Series Thread: ALDS: The Texas Rangers host the Toronto Blue Jays!

[Bmurph]

This is what I think too. We have won a lot of games but did not play well but made key plays. Cole had a good first half but has looked bad for a while. Not a good recipe for postseason. Heard on radio he looks like he is having lower body issues perhaps knee injury and can't find a a consistent rhythm / throwing motion.

Yes we are going to need better pitching. Our 2 "aces" although Cole has proven this in the past and Yu has more talent...they both failed us. Not sure I would pull the plug though. Perez has talent but has not delivered consistently. Dutch can not be the same Dutch. So yeah we will be SP shopping and likely via trade. BUT.......

The series is not over and maybe we can get hot although we sure aren't today. All those men left on base. Sheesh

I think we will find out after the Rangers season comes to a close here soon, that Cole has had an injury he has tried to pitch through for 2 months

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Boston down 0-2 as well. Guess not playing in that ridiculous ballpark kept their runs down. Plus good pitching from Kluber today. I'm sure back in Boston they will rake.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

I think we will find out after the Rangers season comes to a close here soon, that Cole has had an injury he has tried to pitch through for 2 months

Like we found out about Colbys knee injury after the fact last year.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

This is what I think too. We have won a lot of games but did not play well but made key plays. Cole had a good first half but has looked bad for a while. Not a good recipe for postseason. Heard on radio he looks like he is having lower body issues perhaps knee injury and can't find a a consistent rhythm / throwing motion.

Yes we are going to need better pitching. Our 2 "aces" although Cole has proven this in the past and Yu has more talent...they both failed us. Not sure I would pull the plug though. Perez has talent but has not delivered consistently. Dutch can not be the same Dutch. So yeah we will be SP shopping and likely via trade. BUT.......

The series is not over and maybe we can get hot although we sure aren't today. All those men left on base. Sheesh

JD made some moves to free up money for international picks. Think this is how he restocks the farm and goes for pitching talent. Watching Cueto pitch a bit tonight and trying to remember what the Giants gave up for him.

 

[Bmurph]

Boston down 0-2 as well. Guess not playing in that ridiculous ballpark kept their runs down. Plus good pitching from Kluber today. I'm sure back in Boston they will rake.

Kluber gave up 3 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings today, so he was pretty dang good. Price again doesn't give Boston what they paid for.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Kluber gave up 3 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings today, so he was pretty dang good. Price again doesn't give Boston what they paid for.

Based on a previous discussion, if we get starting pitching on the off-season it will most likely be a trade. FA market is sparse this year:

2017 MLB Free Agents Tracker

 

[Bmurph]

Based on a previous discussion, if we get starting pitching on the off-season it will most likely be a trade. FA market is sparse this year:

2017 MLB Free Agents Tracker

Yeah pretty slim

 

[saddles]

I think we will find out after the Rangers season comes to a close here soon, that Cole has had an injury he has tried to pitch through for 2 months

One thing to keep in mind is that Cole didn't have a very good ERA vs. the American League when we traded for him. I thought he had adjusted and that was going to be a thing of the past, but maybe it isn't. We will probably find out before we get very far into next season I guess.

 

[saddles]

When is this team going to start developing their own starting pitching?

 

[Bmurph]

2-18 w RISP and out hit the other team 13 to 6 and lose by 2 runs. Darvish want good but the Rangers bats didnt help in this one

 

[Duane1952]

Based on a previous discussion, if we get starting pitching on the off-season it will most likely be a trade. FA market is sparse this year:

2017 MLB Free Agents Tracker

Exactly what I've been saying. If we are going to add a starter, it's going to have to be thru a trade.

 

[Bmurph]

One thing to keep in mind is that Cole didn't have a very good ERA vs. the American League when we traded for him. I thought he had adjusted and that was going to be a thing of the past, but maybe it isn't. We will probably find out before we get very far into next season I guess.

He looked and pitched well early this year but the last 2 months he hasn't even looked close to the same guy.

 

[Nightcrawler]

I just hope we can get the lead at some point and see if we can protect it. We have never lead and have been behind in about 90% of the innings in this series. Another thing I'm wondering, if the worst case scenario happens, and this team is trailing big in game 3. Do you guys think the Jays will throw at some of our guys, especially roogie? It could get really ugly up there given the trashy ass fan base and classless team we are playing, it is imperative that we are at least in a close game so they don't try any shenanigans.

 

[Bmurph]

I just hope we can get the lead at some point and see if we can protect it. We have never lead and have been behind in about 90% of the innings in this series. Another thing I'm wondering, if the worst case scenario happens, and this team is trailing big in game 3. Do you guys think the Jays will throw at some of our guys, especially roogie? It could get really ugly up there given the trashy ass fan base and classless team we are playing, it is imperative that we are at least in a close game so they don't try any shenanigans.

I love Colby and I know all about how good Colby has been in the post season, but he hasn't pitched well down the stretch either. I hate to say it but the Jays may just put up a crooked number in the first few innings and win this series in 3 games. Besides we cant exactly put runs up at the moment to help him out anyway.

I don't really expect any retaliation now, the BJays don't want any of their guys hurt for the rest of the playoffs. Jays will likely wait until next season to plunk Roogie a few times

 

[Nightcrawler]

I love Colby and I know all about how good Colby has been in the post season, but he hasn't pitched well down the stretch either. I hate to say it but the Jays may just put up a crooked number in the first few innings and win this series in 3 games. Besides we cant exactly put runs up at the moment to help him out anyway.

I don't really expect any retaliation now, the BJays don't want any of their guys hurt for the rest of the playoffs. Jays will likely wait until next season to plunk Roogie a few times

The change of venue and 2 days off ( I'm saying 2 because today was a noon game) may help the Rangers. They can't play much worse than they did down here.

 

[Bmurph]

The change of venue and 2 days off ( I'm saying 2 because today was a noon game) may help the Rangers. They can't play much worse than they did down here.

Not sure the days off help this team, they haven't gotten into any kind of rhythm offensively lately and it hasn't helped the SP. The change of venue and playing away, wont help when HFA has done absolutely nothing to help them. I know Bennie thinks the WC is a disadvantage but over the last 10 years the WC has seemed to fair well. Might have something to do w playing daily and being baseball ready

 

[PhantomWarrior]

When is this team going to start developing their own starting pitching?

Like other non big market teams. Lose a lot and not trade for post season pieces. The Cubs have been a work in progress for over 6 years now. Got to the point where they developed their own and had enough left over to trade. Astros went a similar route but it has not worked out for them.

JD is committed to keeping competitive every season. Can't blame him. You don't fill seats and generate income by having perennial shat teams.

Various teams like the Giants and Cardinals also don't make multimillion deals with aging players. They seem to keep the very good, trade off some expensive pieces and keep their farm going.

Frankly hard to point out one program that works best. The big market teams seem to be able to keep balance aka SF, St Louis and Boston. KC is somewhat like us and was able to capitalize on their window of opportunity two years straight and win one WS. We had a similar window 2010-2011.

What helped with KC was they had 4 SPs who could get them 6 innings in the playoffs and hand it over to a nails BP. Frankly that was our expectations going into the playoffs. Unfortunately, so far our SP could not do so and our bats have showed little.

Off to Toronto for our beloved Rangers, where we hope the worm will turn.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

2-18 w RISP and out hit the other team 13 to 6 and lose by 2 runs. Darvish want good but the Rangers bats didnt help in this one

And when you are dealt an early deficit of 3 runs or more, managers and base coaches get cautious. They hesitate to call for stealing a base or calling a hit and run. Not understanding why some of our speedy guys are not trying to bunt for base hits early in the game to make things happen.

Especially game 1 where they could not get base runners.

Oh well we are spectators and fans and not big league managers.

 

[Kelleyman]

Like other non big market teams. Lose a lot and not trade for post season pieces. The Cubs have been a work in progress for over 6 years now. Got to the point where they developed their own and had enough left over to trade. Astros went a similar route but it has not worked out for them.

JD is committed to keeping competitive every season. Can't blame him. You don't fill seats and generate income by having perennial shat teams.

Various teams like the Giants and Cardinals also don't make multimillion deals with aging players. They seem to keep the very good, trade off some expensive pieces and keep their farm going.

Frankly hard to point out one program that works best. The big market teams seem to be able to keep balance aka SF, St Louis and Boston. KC is somewhat like us and was able to capitalize on their window of opportunity two years straight and win one WS. We had a similar window 2010-2011.

What helped with KC was they had 4 SPs who could get them 6 innings in the playoffs and hand it over to a nails BP. Frankly that was our expectations going into the playoffs. Unfortunately, so far our SP could not do so and our bats have showed little.

Off to Toronto for our beloved Rangers, where we hope the worm will turn.

There is a reason we got the noon game and it has its self fulfilling effect. We have never won anything and although we a re a bigger market than Tampa we pale to Sox nation. That and there were not 49,000 at that game and a far cry. Seats were open. It just shows what Josh said was correct. Rangers behind Cowboys. Now I am all in on the Rangers so this stings me like no other sports loss but that is not the case for most or many for that matter. This is a site for the diehards. But to get some national respect and prim time exposure we will have to win it all. Still on my bucket list

Yes we as a city can not afford to tank like ChiSox did and it really did not matter for Houston who were pretty awful and decided to push the tank button. It really is pitiful and I don't respect it.

We have never played to lose and sometimes that is what it takes to get a pick like Bregman or develop an ace But that is for another post

 

[Kelleyman]

Definitely developing MLB ready pitching to jump in from AAA is not a strength of the Ranger farm system that is thought very highly and has become a cutting edge force on the international scene. Whether it is not finding the right guys or development, I do not know. What I do know is we have had to scrounge 5th SPs from the reject pile that have gotten us through a season in a serviceable manner.

Big difference even between TORP guys and True Aces which are rare diamonds and few and far between. They emerge in the playoffs and when the game is over it is 1-0 at times. Aces help you win WS unless you got the pen approach like KC and try to stay ahead so your Ace pen can close it out Brilliant strategy IMO given the resources.

So when you get the opportunity to acquire a potential Ace like we did with Darvish who did nothing to show he deserves that title yesterday, you jump at it. Same with Cole who we hoped would be a consistent Ace and proved it last year against the Angels, a great game. We gave up a lot, MLB ready starters both pitching and talent in the field and when you go big like that it is always a bit of the roll of the dice but we were looking for an Ace whether we got one remains to be seen. If all is said and done and season is over and we find out he has had that lower body injury or a blister, that will at least give me hope we still have an Ace guy. i know he has the demeanor and is not afraid of the big moment............. Flags fly Forever is the mantra