Series Thread: Rangers in Cleveland August 5-7

[WastinSomeTime]

2 runs in 3 games isn't gonna win you a series

Amazing we won 1 game at that rate. Good pitching overall by the Rangers.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

 

[Nightcrawler]

We did pretty well against the Indians I guess. Their pitching staff is just as stingy as the rays.

3-4. Could be better, but I bet those guys are a playoff team.

Runs should be a lot easier to come by with the brewers and jays coming up.

 

[saddles]

We did pretty well against the Indians I guess. Their pitching staff is just as stingy as the rays.

3-4. Could be better, but I bet those guys are a playoff team.

Runs should be a lot easier to come by with the brewers and jays coming up.

With the way the league is now, having several very bad teams, it really makes the wildcard race unfair. To make it fair teams should go back to a completely balanced schedule so we all play teams an equal number of times. It is too easy to fatten up your W-L record if you have a couple of very bad teams in your division. It even makes it hard to compare stats because of the Odor effect, where he does tremendous against a handful of teams and very poorly against the rest.

 

[Kelleyman]

With the way the league is now, having several very bad teams, it really makes the wildcard race unfair. To make it fair teams should go back to a completely balanced schedule so we all play teams an equal number of times. It is too easy to fatten up your W-L record if you have a couple of very bad teams in your division. It even makes it hard to compare stats because of the Odor effect, where he does tremendous against a handful of teams and very poorly against the rest.

Wish they would take further steps to take away incentives to tank. Like taking away some of the competitive market subsidies. Owners can still profit from losing Other thing is forget the comp pick where a guy sits out 1/2 season if no one picks him up. That way he signs sooner.

 

[Nightcrawler]

With the way the league is now, having several very bad teams, it really makes the wildcard race unfair. To make it fair teams should go back to a completely balanced schedule so we all play teams an equal number of times. It is too easy to fatten up your W-L record if you have a couple of very bad teams in your division. It even makes it hard to compare stats because of the Odor effect, where he does tremendous against a handful of teams and very poorly against the rest.

I was going to pitch a scenario and post something along these lines.

Say woodward is the bad ass manager lots of us think he will be and JD actually buys him help. Our farm actually produces good players.

What then? The Astros have a team who wins 100+ games every year.

I could foresee a situation where we’re the 2nd best team in the American League, have to play the wildcard game, then face the Astros in the first round of the playoffs with both teams having the best record in the AL.

Playoff system does appear to be deeply flawed.

The AL east has the jays and orioles to feast on.

The AL central has the White Sox, royals, and tigers who totally suck

The AL west? Even the mariners are decent. They can put up runs better than most teams in the league.

Not going to lie, it does suck to be a ranger fan right now. It feels like the deck is stacked against us.

 

[donaldson79]

With the way the league is now, having several very bad teams, it really makes the wildcard race unfair. To make it fair teams should go back to a completely balanced schedule so we all play teams an equal number of times. It is too easy to fatten up your W-L record if you have a couple of very bad teams in your division. It even makes it hard to compare stats because of the Odor effect, where he does tremendous against a handful of teams and very poorly against the rest.

Good points, especially on the 'fattening up' process. But one thing, look how successful the Astros are by going full tank mode for a few seasons.......We fattened up BIG TIME on them for a few seasons, and now we don't have a prayer of being in their league for years to come.....My only hope is that once the players start getting more years, they'll be able to test the market and Houston can't keep em all.

Your Odor point is a metric in waiting. And a good one.

 

[saddles]

I was going to pitch a scenario and post something along these lines.

Say woodward is the bad ass manager lots of us think he will be and JD actually buys him help. Our farm actually produces good players.

What then? The Astros have a team who wins 100+ games every year.

I could foresee a situation where we’re the 2nd best team in the American League, have to play the wildcard game, then face the Astros in the first round of the playoffs with both teams having the best record in the AL.

Playoff system does appear to be deeply flawed.

The AL east has the jays and orioles to feast on.

The AL central has the White Sox, royals, and tigers who totally suck

The AL west? Even the mariners are decent. They can put up runs better than most teams in the league.

Not going to lie, it does suck to be a ranger fan right now. It feels like the deck is stacked against us.

I have never liked having the second wildcard. I would rather go back to a balanced schedule and have one wildcard team.

The way it is now, if both us and Seattle improves, then the Astros would have a very difficult time winning 100 games even if they are the best in the league.

 

[Kelleyman]

I have never liked having the second wildcard. I would rather go back to a balanced schedule and have one wildcard team.

The way it is now, if both us and Seattle improves, then the Astros would have a very difficult time winning 100 games even if they are the best in the league.

Main thing to me is getting out of West coast division.

I kind of liked all games last day starting at once with playoff chances on the line

 

[DT LUNA]

I have never liked having the second wildcard. I would rather go back to a balanced schedule and have one wildcard team.

The way it is now, if both us and Seattle improves, then the Astros would have a very difficult time winning 100 games even if they are the best in the league.

Agree that one WC is better. But the best thing any team can do is place the best players on the field so as to compete at the highest level possible. We have not come close to doing that. Therefore, I see no reason to change anything until Owners/FO step up to the plate. Otherwise we will always be wanting changes to help our cause.

 

[saddles]

Agree that one WC is better. But the best thing any team can do is place the best players on the field so as to compete at the highest level possible. We have not come close to doing that. Therefore, I see no reason to change anything until Owners/FO step up to the plate. Otherwise we will always be wanting changes to help our cause.

What I want changed is for the good of the whole league. I am not sure if it would help us any more than anyone else. Some years this format helps one division, but three years later maybe it helps another division. I would like for it to be fair for every team every year.

Our ownership/FO problems are a completely separate issue. I also want that one fixed as well though.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Main thing to me is getting out of West coast division.

I kind of liked all games last day starting at once with playoff chances on the line

Wasn’t there some kind of MLB proposal to reorganize the MLB divisions according to regions?

 

[Kelleyman]

Wasn’t there some kind of MLB proposal to reorganize the MLB divisions according to regions?

The thought is to add 2 teams one being in Montreal and did the realignment. Not sure where we are at currently with this.

 

[saddles]

The thought is to add 2 teams one being in Montreal and did the realignment. Not sure where we are at currently with this.

I can't imagine how watered down the product would be with two additional teams.

 

[DT LUNA]

I can't imagine how watered down the product would be with two additional teams.

No doubt it will weaken things for a spell.

 

[jta4437]

I was going to pitch a scenario and post something along these lines.

Say woodward is the bad ass manager lots of us think he will be and JD actually buys him help. Our farm actually produces good players.

What then? The Astros have a team who wins 100+ games every year.

I could foresee a situation where we’re the 2nd best team in the American League, have to play the wildcard game, then face the Astros in the first round of the playoffs with both teams having the best record in the AL.

Playoff system does appear to be deeply flawed.

The AL east has the jays and orioles to feast on.

The AL central has the White Sox, royals, and tigers who totally suck

The AL west? Even the mariners are decent. They can put up runs better than most teams in the league.

Not going to lie, it does suck to be a ranger fan right now. It feels like the deck is stacked against us.

Such is the ebb and flow, not too long ago, the Jays, Royals, Tigers and Orioles were solid teams... White Sox are probably on the upswing now, its a talented team

 

[saddles]

Evan has discovered what we have been discussing the last few weeks.

Rangers’ inability to compete against top teams is magnified by Rougned Odor, Nomar Mazara

Woodward's point is justified when you look at the stark juxtaposition of the Rangers' performance against the AL's best. Start with wins and losses. Against the teams featuring the top five ERAs in the AL, the Rangers are 16-27, against the bottom five they are 28-14.

Now, look inside those numbers.

Against the bottom five teams, the Rangers are slashing .281/.342/.486/.828 and averaging 5.9 runs per games; against the top five: .230/.296/.414/.710 and scoring 4.8 runs. A significant difference between performance against bad and good pitching is expected, but a difference of more than 100 points on the OPS scale? It suggests two different teams entirely.


And, of course, the difference is magnified with Odor and Mazara, which only suggests the sharpest teams remain a step ahead of them and they are unable to make quick adjustments.

Odor walked in his first plate appearance at Cleveland, then failed to reach in any of the 10 that followed. He struck out four times in seven at-bats Wednesday, and all of them included chases out of the zone. He popped up breaking balls in the zone in the other three. Odor went 1-for-25 against Cleveland for the season, and his slash line against the best pitching teams indicates somebody who would be considered overmatched: .154/.232/.325/.557. His OPS against the bottom five teams is .897.

Mazara was 0-for-7 on Wednesday with three strikeouts. He had three of the Rangers' six at-bats with runners in scoring position during the doubleheader. Against the four teams currently holding AL playoff spots, he's 12-for-83 (.145). He has had success against Oakland to bring his overall batting average against the best five teams to .231, but that's 50 points lower than against the worst teams.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Evan has discovered what we have been discussing the last few weeks.

Rangers’ inability to compete against top teams is magnified by Rougned Odor, Nomar Mazara

Woodward's point is justified when you look at the stark juxtaposition of the Rangers' performance against the AL's best. Start with wins and losses. Against the teams featuring the top five ERAs in the AL, the Rangers are 16-27, against the bottom five they are 28-14.

Now, look inside those numbers.

Against the bottom five teams, the Rangers are slashing .281/.342/.486/.828 and averaging 5.9 runs per games; against the top five: .230/.296/.414/.710 and scoring 4.8 runs. A significant difference between performance against bad and good pitching is expected, but a difference of more than 100 points on the OPS scale? It suggests two different teams entirely.


And, of course, the difference is magnified with Odor and Mazara, which only suggests the sharpest teams remain a step ahead of them and they are unable to make quick adjustments.

Odor walked in his first plate appearance at Cleveland, then failed to reach in any of the 10 that followed. He struck out four times in seven at-bats Wednesday, and all of them included chases out of the zone. He popped up breaking balls in the zone in the other three. Odor went 1-for-25 against Cleveland for the season, and his slash line against the best pitching teams indicates somebody who would be considered overmatched: .154/.232/.325/.557. His OPS against the bottom five teams is .897.

Mazara was 0-for-7 on Wednesday with three strikeouts. He had three of the Rangers' six at-bats with runners in scoring position during the doubleheader. Against the four teams currently holding AL playoff spots, he's 12-for-83 (.145). He has had success against Oakland to bring his overall batting average against the best five teams to .231, but that's 50 points lower than against the worst teams.

I was the first one to notice it, then again people just write me off as an odor hater.

Both of those guys are almost useless when we play teams with a pulse.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Evan has discovered what we have been discussing the last few weeks.

Rangers’ inability to compete against top teams is magnified by Rougned Odor, Nomar Mazara

Woodward's point is justified when you look at the stark juxtaposition of the Rangers' performance against the AL's best. Start with wins and losses. Against the teams featuring the top five ERAs in the AL, the Rangers are 16-27, against the bottom five they are 28-14.

Now, look inside those numbers.

Against the bottom five teams, the Rangers are slashing .281/.342/.486/.828 and averaging 5.9 runs per games; against the top five: .230/.296/.414/.710 and scoring 4.8 runs. A significant difference between performance against bad and good pitching is expected, but a difference of more than 100 points on the OPS scale? It suggests two different teams entirely.


And, of course, the difference is magnified with Odor and Mazara, which only suggests the sharpest teams remain a step ahead of them and they are unable to make quick adjustments.

Odor walked in his first plate appearance at Cleveland, then failed to reach in any of the 10 that followed. He struck out four times in seven at-bats Wednesday, and all of them included chases out of the zone. He popped up breaking balls in the zone in the other three. Odor went 1-for-25 against Cleveland for the season, and his slash line against the best pitching teams indicates somebody who would be considered overmatched: .154/.232/.325/.557. His OPS against the bottom five teams is .897.

Mazara was 0-for-7 on Wednesday with three strikeouts. He had three of the Rangers' six at-bats with runners in scoring position during the doubleheader. Against the four teams currently holding AL playoff spots, he's 12-for-83 (.145). He has had success against Oakland to bring his overall batting average against the best five teams to .231, but that's 50 points lower than against the worst teams.

The article above makes me baffled that our announcers and Emily Jones polish the odor turd so much. Maybe they think he’s our only hope. For our sake, he had better not be.

I still think odor is a triple A player at best.