Elvis Andrus is only 32, but season-ending back woes show the many miles on his tires
The purists will say that seven-inning games in the major leagues is pure rubbish.
To that I say, you’ve never been on deadline.
Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward said before the game that the media was going to love seven-inning games. Perhaps he has heard our moans when a three-hour game is considered fast these days.
Truth be told, I’m not lobbying for seven-inning games. However, I think I like that more than starting with a runner at second base in extra innings.
That rule, though, seems to be favored by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. A new round of bargaining on the basic agreement is ahead in 2021, when it’s a safe bet the extra-innings rule comes up.
Hold your ground, players association.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from a Saturday’s two seven-inning games with the Oakland A’s. The Rangers won the first, 5-2, but were handled pretty easily in the second, 10-1.
Andrus’ season done
There was a fairly telling moment, it turns out, during the first game that explained in part what happened after it.
The Rangers had just taken a 3-0 lead on a three-run first-inning homer by Rougned Odor, and Andrus followed with a sharp liner near the left-field line. Since 2009, that’s been an easy double.
Andrus, though, thought better of going for two after a big turn around first base. He seemed to pull up gingerly, like someone had shot him in the rear with a paint ball, before returning to first.
Between games, he went on the injured list with continued issues in his lower back. The expectation is he will have a pain-relieving shot of some sort that will prevent him from playing again this season.
Anderson Tejeda will play shortstop most of the rest of the way, though he was out with a stomach bug Saturday. Isiah Kiner-Falefa moved to shortstop, and Sherten Apostel was at third in his MLB debut.
Kiner-Falefa will still be the Rangers’ third baseman even though Apostel is now on the roster. That could be very temporary, with the Rangers needing a roster spot to reinstate Willie Calhoun from the IL on Tuesday.
Andrus finishes 2020 with a .194 average and three homers, all hit in the past two weeks. He homered Friday night near the 410-foot sign by the Rangers’ bullpen in right-center field.
That, Woodward said, is an indication that the swing changes Andrus made during his last IL stint work. Maybe he can hold onto those during the off-season and find more success in 2021.
But here’s something else to keep in mind. Though only 32, Andrus has a lot of miles on his body. He made his MLB debut in 2009 and never went on the IL until early in 2018 when his arm was fractured by a fastball.
He was back on there last season, albeit briefly, and will finish 2020 with two stints.
Maybe the injuries and baseball miles are just a coincidence.
Then again, Father Time is undefeated.
About the Benjamin
The winning pitcher in Game 1 was left-hander Wes Benjamin, who allowed two runs in four innings for his first career victory. A starter throughout his minor-league career, Benjamin has worked exclusively in relief during his first MLB season.
He would like for that to change.
“I’m hoping that if there’s any questions if I could potentially start in this league, I would hope that I’ve resolved them a little bit,” he said. “I told Woody whatever it takes to win games, I think that’s going to the main goal for me. Whether it’s starting or relieving, I’m going to go out and do whatever I can to help the team win.”
Some of his success Saturday, he admitted, was because the A’s had never faced him. But he also pitched them differently the second time through the lineup, and that helped keep them off-balance.
He was much more effective than fellow lefies Kolby Allard (0-6) and Taylor Hearn were in Game 2. After a scoreless first, Allard didn’t retire a batter in the second, and it took a while for Hearn to get three outs.
The A’s scored seven times. Six of them (five earned) were charged to Allard, who has allowed 14 runs (13 earned) in his past two starts covering only 4 2/3 innings.
He allowed only three hits in his previous 12 1/3 innings, after which he was regarded as a strong candidate to be in the Rangers’ rotation next season.
He still is a candidate, but Benjamin is quietly making a case that maybe he should be, too. Benjamin, in fact, might start in Allard’s place next week.
Calhoun close
The addition of Calhoun to the roster will give the Rangers five outfielders — Calhoun, Joey Gallo, Leody Taveras, Nick Solak and Eli White — and only four spots to put them between the outfield and designated hitter.
Calhoun, though, will be limited to DH duty only, Woodward said, to make sure Calhoun doesn’t aggravate his hamstring injury. That leaves three outfield spots and second base to rotate the other four through on days Woodward wants them all in the lineup.
Odor would sit on those days, and Solak would play second.
That could be a problem for White.
Odor has homered in two straight games and had played in four straight before sitting in the night cap. Woodward said yet again Saturday that Odor would not be an everyday player the rest of the season, and might not play Sunday.
Tejeda’s health might affect that, though the Rangers lived without Odor in Game 2 with Tejeda ailing. The more Odor plays, though, the harder it is to believe the Rangers are planning to do anything with him until the off-season.
The chances of something happening then also seem dubious.
