How a pitch that got away and a play that got away did in the Texas Rangers
Hidden by all the losses and the errors and the players hitting below .200 nearly halfway through the 60-game season, the Texas Rangers have quietly assembled a pretty stout stable of young relief arms.
Rafael Montero has been reasonably steady at closer. Jonathan Hernandez has been dominant in a setup role, and now Taylor Hearn is settling into his role and bidding for some higher leverage situations.
Though Kyle Cody has made only one appearance, it was as dominant an inning as a Rangers reliever has thrown all season.
But there’s a catch: Hernandez, Hearn and Cody were starting pitchers for the majority of their time in the minor leagues, and they could be given the chance to start in the majors as soon as next season.
The Rangers, of course, have a history of turning pitchers who break into the majors as relievers into starters. It hasn’t gone very well in several cases, with injuries putting a dent in pitchers’ careers.
So why would they even consider trying that again?
The rotation’s work the past 10 games might have something to do with it.
Here’s some Rangers reaction from a 10-3 loss to the Oakland A’s.
Gibson rattled?
The first pitch of the fourth inning was a 91-mph fastball from right-hander Kyle Gibson that hit A’s third baseman Matt Chapman on the ear flap of his helmet.
Gibson’s reaction was of disbelief and fright, with him putting both hands on top of his head as if to ask, “What have I just done?”
Even though it appeared Chapman wasn’t injured, Gibson stood around 20 feet from home plate, where an A’s athletic trainer was checking Chapman. Once Chapman made his way to first base, Gibson walked toward the first-base line and appeared to be offering an apology.
Gibson even gave Chapman some extra time at first base before taking the mound again.
“I don’t think that I’ve ever hit anybody like that,” Gibson said. “I just wanted to make sure I hung around home plate and let him know I wasn’t trying to do anything remotely close to that.”
Gibson had allowed one run to that point. Though he retired the next hitter, he surrendered a two-run homer to Matt Olson two batters later.
Gibson admitted that hitting a batter in the head has an unnerving effect, but because it wasn’t worse he was able to collect himself fairly quickly.
“I think because he was OK I wasn’t quite as rattled,” Gibson said. “It definitely shakes you up a little bit whenever something happens like that that’s close to being pretty severe. I think it might have a little bit more had he left the game and not seemed like he was doing OK. But I checked on him, he said he was doing good, and I hope that’s the case.”
Gibson would allow five runs in his final 3 1/3 innings, though two scored as the bullpen blew up in a five-run seventh inning.
One play that wasn’t made again cost the Rangers dearly. Runners were at first and third with one out when Marcus Semien sent a chopper to third baseman Todd Frazier. The runner at third, Tony Kemp, broke for home, and Frazier threw there.
Catcher Robinson Chirinos, though, slid as he caught the ball and couldn’t get the ball back to Frazier in time for the out. The next hitter walked, but Chapman struck out for what should have been the third out.
Instead the A’s turned a 5-3 lead into 10-3.
“It turned the game around right there,” manager Chris Woodward said. “If we go home, we’ve got to get the guy out. That’s the bottom line. We’ve got to make sure we execute those plays. Those plays are killing us.”
Gallo dropping
Joey Gallo had played in 15 consecutive games before getting Monday off for a needed mental break.
The 2019 All-Star is struggling at the plate, and his average dipped below .200 to .191 after going 0 for 4 against the A’s.
He has gone hitless in three straight after seeing a seven-game hitting streak snapped, is batting .194 (7-36) in his past 10 games and is batting .138 (9-65) in his past 19 games since peaking at .310.
“He’s been grinding pretty hard,” Woodward said. “Physically pretty tired. Pretty exhausted, to be honest with you. Mentally he was pretty fatigued.”
Gallo’s bad luck in the age of defensive shifts was documented last week by the Star-Telegram, but even with good luck he would still be hitting below the .253 he finished at last season and the .290 he climbed to in June 2019.
He’s still the Rangers’ most dangerous hitter, but there are others the Rangers would want at the plate with two outs in the ninth and the tying run at second base.
That title likely goes to Nick Solak or Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Jose Trevino might get some votes based on his performance of late.
Gallo is going to continue to play. He’s probably going to get his average back above .200. Somewhere in the .220s before season’s end seems reasonable.
But so far, this season has been a step backward from his 2019 breakthrough.
Taveras is a go
When I laid out the schedule of games I would be covering in the 60-game season, I put down Monday as a travel day from Seattle and would be off for the opener of the A’s-Rangers series.
The decision was made a few weeks ago that we would not travel via plane for Rangers games out of an abundance of caution during the coronavirus pandemic, but I didn’t change my schedule.
So, I missed out on seeing Leody Taveras’ first career hit and the chance to opine on the decision to promote him and start him, though I had written multiple times that it needed to be done.
After two games, it’s evident as to why.
He plays with energy, he plays a terrific center field and he doesn’t look the least bit out of place. The bat’s going to come, though he’s had a hit in both of his career starts.
The defense shouldn’t be overlooked. Taveras tracked down a Mark Canha drive in the first inning, racing into right-center field and camping under it at the wall.
He made it look easy.
That ball might have been an RBI double had Solak been playing center. He’s held his own in learning the position, but he’s nowhere near as good out there as Taveras.
Scott Heineman would have had a good chance to catch it, though it would have been a tougher play for him than it was for Taveras.
I’m curious to see if Taveras will cut down on the number of singles that have fallen in front of other center fielders. Outfielders play deep at Globe Life Field, but he’s so good that he can play shallower without getting burned on deep fly balls.
One of the best defensive center fielders of all time, Andruw Jones, played notoriously shallow. Delino DeShields was urged to play in the past few seasons with the Rangers.
We should know more in a couple weeks.
In the meantime, take note of Taveras. He can play.
