do that, he’s going to find himself in the lineup.”
The Rangers had scored two or fewer runs six times this season in nine games, but they cleared that and chased Manaea in a three-run fourth inning. Unfortunately, they had only one hit the rest of the way.
For all the woes about Choo’s numbers against lefties, he has a career .341 on-base percentage. Yeah, the Rangers could some of that right now.
Woodward said last season that Choo, who also had first-pitch homer Friday in a game the Rangers led until the fifth inning, is the one hitter he wanted other players to emulate.
Yet, Choo hasn’t played every day this season. He might have changed that with one swing Wednesday.
Gibson good, bullpen not
Here we go again.
The Rangers’ starting pitcher gave them a chance to win for the second straight game against the A’s, and for the second straight game the bullpen blew it.
Ian Gibaut gave up the lead almost as soon as he was asked to protect it, surrendering a two-run homer to No. 9 hitter Austin Allen. It was the first homer of Allen’s career.
Gibaut took over for Kyle Gibson, who in his second Rangers start allowed three runs in six innings. All three runs came on homers, including a two-run shot to Matt Olson in the first inning that answered Choo’s leadoff shot.
Luke Farrell pitched the eighth, and Olson launched his first pitch for a home run.
The Rangers have the worst bullpen ERA in the American League.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t make pitches to keep the lead,” manager Chris Woodward said. “It’s tough. We need to win ballgames. ... “
“We can’t let this go much further.”
Here’s some good news, though: Rafael Montero (forearm) could be activated from the injured as soon as Friday. All was right where it needed to be Tuesday as he tossed an inning in an intrasquad game at the alternate camp.
Montero was the primary eighth-inning reliever to finish last season. He could fill that role again, with Jonathan Hernandez becoming the closer, or Montero could be the closer and Hernandez the set-up man.
The Rangers could choose to ease Montero back in for a couple outings, but they really don’t have that luxury right now.
Deadline day
MLB teams must trim their active rosters by two Thursday, from 30 to 28, and the league and the MLB Players Association agreed that roster will stay at 28 rather receive another haircut to 26 in two weeks.
If Rougned Odor’s oblique isn’t any better, he could be one player removed. The other could be one of the three catchers, with Jose Trevino more likely to be sent to the alternate camp than Jeff Mathis designated for assignment.
In listening to Woodward talk before the game, Odor seems destined for the injured list. He was injured Saturday and exited a game at San Francisco early, and his attempts at swinging Tuesday didn’t go well.
There wasn’t much improvement Wednesday, when the IL became a more distinct possibility.
“Obviously, I don’t want to do that, because as soon as Rougie is ready to play, I want to play him,” Woodward said. “We need him right now. If he is going to be out for a number of days, then, yeah, it would make sense. We can’t have a three- or four-man bench with a 28-man roster. It would be kind of silly.”
Odor is batting only .125 (3 for 24) this season with one home run. The Rangers were impressed with his final month last season and how he carried over the swing changes through the offseason and into spring training and summer camp.
But he is off to a slow start for the fourth consecutive season, and is looking at a third straight early-season trip to the IL.
He would join center fielder Danny Santana (forearm), who hit the IL with a .059 average to start the season. (The taxi squad will also grow, from three to five. That might have kept the Rangers from activated rookie infielder Anderson Tejeda when Santana was injured.)
Would the Rangers be better with Odor and Santana in the lineup? Putting all cynicism aside, probably. They can’t be this bad all season, right?
Right?
