The Depot: Live Game Blog, News, Notes

Here in the new media world, we’ve got new duties. So, today we’ve spent some time hanging out with the Sisson Family of Waxahachie, who were the April winners of our Dr Pepper SportsSnaps Promotion. If you haven’t entered the SportsSnaps Promotion, it’s incredibly easy and the entry form is located just to the right of everything on InsideCorner’s front page. You don’t even have to be as adorable for tonight’s special guest, Kylie Sisson, to win. It does help, however.

In between being entertained by Kylie, we will be running our usual blog. So, away we go.

7:16: Perhaps the biggest reason that 3B Michael Young has gotten off to a stronger-than-usual performance in the power department is that he has moved his feet about six inches closer to home plate. Last year, pitchers started to give Young a steady diet of pitches away. Because he was so far from the plate, he couldn’t drive those pitches. And because pitchers had some degree of success with the away, away, away approach, Young was forced to make a change. This stance has allowed him to drive more pitches to the outside part of the plate. It’s also invited pitchers to try and come inside on Young. He likes pitchers to throw in, because those are pitches he can drive.

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Pool Party!!!!

Homer pool time and since I apparently went off the deep end yesterday and changed up the qualifications, let’s just forget I said anything about it. But now would be a good time for the weekly rules disclaimer. To be eligible to win bundles of free stuff, you must: Pick the Rangers hitter who hits the first homer, the inning in which he hits the homer and the number of men on base. The first tie-breaker is the count on which the homer is hit. The second is the distance. For those who pick no homers, we must also have a total number of runs scored by the Rangers.

There. Did I straighten myself out? OK. Here’s your Rangers lineup vs. LHP Jarrod Washburn: 2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young (20-for-57 with three homers against Washburn), CF Josh Hamilton, RF Andruw Jones, DH Hank Blalock (10-for-32, one homer vs. Washburn), LF Marlon Byrd, 1B Chris Davis, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus. … and pitching for the Rangers RHP Brandon McCarthy.

Quick Bullpen Injury Update: Frank Francisco Feeling Better; Willie Eyre Too

This from GM Jon Daniels regarding a number of Rangers relievers:

• Frankie Francisco reported feeling better today.  The soreness he feels now is more from the injection than the original discomfort he had (which is normal).  Did rehab exercises today, may throw tomorrow assuming all goes well.

• Willie Eyre threw in the  bullpen today.  Reported feeling pain free afterwards.  Scheduled for another bullpen on Friday, possibly one more after that before he’d begin a rehab assignment.

• Dustin Nippert saw [spine specialist] Dr. Andrew Dossett today and received an injection (same spot as has been bothering him all along).  Will take a couple of days off, begin rehab again on Friday, and start throwing shortly thereafter.

Kevin Millwood Chat Reminder

Kevin Millwood will be here at 2 p.m. to answer questions about the Rangers, the upcoming series against Los Angeles and maybe even his picks for the HP Byron Nelson (since he’s the best golfer on the staff).

To access the chat Click Here

UPDATE: Evan just got to the ballpark at 2 pm. He will be chatting soon with Kevin Millwood. Give him five minutes, 10 on the outside. –Eric

Kevin Millwood Chat At 2 Today

I think the headline says it all, but I’ll follow it up with this: If I can manage to operate the software, Rangers RHP Kevin Millwood will join us for about 45 minutes at 2 p.m. today to talk about his season, the pitching staff’s success and, yes, the first-place Texas Rangers. We will have the link posted shortly. And keep your fingers crossed that I can manage to operate the chat room.

Saving The Bullpen

I am thoroughly amazed at some of the things we are seeing in Arlington this summer, and while my calendar reminds me that we are merely passing the “20% of the season” pole today, it is worth noting our sample size is growing by the week.

With that in mind, the stat that has always been front and center for me is the distribution of innings between your starters (generally, guys you have invested most of your resources into between dollars and assets) and your bullpen (guys you have determined are not great candidates to be starters at this time).  Really good pitching staffs actually approach 70% work load being shouldered by the starters, which then leads to a number of good results in many categories.   The Rangers in 2008 were at about 60%.  While that 10% may not seem like much, perhaps it better explains why people like Nolan Ryan discuss “one more inning” or “one more out” from the starters.  Because that 10% is the difference between the best staffs in baseball and the worst.

This morning, the Rangers starting rotation work load percentage stands at 68.5%.  Phenomenal on so many levels for this staff to be able to shoulder that much work.  Scott Feldman last night kept the beat going, and the bullpen remains rested and ready (Francisco news pending, of course).  Their quality will be tested as the summer goes on, but the fact that there are things this far into the season that we are not sure about regarding the bullpen speaks to the improvements.  In past summers in recent memory, we knew way TOO much about the Rangers’ bullpen by now.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (5/13)

The Big Fella

One of the peripheral stats I’m most interested in this year is Tommy Hunter’s line against left-handed hitters.

The big righty must fully develop his changeup to round out his repertoire and become a legitimate big leaguer. Last year, PCL lefties hit .373 / .391 / .663 against him. This year, they are hitting .200 / .200 / .267. He won’t keep that pace up, but if he can continue to keep southpaws from teeing off on him like they did last year, Hunter– who locates his fastball well and wields a plus curve — could become an outstanding pitcher.

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Survival Skills: Texas Rangers Starter Scott Feldman Outlasts Opponent In 7-1 Win Over Mariners

D-tails
• Boxscore (Rangers 7, Mariners 1); Standings; The Depot live game blog; Post-Game Show comment thread
• Rangers don’t waste second chances; Biceps soreness leaves Frank Francisco unavailable
• AL West glance: Boston rallies to beat Angels; extends Texas lead to 1½ games

ARLINGTON - Josh Hamilton officially returned Tuesday night. Derek Holland officially arrived.

And, perhaps most importantly, another Rangers starter won another round of Survivor: The Pitchers Mound. You know, the objective: Outwit, outpitch and outlast the other guy on the little dirt island.

The Rangers assured themselves of another night in first place with a 7-1 win over Seattle that was powered in part by a Hamilton homer to start a six-run, seventh-inning rally and by 1.2 flawless innings of relief from Holland, which earned him the first win of his major league career.

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Dissecting The Stretched Seventh Inning

ARLINGTON – Josh Hamilton’s two-run home run three batters into the Rangers’ seventh inning ended up providing the winning margin over Seattle on Tuesday night. But at the time, going ahead by two runs didn’t appear to assure anything. Not after leaving the bases loaded in a scoreless sixth and with closer Frank Francisco unavailable because of shoulder soreness.

That all changed later in the seventh, when the batting order didn’t behave like Rangers. Texas kept putting the ball in play and avoided what often is a Rangers staple, the strikeout. The end result was a six-run inning that put the game away.

The following focuses on the first three Rangers who hit with two strikes during that half inning – Andruw Jones, Nelson Cruz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia – and how each made something happen.

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