Series Thread: Rangers on the Road to Face Pirates May 22-24

[Kelleyman]

A Beltre sighting

 

[saddles]

Of course it would be

Then why would you suggest it as a possibility?

 

[saddles]

Garver at DH again tonight.

 

[scotsman1948]

Then why would you suggest it as a possibility?

Felt sarcastic sorry

 

[saddles]

From Evan Grant:

Will Smith had been the unfortunate victim of the Rangers’ schizophrenic start. He is the closer on a team of extremes. Either the Rangers’ offense pummels opponents or the middle of the bullpen lets leads melt away. There hasn’t been much in between.

So, after Tuesday’s five-run win made it a week since he appeared in a game, he shuffled into manager Bruce Bochy’s office, his hat askew, as it always is in the clubhouse, and asked sheepishly: “Do you think I can play tomorrow?”

Bochy nodded that big head of his.

And this is why the manager is one day headed for the Hall of Fame: He was just saving him for the right spot. A one-run lead. Bases loaded. One out. Five outs to go. It proved no problem for Smith in a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh for his 100th career save and, quite possibly, had a bigger hand in a win than any closer in any single game in Rangers history. It’s not hyperbole.
“He hadn’t pitched in a week and I needed to get him in,” Bochy said afterward. “I had told him before the game, ‘be ready for two [innings]’. I was joking. But I did put him in a tough spot and what a job he did. He’s so competitive. It was huge for us.”

How huge? According to Baseball-Reference, which catalogs such things, Smith aided this particular win more than any closer in any game in Rangers history. Smith’s Win Probability Added (WPA), which tries to provide context for how much a player contributed to a game, was 0.59. In other words, his five outs were worth 60 percent of the win. So, huge. Really, really huge.

The highest previous in a save by a Ranger: 0.539 by Jim “The Emu” Kern in a four-inning save in 1979. There have only been 10 previous saves in club history with a WPA of 0.5, none of them in the last 30 years. They were from a bygone era when closers regularly went more than an inning.

 

[saddles]

Felt sarcastic sorry

Gotcha

 

[scotsman1948]

Gotcha

Been real bored all day. Just felt the need

 

[WastinSomeTime]

That would be extremely foolish.

Beat me to it.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Been real bored all day. Just felt the need

LOL!

 

[saddles]

2 hits for Garver including a HR.

Bad outing for Hearn

Good out from reliever, Grant Anderson

Chase Lee on to pitch

 

[Nightcrawler]

Good series against the Pirates.

seemed like the lineup was missing Duran today. The lineup performed poorly in the days he didn’t play. Winning a 1 run game was probably good for the confidence of the bullpen tho

 

[saddles]

 

[Kelleyman]

Disrespect to the Os

 

[scotsman1948]

I’m surprised that they have us that high. I would have expected us to not even have made the top 20

 

[scotsman1948]

Disrespect to the Os

I agree I didn’t think neither the O’s, Pirates or Rangers would make the list

 

[scotsman1948]

Also shocked that they don’t have the Angels and Mariners ahead of us on that list.

 

[DT LUNA]

Also shocked that they don’t have the Angels and Mariners ahead of us on that list.

Why?

 

[saddles]

Also shocked that they don’t have the Angels and Mariners ahead of us on that list.

Are you feeling sarcastic again this morning?

 

[saddles]

From Jeff Wilson:

The Rangers announced that Kumar Rocker underwent Tommy John surgery Monday in Arlington. The surgery was performed by Dr. Keith Meister, and the Rangers expect Rocker will return next season in the second half.

 

[scotsman1948]

Why?

They have more respect than we do. All their projections have earlier on and still do have the Rangers finishing well behind the Astros, the Angels and the Mariners at the end of the season