Texas Rangers have 160 games left to go. It looks like it could be a long 160 games.
The Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals needed 93 minutes fewer to complete their game Saturday than they did Thursday in the season-opener.
That’s shocking.
What’s even more shocking is that a game that lasts 2 hours, 53 minutes, as Saturday’s did, is considered speedy.
Imagine how fast the game would have seemed had the Royals not scored seven runs in the sixth inning.
Here’s some Rangers Reaction from an 11-4 loss to the Royals.
Long season
The same thing happens every season.
A player struggles or a team struggles or one facet of the team struggles to start a season, and it might as well be the end of the world.
The same thing can happen in June, and no one really raises an eyebrow.
But things, both good and bad, get magnified at the start of any season.
As players and coaches know, baseball is a long season. The Rangers have 160 games remaining. There’s a pretty good chance they will play well enough to win at least one of them.
“We’ve got a 160 more,” catcher Jose Trevino said. “The tone is set. We’re going to come out and fight with everything we’ve got until the final out. There’s no give. We’ll just keep rolling with it. That’s why we play 162.”
The first two games, though, might be an indication that it’s going to be a long 162 games. The pitching has been abysmal, the defense hasn’t been good enough, and the offense lacks a consistent power source outside of Joey Gallo.
Still, it’s hard to blame the offense for what has happened the past two games at Kauffman Stadium. The Rangers have scored 14 runs and are batting .292 with a .407 on-base percentage.
The pitching staff, meanwhile, has a 14.06 ERA and a .384 opponents average.
Neither of those will look as good or as bad in a week.
It’s a long season, but the first few games and weeks are always magnified.
Bring back Odor?
Here’s how bad things were for some Rangers fans as the Royals poured it on in the sixth inning.
They started yearning for Rougned Odor.
It’s true.
The subject was broached after Nick Solak, who replaced Odor at second base, failed to get an out on a grounder with the bases loaded and the infield drawn in. It was scored a hit, as Solak had to range right and the ball hit off his glove as he slipped.
Solak is no good, or some such, is what one member of the bring-back-Roogie faction said in response to a tweet. A few others joined in, citing Solak’s dicey defense and not as much power as Odor and, at the time, a .167 average
Like Odor is a Gold Glover and didn’t hit .167 last season, which he did.
Whatever. The Rangers made their decision on Odor, and designated him for assignment Thursday after four lackluster seasons and no signs of improvement.
It’s not like Solak is the reason the Rangers are 0-2. They’d be 0-2 with Odor, too.
Arihara’s brain
Going back to spring training, when he used the term “height coefficient,” Kohei Arihara seemed to be an intelligent guy.
That was one of the first things the Rangers noticed about him.
What Arihara said early in the Rangers’ courtship of him helped convince the Rangers that he would successfully process the flood of information they planned to throw his way.
That doesn’t mean that any ol’ Ken Jennings can walk into the Rangers’ clubhouse, check out their analytics and become an MLB pitcher. Arihara has to execute all that he has learned.
After one start, he appears capable of doing that.
“He’s going to pitch well. He can pitch. He knows how to use his stuff,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “Our pitching coaches have really armed with some knowledge and understanding of how to use it. If he goes out and executes the game plan, he’ll be fine. He’ll be a very, very quality major-league pitcher.”
The biggest change Arihara made was to his four-seam fastball. It had started to look too similar to his sinker, which the Rangers believe is one of his best pitches, and the Rangers asked him to put more backspin on the four-seamer by altering how he grips and releases the pitch.
That’s just one example of how Arihara is combining his aptitude with his ability.
“He had learned a lot of things on his own, but I think his eyes were wide open when it came to how he could use his stuff and improve his stuff,” Woodward said. “For him to make little adjustments, even in spring training, right away, it was pretty remarkable.”
