Game Report: White Sox 8, Rangers 4

Chicago’s Brian Anderson capped off a five-run ninth inning with a walk-off grand slam Saturday afternoon in Glendale, Ariz.. Anderson hit his grand slam, which landed beyond the bullpens in left field, off minor league RHP Brennan Garr. Garr had followed fellow minor leaguer LHP Zach Phillips into the game. Phillips started the ninth because the Rangers were a pitcher short after LHP C.J. Wilson tore a blister Saturday morning. Phillips got the first out of the inning, then allowed two hits and two walks as the White Sox tied the score. Garr replaced Phillips to face Anderson. (more…)

CJ Wilson Gets Blistered

We told you this morning that left-hander C.J. Wilson had informed his blog-reading fans that he would re-debut the windup upon his entrance into Saturday’s game. Well, that was postponed. Wilson cracked open a blister on his pitching hand in the morning workout and then didn’t travel to the game in Glendale.

We’ll get you a full game report soon, but for now, if you must now, minor league RHP Brennan Garr gave up a walk-off grand slam to Brian Anderson, dooming the Rangers to an 8-4 loss.

Getting Defensive: Author John Dewan Discusses Michael Young’s Move to Third and Defensive Statistical Analysis

Three years ago, John Dewan, a disciple of baseball stat guru Bill James and one of the founders of the statistical treasure trove STATS, Inc., published the first edition of The Fielding Bible. It was the first publication that aimed to truly quantify the importance of fielding.

Dewan used plenty of complicated sabermetric formulas to come up with a “plus/minus” system to determine what kind of impact fielders had on the game. Among the theories presented by Dewan was one that suggested Rangers then-shortstop Michael Young was the worst defensive shortstop in the game.

It took Dewan three years to come up with a second edition and it’s a far more complicated, far longer book. In it, he tries to get closer to definitively measuring the impact of fielders. In this year’s book, he ranks Young, who has since moved to third, 25^th among 35 shortstops.

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Rangers Notes: An Update on Delayed Dominicans

A brief update to our story about the Dominican minor leaguers who have not yet made it to camp: The Rangers have not disclosed the list of five, but I was told none of the delayed prospects were among Baseball America’s top 30 Rangers prospects. So just for the record, these guys are in camp: RHP Neftali Feliz, OF Engel Beltre, 2B Jose Vallejo, RHP Kennil Gomez and INF Joaquin Arias.

Club officials also said the re-check of one prospect’s age documentation has been completed and he should be in camp on Monday. The club remains hopeful that delays for the other four should not be lengthy.

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