Bench Brigade Propels Rangers’ Third Straight Win

ARLINGTON - On your typical day, the Rangers have 21 Gold Gloves sitting on their bench, a guy who has hit .300 over the last two seasons and a catcher who might be the best defensive talent in the game.

And if you think that’s good, just wait until they get into a game.

On Thursday, just three games into the season, manager Ron Washington cleared the bench by starting DH Andruw Jones (10 Gold Gloves) and SS Omar Vizquel (11 Gold Gloves), LF Marlon Byrd and C Taylor Teagarden. All they did was combine to go eight-for-18 with a pair of walks, a home run and six RBIs as the Rangers clinched a season-opening sweep of Cleveland with a 12-8 win.

Afterward, as GM Jon Daniels was busy calming any potential hysteria from breaking out over the Rangers’ first 3-0 start since 1996, he cited the contributions from the entire roster as the single aspect of which he was happiest with.

“I’m proud of the way our guys played and proud of the way they are getting after it,” Daniels said. “I’d still be the first guy to tell everybody to calm down; it’s only three games, but it certainly beats the alternative. Our guys were ready to play and it seems like everybody had some kind of impact. I guess the depth of position players and the confidence [Washington] has in all 13 of them makes me really happy.”

Perhaps most significantly, everybody on the bench seems willing to accept their roles, at least for now.

Getting them to do that could be a challenge for sure.

Vizquel and Jones have been starters throughout their careers, but had to be willing to accept part-time status with the Rangers. Vizquel has gravitated towards his assigned role as mentor to rookie SS Elvis Andrus; Jones told the Rangers in mid-March he was so anxious to revive his career, he’d take any role the Rangers offered him.

The careers of Jones and Vizquel, however, are on the wane. For Byrd, accepting his role — fourth outfielder, platoon left fielder, whatever you want to call it – could be even more difficult. He’s hit .302 over his two seasons in Texas, has become one of the club’s leaders and has played above average defense. Yet, he doesn’t have a regular position. Both David Murphy (27) and Nelson Cruz (28) are younger than Byrd, who is 31. So, he must settle for playing often against left-handed pitching in place of Murphy, but in other advantageous matchups as well.

Thursday was one of those matchups. Byrd was one of just three Rangers who had faced Indians starter RHP Carl Pavano in the past and the only one to have anything resembling success. Though he hadn’t faced Pavano in five years, Byrd took the same approach he had while going 8-for-20 (.400) back when Pavano was healthy. And when he watched two first-inning fastballs miss of the outside edge of the plate, he geared up for a third. He drove it 418 feet to dead center field to score Jones, who had singled, and Cruz, who had walked. It gave the Rangers a 5-0 lead before Pavano record his second out of the first.

In the eighth, long after Pavano had exited, Byrd doubled to score Jones, who led off the inning with his third hit of the game, also a double. It pushed the Rangers lead to 12-7.

“I think [Washington] does have confidence in this entire roster and I think he should,” Byrd said. “We have guys on the bench that will help. Even when we aren’t playing, we will help. What we’ve got there is just unbelievable.”

And that’s not even mentioning the member of the quartet with the brightest future: Teagarden. A balky back and a history of elbow problems is the only thing keeping him from being a big league starter. Instead, he’s playing behind a player (Jarrod Saltalamacchia) who is two years younger than he is.

The Rangers want to use Teagarden as more than just a traditional backup, but also don’t want to compromise his health. It takes a grounded player to accept such a role. The Rangers believe Teagarden is grounded well beyond his 25 years.

“I just think everybody that goes in there wants to get the job done,” Jones said. “I think it starts with everybody. No matter who goes out there and who is on the bench, we are ready to play when asked to. I think that’s pretty special.”

They got their first real chance to demonstrate that Thursday.