The Surprise Five: Thoughts from first day of Rangers camp

Day One of Texas Rangers spring training is in the books. Pitchers pitched, catchers caught, and no one got hurt. Granted, Josh Hamilton is a position player and had the day off, but Derek Holland is still standing.

Thoughts? Here are five:

1. The Tony Beasley rectal cancer diagnosis served as an absolute gut punch on what always serves as an upbeat, happy day. The good news, as I see it, is that Beasley’s outlook is good because A) the sense is that the cancer was caught early and B) doctors are allowing him to do his treatments away from his doctors.

There’s always a chance. If Walter White can beat cancer, it’ll be a layup for Beasley.

Beasley forever won me over with his spot-on Michael Jackson costume for the Do It For Durrett ’80s Night last summer. He nailed it, from the sparkling glove to the rolled up pants and even the jheri-curl wig. Beasley can sing, too.

2. Yu Darvish continues to look good, with the media. He has held lengthy sessions around his locker with the Japanese reporters the past two days, something he absolutely never did in the past, and he and I tried in English to sort through his throwing program.

Maybe the year without baseball has transformed Darvish, who early this month admitted to that he fell into a trap of taking himself too seriously. Maybe it was the birth of another child. Whatever it is, hopefully he keeps it up. He has things to say and things people want to hear.

On the baseball side, Darvish threw off a flat mound, which is different from flat ground but not quite a half mound. He is continuing to progress from Tommy John surgery with mid-May to early June as the target for his return.

3. Nomar Mazara was in camp for the first time, the last of the Rangers holy trinity of prospects to arrive. He hit in the same group with fellow outfielder/stud prospect Lewis Brinson, while top prospect Joey Gallo batted in the previous group.

Mazara is just an impressive person. The size is fairly obviously, but his ability to communicate in English, as a Spanish speaker, and his maturity at — hello — at 20 is enviable. Mazara doesn’t turn 21 until April 26.

4. The Rangers’ concern for their key bullpen pieces will become more evident as spring training unravels, but Shawn Tolleson, Sam Dyson, Jake Diekman and Keone Kela are going to get individualized treatment to easy into what the Rangers hope is another season pitching into October.

Tolleson said that he’s good to go and that Friday’s opening workout served as an opportunity for him to get his feet under him as opposed to past springs when he faced hitters on the first day. He didn’t dislike the ramped-up first day common under former pitching coach Mike Maddux, but likes the idea of easing into spring camp.

5. Soap box time: As best I can tell, fandom is split on the extended netting over the dugouts at Globe Life Park. Based on my observations from eight seasons watching games around the country, those who are against it are in the wrong.

From my seat, it’s a miracle that more people aren’t injured each year by foul balls and flying bats, and, frankly, I think the netting should run to both foul poles. As the father of two young kids, I’m hesitant to take them to games because of the risk that they’d get smoked.

The anti-netting crowd scolds fans who get hit because they weren’t paying attention to the game in some way, like by looking at their phones. How dare those fans let their attention drift from the non-stop, edge-of-year-seat action of a major-league game?

Never mind the chances that the injured fan was sipping a drink or talking to the person next to them or had their view blocked or didn’t have the reaction time to avoid the screaming line drive.

And to those who are considering dropping their seats because of the netting, adios. Someone will be right behind to scoop them up, and they will watch from your old seats knowing they are safer and that the netting really isn’t obstructing their view of the field.

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 2:24 PM with the headline "The Surprise Five: Thoughts from first day of Rangers camp."