Rangers back at the Grill for a set against the Halos: LAA @ TEX 6/12-15

[True Rangers Fan]

since the decision was made to put minimal effort into the last game of the Cardinals series this team has been out of sync.

if that's all it takes to get this team out of sync, then we should all stop pretending they are a contender this year.

 

[scotsman#1948]

if that's all it takes to get this team out of sync, then we should all stop pretending they are a contender this year.

well what do you think is the problem? Semien was on a 25-gane hitting streak going into that game since then he's had a couple of hits in 5 games and go down the batting order and it seems that virtually every player has struggled since that game. maybe we can blame it on grossman or miller

 

[saddles]

Scott Lucas had this to say about Owen White's debut:

RHP Owen White will be in on the active roster in Arlington tonight. While not starting, he seems destined for his MLB debut.

White is Texas's best pitching prospect, offering a five-pitch mix of four and two-seam fastballs, slider, curve, and change. His most effective breaker is a slider that averages mid-80s but will occasionally ramp to 90 when he's in the mood. An 80ish curve ranks close behind. The two-seamer is less common and might not appear at all. The change trails his breakers but is more than a show-me pitch.

White was slowed this spring by neck tightness and is still not throwing at last year's velocity. The fastball typically described as "mid-90s, touching 98" has more often been 91-94. White doesn't live or die with a rising fastball -- he'll move it around -- but the lower velocity appears to have affected his bat-missing ability. Among the 23 Texas minor leaguers with at least 30 innings, White's 11.0% swinging strike rate ranks 18th, just behind Cody Bradford. White is also 18th of 23 in strikeout rate at 21.1%. Last year's numbers in AA were 14% and 27%, respectively. He's been effective this season, but not as dominant.

As such, I have mixed feelings. In full transparency, someone on twitter floated the possibility of bringing up White or Jack Leiter three weeks ago, and my response was "I think they'd both get clobbered." Maybe a hasty exaggeration, but I certainly loathed the idea of White as a bullpen addition at that time. As for the current, more pressing situation, there's no easy answer. White obviously has the requisite determination and confidence, and he will kneel before no one, but at this particular moment in time, that might not be good enough. As ever, the Angels are a weird, flawed team, but they've got some hitters you might have heard of. As you've seen from the debuts of Cody Bradford and Grant Anderson, the range in possible outcomes is too broad to offer a comfortable prediction of how he'll do. I hope he can get by.

White is not tonight's starter. That would be Bradford, coming off three days rest following a season-high 99 pitches. Although he'll have a restricted pitch count, this is still almost unheard of. Certainly, I can't recall any Texas pitcher in the minors reappearing on three days rest after a lengthy start, even 15 years ago, with the exception of someone older and rubber-armed like Tim Dillard. The short-rest examples I found in MLB this season were almost exclusively opener-type outings from relievers.

That said, I spent a fair amount of time staring at my org chart last night, and I don't know that I have a better solution. Actually, I thought Bradford would be off the table, having pitched on Friday, and that White would be the likely starter. The other 40-man options are untenable for various reasons, and no off-40 ideas appealed. Round Rock's rotation is alarmingly thin at present. Robert Dugger has a poor MLB track record but at least he has one, but he pitched on Saturday. Adding an off-40 reliever like Chase Lee might not provide even two innings. I would pick White over Jack Leiter.

 

[saddles]

since the decision was made to put minimal effort into the last game of the Cardinals series this team has been out of sync. thought they might have shaken it last night during the 1st 3 innings but the team relapsed and was totally ineffective the rest of the way

Yeah, that is what I was saying last night. I have seen a lot of folks saying this today.

It was such a radical thing to do. I am not sure exactly why it affected them, but I thought it was putting way too much emphasis on the Rays series. That series should have been approached like any other. I think had Bochy not done that we would probably have won the last game against the Cardinals. And even if we would have lost 2 over the weekend we would have simply moved on. Now it seems the extra pressure put on that weekend series has them out of sync and a little deflated

Something needs to shake them out of this.

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[Kelleyman]

Yeah, that is what I was saying last night. I have seen a lot of folks saying this today.

It was such a radical thing to do. I am not sure exactly why it affected them, but I thought it was putting way too much emphasis on the Rays series. That series should have been approached like any other. I think had Bochy not done that we would probably have won the last game against the Cardinals. And even if we would have lost 2 over the weekend we would have simply moved on. Now it seems the extra pressure put on that weekend series has them out of sync and a little deflated

Something needs to shake them out of this.

I have said the same thing. The Halo series is and was more important than the Rays series.
Should have been business as usual going into that series.

Guessing we will need some spot starts this month in addition to today

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

Get Otto stretched out.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

well what do you think is the problem? Semien was on a 25-gane hitting streak going into that game since then he's had a couple of hits in 5 games and go down the batting order and it seems that virtually every player has struggled since that game. maybe we can blame it on grossman or miller

1) it's been 4 games since this so-called "out of sync" game happened. way too small a sample size to make any judgement

2) they faced the runaway best team in MLB for 3 of those games. way too specific a sample size to make any judgement

3) they aren't going to drop 10 runs every game. they will have off nights at the plate. every team has them.

4) seager literally had the best night of his career this weekend against the rays. several players have also had good games since then as well.

gonna need the fanbase to not freak out and start diagnosing a 5 game stretch of baseball.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

 

[scotsman1948]

1) it's been 4 games since this so-called "out of sync" game happened. way too small a sample size to make any judgement

2) they faced the runaway best team in MLB for 3 of those games. way too specific a sample size to make any judgement

3) they aren't going to drop 10 runs every game. they will have off nights at the plate. every team has them.

4) seager literally had the best night of his career this weekend against the rays. several players have also had good games since then as well.

gonna need the fanbase to not freak out and start diagnosing a 5 game stretch of baseball.

Not expecting a 10-run game every game but I do expect to see them competitive from inning 1 to inning 9 and after 3rd inning they weren’t

 

[DT LUNA]

Not expecting a 10-run game every game but I do expect to see them competitive from inning 1 to inning 9 and after 3rd inning they weren’t

With our pitching problems we better get a 10-run game

 

[saddles]

Bradford is expected to be able to throw 75 pitches tonight. That should like a lot after throwing about 100 4 days ago.

 

[saddles]

We might need a bench clearing brawl. Lol

 

[DT LUNA]

We might need a bench clearing brawl. Lol

10 cent beer will do it.

 

[saddles]

10 cent beer will do it.

That would be a stands clearing brawl.

 

[scotsman1948]

Bradford is expected to be able to throw 75 pitches tonight. That should like a lot after throwing about 100 4 days ago.

Bradford is expected to be able to throw 75 pitches tonight. That should like a lot after throwing about 100 4 days ago.

Well he won’t face Trout but he will Othani so maybe he can through 5

 

[Kelleyman]

Well he won’t face Trout but he will Othani so maybe he can through 5

Nice—day off for Trout eh

 

[Senator_fan]

Well he won’t face Trout but he will Othani so maybe he can through 5

I would walk him every time up then. He’s hotter than a $2 pistol.