Settling Feeling: Rangers Appear To Have Pitching Staff

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – There is still a staff evaluation meeting on Tuesday and the Rangers have until Sunday to set their roster, but it appears the pieces of the pitching staff have fallen into place.

Put Kris Benson in your (tentative) starting rotation, Josh Rupe in your bullpen and, by process of elimination, Jason Jennings in the bullpen as well.

Manager Ron Washington admitted he wants Benson and Rupe Monday after the duo combined for seven solid innings in a 7-5 10-inning win over San Francisco.

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Locked In? Looks Like Kris Benson, Josh Rupe and Jason Jennings Win Spots On Rangers Pitching Staff

While saying it was only his opinion and does not speak of anything final, manager Ron Washington said after today’s 7-5 win over San Francisco that RHP Kris Benson is one of his top five starting pitchers and that RHP Josh Rupe should be in his bullpen. It means that RHP Scott Feldman will probably have to move to the bullpen to accomodate Benson. But Washington said the Rangers have not even discussed addressing the situation with Feldman. He stressed that Feldman remains a candidate.

Washington didn’t say anything about Jennings, but with injuries to key bullpen contenders piling up, Jennings seems to be the only healthy and effective option. RHP Derrick Turnbow (knee) became the most recent player to come down with an injury. RHPs Dustin Nippert (back) and Willie Eyre (groin) both seem destined for the DL. Eyre couldn’t throw a bullpen session on Monday and Nippert isn’t throwing batting practice until Tuesday.

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Slow-Moving Web Injury Update

We’ve been experiencing terrible inter tube woes today. That’s why posting has been, well, non-existent. And it’s probably not going to speed up any time soon. A slow loading website combined with intermittent wireless service is not a good formula for high tech communications.

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The Gobbler Gets The Axe

LHP Jimmy Gobble, signed to a minor league contract just last week, has been released. Gobble didn’t do himself any favors by walking a left-handed Alex Gordon on Saturday in what amounted to his auditon for the roster. Gobble, 27, pitched 2.1 innings in three games for the Rangers this spring.

That pretty much eliminates any possibility the Rangers would carry three lefties in the bullpen to start the regular season. Gobble was the only lefty other than C.J. Wilson and Eddie Guardado remaining in major league camp. Kasey Kiker is on the travel squad today and may pitch if the Rangers pitchers can’t get through their prescribed work. But I asked if there was any outside chance that Kiker might get an audition as a lefty reliever this year and was given an emphatic “no.” Probably for the best. You’d hate to see a first-round pick turned into a lefty reliever three years after being selected out of high school.

W In The House

The Rangers have confirmed that this guy….

will throw out the first pitch on Monday.

Greeted by a chorus of boos, he fired off a change that he left way up for ball one to open the Nationals’ season last year.

Nolan Ryan Talks Beef and Burgers on SideDish

Nolan Ryan has more than baseball on his plate.

Machine Gun Mondays

This is what you call a renegade post. A blogger that blogs on a blog like this is best to blog about 1 topic at a time. I can’t do it. On Mondays, I anticipate a Tommy-gun like approach first thing most weeks to get this party started.

So, let’s do this. If the D Media Empire slaps the blogging cuffs on me, you may never see this again. Otherwise, consider this “radio” guy filling out a radio show run sheet.

So what rocked my sports world this weekend?  Muchas Cosas Interesantes Aqui:

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That Old Neighborhoood in the NHL West Doesn’t Look the Same Anymore

As the NHL season limps toward the finish locally, it’s easy for a Stars fan to harken back wistfully to 10 years ago. In winning the Stanley Cup, the Stars also claimed their second consecutive Presidents’ Trophy. They were followed in the Western Conference standings by Colorado and Detroit, and that seemed like the logical order in the universe then for quite some time.

Those teams finished 1-2-3 in the conference again in 2000-01 and in 2002-03. But since the ’03-04 campaign that was followed by the lockout, the Red Wings remained at the top of the West through last season and are having another go at it this year with San Jose. Dallas and Colorado are no longer in their class.

The following is offered not as evidence for why the Stars and Avs have tumbled while the Wings haven’t, but simply as information to consider.

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