Kevin Millwood Vs. Jered Weaver: An All-Star Pitching Matchup, But Will They Be All-Stars?

In addition to the slightly-less-than-oppressive heat currently blanketing the area, tonight features real incentive for fans to stream to Rangers Ballpark In Arlington.

It’s Dollar Hot Dog Night.

That seems to bring out the crowds, much more so than say a AL West showdown between the first-place Angels and the contending Rangers. But, for you handful of baseball purists out there, if you want to see a great pitching matchup, tonight’s game offers a legitimate possibility of one. Kevin Millwood, fifth in the AL in ERA, faces Jered Weaver, who is sixth. The difference between the two is .01096 earned runs per nine inning. But for easier-to-read purposes, Millwood is at 2.64; Weaver at 2.65. Both have eight wins. Both have more than 100 innings pitched. Both are having All-Star caliber seasons.

Which leads me to my next question: Will both be All-Stars? Will either?

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More About Last Night: Texas Rangers Address Issues, But Are They The Right Ones?

ARLINGTON - The Rangers need to figure out what they are. And fast. Like yesterday.

Because yesterday – in this case Monday – it sure seemed like they were casting about for answers and, in the end, running in circles in a 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that put them 2.5 games back in the AL West. For those counting, that’s seven games they’ve lost in the standings since June 12.

In the end, this is what the Rangers did Monday: They brought up a leadoff man to replace the cleanup hitter platoon, then hit the leadoff man (Julio Borbon) in the sixth spot. Early in the game, the Angels embarrassed the rookie by intentionally walking a batter (Nelson Cruz) who is hitting .179 for June to have crusty veteran Sean O’Sullivan (appearing in his third major league game) face and strike out Borbon with the bases loaded for his first major league at-bat. Late in the game, with a rally at stake, the Rangers pulled Borbon back for Hank Blalock, the very man who was benched for the rookie in the first place. Of course, Blalock didn’t fare better. He grounded out to end the rally.

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Ron Washington’s Big Test

On the most recent Rangers Podcast in Arlington, I suggested that Ron Washington might be at a very pivotal moment in his career as a manager, facing the job of keeping the Rangers on top without Josh Hamilton in the lineup.

Citing the work Joe Torre has done in keeping the Dodgers rolling without their slugger, I suggested that Washington had an opportunity to establish himself as a manager by doing the same thing.

So far, Washington has not distinguished himself in the face of his club’s adversity while Torre has.

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Pitching Profile – May Edition

The following exercise is something I am trying to keep on the side for my own personal use, but then I thought that there might be just enough stat-hungry baseball folks to go ahead and post it up here for you to digest (slowly…there is a lot).

It is basic splits for the 5 starters who have filled out the Rangers rotation for 2009. There have been 50 starts, and to date, Millwood, McCarthy, Harrison, Feldman, and Padilla have made 45 of them. Benson, Holland, and Hunter have made the last 5, but there is not enough data to make it worth running their monthly trends.

But, as we embark upon the month of June, here is a perfect time to show you how the 5 are performing, and perhaps this is something I will update and rerun each and every time we turn the calendar here in the baseball season.

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Did Alex Rodriguez Tip Pitches While With The Rangers? A Look At The Numbers

So, did he or didn’t he?

In Selena Roberts’ pulpy biography of Alex Rodriguez, which reads like a hardbound version of US magazine, the accusations come fly fast and furious. Stuff like his (lousy) restaurant tipping habits, his visits to strip clubs, his vanity and his insecurity. Pretty clear, he’s not a great guy.

As far as baseball goes, there are only two details from the book that I care about: The accusations he used steroids (which Rodriguez has acknowledged) and the accusations he conspired with other players in a quid-pro-quo pitch-tipping scheme. Rodriguez, the book alleges, would tip opposing batters, usually middle infielders, to what was about to be thrown once games were out of hand. He expected them to do the same for him. Call it slump insurance.

The first accusation makes him a cheater and it doesn’t matter whether it was in Texas (as he acknowledges) or throughout his career. But, based on information that continues to leak out, it wouldn’t make him that unusual; there appear to have been lots of guys out there who were willing to cheat to win.

The second, however, would make him something of a ringleader of gang of guys determined to cheat the integrity of competition, too.

Bad stuff.

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About Last Night: Hank Blalock Gives Rangers Something To Swagger About

ARLINGTON - The tell-tale signs were there. The carpet was a little soggier. The beer splatter reached a little higher. The music – a very appropriate selection of T.I. and Jay-Z rapping “Swagga Like Us” – was a bit louder.

Yep, somebody in the Rangers clubhouse had played late-inning hero on Wednesday night.

Welcome back, Hank Blalock.

It was Blalock’s laser beam double to right center off Brandon Morrow in the 11^th inning that scored Michael Young with the tying run and a sliding Josh Hamilton with the game-winner in a 6-5 victory over Seattle.

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About Last Night, er, Afternoon: By Pocketing Aces, Rangers Run Streak To Four With 7-2 Victory Over Seattle

D-tails: Boxscore (Rangers 7, Seattle 2); Standings;  The Depot live game blog; Post-Game Show comment thread

SEATTLE -John Danks. Felix Hernandez. Erik Bedard.

They are the kind of pitchers you might expect to find on an AL All-Star team or in a playoff rotation.

But in this particular instance, they are neither. They are simply the opponents’ starting pitcher in the last three Rangers wins of what is now a four-game winning streak with Tuesday’s 7-2 10-inning victory over Seattle. Those names alone make it not your average four-game winning streak.

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NHL Fans: Seeking Picks For Stanley Cup-Holders

Who will beat whom in the Finals in June? (Tie-breaker: How many games out will the Texas Rangers be on that date?)

In recent years, the Stanley Cup playoffs have reminded me of the NCAA Tournament: plenty of upsets early, but in the end we end up with one of the best teams skating around with the hardware. The last time that the champion wasn’t among the top three teams in its conference (not counting the lockout-shortened 1995 season)? The year before there were Dallas Stars, when Montreal won in 1992-93 after finishing fourth in the East.

After the jump, details on how I determine my favorites, which has almost nothing to do with who’s on the ice.

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Actuary Look At The Stars’ Season (Part II)

Much of the following will come as no shock. But it’s better to have a more specific idea why the Stars groped through the season. And, no, there’s nothing here related to man-games. Stars fans know what it meant to miss Brenden Morrow, Brad Richards, Sergei Zubov and friends. Let’s stick to the hard numbers of what happened on ice:

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Actuary Look At The Stars’ Season (Part I) While Players Can Tee It Up Before The Masters Is Over

This morning, we’ll review some numbers. After the full league is done Sunday, it’ll be time to compare the Stars to the rest of the league, like where James Neal officially finishes in rookie goals. Feel free to mention others that you find significant.

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Whoa, Nelly: Confident Cruz Hits Pair Of Homers As Rangers Go 2-0 For First Time Since 2000

Nelson Cruz launched a seventh-inning rocket for his second homer of the night. (Photo R.P. Washburne)

•Boxscore: Rangers 8, Indians 5

• MLB standings

ARLINGTON – Nelson Cruz hits balls far. Maybe even farther than Josh Hamilton. Until very recently, the only difference was that most of Cruz’s jaw-dropping bombs came during batting practice.

But with each thundering blow he strikes, it’s becoming more and more realistic that Cruz has finally found the key to taking his power from batting practice into games.

Wednesday night, he demonstrated what he’s learned twice with important home runs in the Rangers 8-5 win over Cleveland. One of them traveled into the club level in left field, making him only the 11^th player to reach the middle deck of Rangers Ballpark.

The win improved the Rangers to 2-0. It’s their first 2-0 start since 2000. If they can finish off the Indians Thursday afternoon, they’ll be 3-0 for the first time since 1996. Around these parts, being compared favorably to anything that happened in 1996 – the team’s first AL West championship team – is a very good thing.

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Spring Fever: Why April Has Been So Cruel To Rangers And Why 2009 Might Buck The Recent Trend

The Rangers may not be anybody's April Fool this year.

Baseball conventional wisdom says: “You can’t win a playoff spot in April, but you can lose one.”

It applies only to 29 teams.

The adage changes for the Rangers. It goes something like this: “As goes April, so goes the season.”

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Always Fearless And Sometimes Accurate: Trying To Predict The 2009 Texas Rangers Record

Well, here we go: Time for the very scientific Rangers schedule analysis and record projection. I’ve occasionally been right on (I believe 2006) and occasionally been way off (see the 90-72 prediction in 2007). Last year, I believe I missed by a game or two.

In general, here’s what I see: A faster than usual start caused by a favorable early schedule, a .500 club through the early summer, a rough August and a red-hot September. What’s all that get you? Hah. Gotta turn the page to find out. You also go here for a calendar version of the schedule. Or here to look back at your predictions. (more…)

Ask Sports Sturm: What is an Ace?

To the extremely shrewd blog reader, this may appear as a complete reprint of a project I was working on 10 days ago for a radio segment known as “Ask Sports Sturm.”

As a point of reference, please understand that I am a sports dork first and foremost. Most of my blog posts will either be a fiery sports opinion or a “super dork” sports research project. I may try to stray from my M.O., but those are my two pitches that have worked for me.

The Ask Sports Sturm projects are fairly involved and lengthy, but hopefully you will find them as grounds for a sports argument with me or with your other sports buddies. So, with that in mind, here is the latest “Ask Sports Sturm”: (more…)

Why Constructing The Bullpen Is The Top Story Of Spring

We plan to be back later with our top 10 stories (and a few non-stories) of Spring Training, but thought we’d at least get the day started with a little talk about the No. 1 issue in camp: The bullpen.

To bring you up to date: RHP Frank Francisco is the closer and nothing has changed about that. LHPs C.J Wilson and Eddie Guardado are expected to be the primary setup men, though both have dealt with some spring training pains that make things a little less certain. Wilson’s had a bruised hand and a split callus that have limited him to 1.1 innings since March 1; he’s supposed to return to the mound today, so that will be something of a focus for this afternoon’s game with Colorado. Guardado has dealt with some shoulder stiffness, but he’s dealt with shoulder issues for the last five years and unless his arm becomes physically unattached, he will be ready for the start of the season.

RHP Warner Madrigal has all but clinched a job, though with more than two weeks left until the season begins, you can never be absolutely certain. The rest is a melange of occasional impressive outings (RHP Willie Eyre), decent track records trying to bounce back from injury (RHPs Brendan Donnelly and Derrick Turnbow) and, well, others.

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