Our Texas Rangers at the Los Angeles Angels (9/5 - 9/7)

[dammittman]

He's really irrelevant and I shouldn't care, but he just bugs me. He's just this guy that for whatever reason makes me irrationally angry when I see him.

I feel the same way about Donaldson. For some reason, every time I see him, I just want to punch him in the face.

 

[Hambombs]

Haha rev this is to funny. You posted it right?

 

[Senator_fan]

For what its worth ... on Aug 4 Nelson Cruz' last game ... TEX was 62-50 (12 games over .500) but 2.5GB of OAK. Since then the team has gone 18-9 to have an 80-59 record (21 games over .500) and is half a game up in first place over OAK.

Listening to OAK post game radio after its game last night it is clear OAK had an emotional letdown after the TEX series and was "sleep walking" through its loss to HOU. They got three more against HOU and I doubt HOU does to OAK what OAK did to DET last week.

But LAA, SEA and HOU will play a key role in whether TEX or OAK take the ALW. LAA just split its series with TBR 2-2 winning last night. TEX needs to take out its aggression on LAA for its futility in OAK and carry that onward when it hosts NLC leading PIT back at RBIA.

September is what always decides it. No sleeping until October. TEX gets to October ... it gets Nelson Cruz back. For now ... one game at a time. TEX late night baseball in LAA in September. This is what it is all about.

Wilson has been pitching good lately and Hamilton is batting .339 over the last 16 games. I'm looking for this to be a tough series even though Rangers have dominated so far.

 

[RevSader]

You can actually make a case that he's been as good as kinsler overall this year

In no way can you make that argument. Sogard hits 8th and 9th for a reason.

 

[Windingmywatch]

Wilson has been pitching good lately and Hamilton is batting .339 over the last 16 games. I'm looking for this to be a tough series even though Rangers have dominated so far.

Agree completely. Going to be a tough series but as you say TEX has handled them before. Key to the game for me is for TEX batters to make CJ work very early, get into his head, get him stressed out and off balance. It's worked before on CJ and he will remember.

 

[RevSader]

Haha rev this is to funny. You posted it right?

Alwaysbelurking from LSB made that. Man that guy makes the best gifs. Dude is talented.

 

[Nightcrawler]

Seems like the team hasn't played in 3 days with the day game in Oakland, day off, and late night game in Anaheim. I hope we can score some runs tonight

 

[Hambombs]

In no way can you make that argument. Sogard hits 8th and 9th for a reason.

I'm talking overall. Eric Sogard 1.3 WAR, Ian Kinsler 1.9 WAR not a huge difference but kinsler is better

 

[Windingmywatch]

I'm talking overall. Eric Sogard 1.3 WAR, Ian Kinsler 1.9 WAR not a huge difference but kinsler is better

Coincidentally Bleacher Report graded MLB's 2nd basemen in a piece today. Eric Sogard was ranked #20 with an overall score of 60 (out of 100) ahead of Gordon Beckham (CHW) and behind Dan Ugla (ATL).

B/R MLB 500: Top 35 Second Basemen | Bleacher Report

They ranked Ian Kinsler #12 with a score of 67 ahead of Brian Dozier (MIN) and behind Neil Walker (PIT) ... who we will get to see next week at RBIA.

B/R MLB 500: Top 35 Second Basemen | Bleacher Report

Kinsler is the better overall 2nd baseman as you say and the experts say ... but consider one more data point.

Sogard 1st AB against an SP: 93AB ... 12R 37H 9-2b 3-3b 1-HR 13RBI .398 .429 .570 .998
Kinsler 1st AB against an SP: 98AB .... 12R 22H 3-2b 0-3b 1-HR. 4RBI .224 .291 .286 .577

Just saying ... Sogard makes stuff happen ... whether he's batting 8th or 9th ... just means he's OB in front of the top of the order. Seems like a good spot for him.

 

[whittler]

CJ thinks he can throw his fastball by Rangers , NOT. Rangers have proven over & over they can crush Premier Fastball pitchers. Rangers have trouble with Changeup, Variable speed and soft tossing Lefty's.
Keep the FB coming CJ.

 

[RevSader]

CJ thinks he can throw his fastball by Rangers , NOT. Rangers have proven over & over they can crush Premier Fastball pitchers. Rangers have trouble with Changeup, Variable speed and soft tossing Lefty's.
Keep the FB coming CJ.

They can also swipe bases off of him. He has a slow delivery.

 

[Windingmywatch]

TEX against CJ ...

C.J. Wilson vs. Batters - Baseball-Reference.com

Hit the BA button to rank TEX by BA ... Gentry better start.

 

[DT LUNA]

They can also swipe bases off of him. He has a slow delivery.

Another good reason to start Gentry. He, Leo, Kins, and Elvis should be enough to drive him nuts. Hope they do.

 

[romeo212000]

I'm talking overall. Eric Sogard 1.3 WAR, Ian Kinsler 1.9 WAR not a huge difference but kinsler is better

WAR isn't the end all be all stat.

 

[Windingmywatch]

WAR isn't the end all be all stat.

I think you are coming in at about the 16th hour on this one ...

 

[romeo212000]

I think you are coming in at about the 16th hour on this one ...

Yes, I know I just jumped in. I'm just tired of that being the only stat he uses. Like others they have to be put in context.

 

[RevSader]

WAR isn't the end all be all stat.

Only here would I get into arguments about the merits between Sogard and Kinsler...nowhere else on the planet is this a discussion. Kinsler has to have back to back down years for Sogard to even been close. This is Sogard's ceiling and it's still not as good as Kinsler's floor. Romeo please save this debate.

 

[romeo212000]

Only here would I get into arguments about the merits between Sogard and Kinsler...nowhere else on the planet is this a discussion. Kinsler has to have back to back down years for Sogard to even been close. This is Sogard's ceiling and it's still not as good as Kinsler's floor. Romeo please save this debate.

I can't believe its even a question.

 

[RevSader]

I can't believe its even a question.

Me either to be honest. If this were a debate between Brandon Phillips and Kinsler or Kendrick and Kinsler I would get it. Eric Sogard...a guy with less than a full season of PAs total in his career.

 

[Windingmywatch]

Yes, I know I just jumped in. I'm just tired of that being the only stat he uses. Like others they have to be put in context.

In his defense ... it was his point at the end of all of what had been said ... wasn't an end all of end alls.

To sum up ... Rev isn't a fan of Sogard. Apparently he'd had a debate plus/minus on the guy before but we got into a discussion again last night precipitated by Sogard's lead off triple last night in the bottom of the 8th against HOU.

To me ... Sogard appears to be often in the middle of stuff happening. Believe Rev sees that Sogard isn't that good because he's apparently got poor numbers with RISP. Dunno. Maybe. As further evidence Rev points out correctly that Sogard normally bats 8th or 9th so he must not be very good.

The thing is ... when you compare what he's done as a middle infielder (I was thinking of a comparison with Elvis) it isn't that much different against specifically ALW opponents this year. Then a point was made that the comparison ought to be with Kinsler.

So there we are ... if you scroll back a little bit ... its clear Kinsler is the more valuable and better 2nd baseman ... but when you look at some specific stats that deal with my original point that "Sogard starts stuff" ... that's what led me to post what he does when he leads off ... and what he does the first AB against an SP. Then you can see why it is to OAK advantage to have him batting 8th or 9th.

I think that summarizes about two pages of posts ... and I hope I've represented Rev's points. This was a filler topic only for an off day.