Series Thread: Happy Fourth!! Rangers at Boston 7/4-7/6

[RevSader]

Yanks have already come to Arlington.

Did they? I don't remember that series at all.

 

[darrylgann]

Problem is we have Chi Chi and Martinez as 2 of our 4 starters in this series. And the 2 times Nick has left with a lead the BP has imploded.

Unavoidable. One or both have to man up this series. Possibly knowing for one this is it. He's sent down when, hopefully, Yu pitches after the break. Feel better about their chances against the Twins here than Boston there.

 

[RevSader]

Did they? I don't remember that series at all.

Damn was in April...I sure don't remember that one.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Great to see a prospect do well in their first few innings of work. Team did not quit. Like that. Saw it in the later innings they care and hate losing. All good signs for the next half.

Yes you can call me a glass half full type or anti-Crawler.

Sorry @Nightcrawler could not resist. However I enjoy your posts and insights.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Did they? I don't remember that series at all.

Late April first series. We took the season series 4-3.

 

[RevSader]

Late April first series. We took the season series 4-3.

It was after that shitty White Sox series, so that's why I forgot it. I was busy with house shopping.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Unavoidable. One or both have to man up this series. Possibly knowing for one this is it. He's sent down when, hopefully, Yu pitches after the break. Feel better about their chances against the Twins here than Boston there.

If we could start off with a win with Chi Chi pitching that would be huge in this series.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Unavoidable. One or both have to man up this series. Possibly knowing for one this is it. He's sent down when, hopefully, Yu pitches after the break. Feel better about their chances against the Twins here than Boston there.

Yes I hope Nick and Chi Chi realize this is the final episode of The Apprentice and a poor outing will usher in Donald Trump to deliver the news "You're fired!"

 

[WilltheThrill]

100%? now that's a stretch

Agreed about him imploding after the fact but no way this is 100% on him

7 earned runs against isn't good enough to beat anyone. If a starting pitcher gives up 7 earned runs in 4 innings, I'm putting all of the blame for the loss on him every time, regardless of what his defense does behind him. Others didn't execute, but their errors or failures didn't factor into the outcome. The Rangers lost that game because Perez was an absolute disaster on the mound.

The minors are littered with super-talented guys with nothing going on between the ears. Very rarely do you see a major leaguer with Perez's ridiculously fragile mental makeup. Yordano Ventura is the only example I can think of off the top of my head of someone who comes completely unglued at the slightest hiccup.

I know I'm likely too hard on Perez and Holland. I'm just of the old school bulldog mentality of bare down and grind it out no matter what. It's why I love Colby Lewis so much. That guy is an absolute rock and I wish we had 3 more of him. Meanwhile, Perez and Holland just fall apart at the slightest problem. I hate guys like that, with the lack of maturity, focus, and determination it takes to be a long-term winner at the MLB level.

 

[Kelleyman]

7 earned runs against isn't good enough to beat anyone. If a starting pitcher gives up 7 earned runs in 4 innings, I'm putting all of the blame for the loss on him every time, regardless of what his defense does behind him. Others didn't execute, but their errors or failures didn't factor into the outcome. The Rangers lost that game because Perez was an absolute disaster on the mound.

The minors are littered with super-talented guys with nothing going on between the ears. Very rarely do you see a major leaguer with Perez's ridiculously fragile mental makeup. Yordano Ventura is the only example I can think of off the top of my head of someone who comes completely unglued at the slightest hiccup.

I know I'm likely too hard on Perez and Holland. I'm just of the old school bulldog mentality of bare down and grind it out no matter what. It's why I love Colby Lewis so much. That guy is an absolute rock and I wish we had 3 more of him. Meanwhile, Perez and Holland just fall apart at the slightest problem. I hate guys like that, with the lack of maturity, focus, and determination it takes to be a long-term winner at the MLB level.

Talent is overrated and the will to win is underrated. Put both together and you find a champion. Really is time Teen put his big boy pants on and toughen up. He has enjoyed great defense and the DP ball all season to get him off the hook. Like it is some badge of honor to have so many DPs

 

[Bmurph]

Prince Fielder tied Cecil Fielder today with 319 HR's, maybe he passes his Dad and just retires afterwards

 

[Nightcrawler]

Great to see a prospect do well in their first few innings of work. Team did not quit. Like that. Saw it in the later innings they care and hate losing. All good signs for the next half.

Yes you can call me a glass half full type or anti-Crawler.

Sorry @Nightcrawler could not resist. However I enjoy your posts and insights.

I'm sure someone will jump on me, but I doubt anyone is optimistic about this team in its current state. What I mean is, yes we are in good shape record wise and in the standings, but if the all star break wasn't right around the corner I think some people would be more visibly concerned. This is a very important series. The Rangers need to treat it as such. We left Arlington up 10.5 games and came back up 6.5

The scary question is when is the last time we have gained on the Astros? Their competition has done us no favors lately. Dare I say, it seems like we are the only team who can beat those guys.

 

[RevSader]

I'm sure someone will jump on me, but I doubt anyone is optimistic about this team in its current state. What I mean is, yes we are in good shape record wise and in the standings, but if the all star break wasn't right around the corner I think some people would be more visibly concerned. This is a very important series. The Rangers need to treat it as such. We left Arlington up 10.5 games and came back up 6.5

The scary question is when is the last time we have gained on the Astros? Their competition has done us no favors lately. Dare I say, it seems like we are the only team who can beat those guys.

Over a month ago you asked when the last time Texas gained ground on Seattle. Then Seattle went on a nose dive. You think Houston can keep up their pace like this? They aren't appreciably better than Texas offensively and their pitching is over performing.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Over a month ago you asked when the last time Texas gained ground on Seattle. Then Seattle went on a nose dive. You think Houston can keep up their pace like this? They aren't appreciably better than Texas offensively and their pitching is over performing.

Houston has a cup cake schedule until the end of July. To answer your question, yes I think they can and will keep it up in the short term at least.

 

[RevSader]

Houston has a cup cake schedule until the end of July. To answer your question, yes I think they can and will keep it up in the short term at least.

It will come out in the wash. Just give it some time.

 

[saddles]

Would like to see more of s bulldog mentality from Perez. Bear down when going gets tough. LeClerc threw with no fear. He may be sent back down due to use but he will be back up

As long as he gets results I will let others worry about his mentality. He had a bad game and as long as those are far enough apart to keep his ERA respectable then he is probably doing a good enough job. He has his warts and so does just about anyone else that we might trade for. I think sometimes the "grass is always greener on the other side" mentality gets the best of us as fans. The warts on our players seem more prominent because we are viewing them from a lot closer perspective than we are viewing potential trade targets. I just don't see a reason to get too upset at a pitcher whose ERA was about 3.40 before this game. Whatever his mental state is it hasn't kept him from putting up some respectable numbers.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

New thread is up.

 

[fordman84]

I just don't get what happens to this team. They will look great and then have innings like last night where everyone just forgets how to play baseball. I've never seen anything like it. But one of them falters and the rest just crap the bed. Odor screws up, then Elvis, then Beltre, then Elvis. Good grief, when they sucks they SUCK. But when they play great, the play GREAT. Such an odd dichotomy this team is this year. Either winning 1 run games or getting their doors blown off.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

I'm sure someone will jump on me, but I doubt anyone is optimistic about this team in its current state. What I mean is, yes we are in good shape record wise and in the standings, but if the all star break wasn't right around the corner I think some people would be more visibly concerned. This is a very important series. The Rangers need to treat it as such. We left Arlington up 10.5 games and came back up 6.5

The scary question is when is the last time we have gained on the Astros? Their competition has done us no favors lately. Dare I say, it seems like we are the only team who can beat those guys.

The Rangers can only influence their own destiny in the standings. The Astros are on a streak playing teams that are struggling while their bats are doing well and their pitching is keeping them in games. They will not be able to sustain the current run for long as we found out after a few weeks every team encounters their weaknesses. Either depth, injury, or fatigue every team reaches a boiling point and the recoups and re-engages. The name of the game so to speak is to have more winning streaks than you have losing streaks. In that vein the Rangers and Giants are the best in the MLB right now. The Cubs fell down to earth and continue to struggle against teams they dominated earlier in the season. They will be back given they have depth and they have (like all teams) a small respite coming up.

Compare our previous seasons stripping out of course the outlier 2014 where we tanked early with injuries and the team cashed in early. 2012, 2013 and even 2015 the Rangers had some bad streaks in late to early June, a dive before the ASB and another before August was out. Those losing streaks sometimes went 7 or 8 games at a clip. This, for 2016, is our first downturn. A couple of 2-3 game losing streaks we break up with a few wins. If this is the worst of the summer slump, I'll take it.

BTW, breaking up losing streaks before they go beyond 2 or 3 is what good teams must do and the Rangers are currently doing.

Enjoy the ride my fellow Rangers fan. Did anyone of us think we would be ahead by 6 or more games at the half way point in the season, let alone over 50 games won? I did not and don't think anyone here did. I truly thought we would be up a couple or down a couple struggling to reach a high water mark of 7 or 8 games above .500.

 

[PhantomWarrior]

Over a month ago you asked when the last time Texas gained ground on Seattle. Then Seattle went on a nose dive. You think Houston can keep up their pace like this? They aren't appreciably better than Texas offensively and their pitching is over performing.

Good points.