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Weekend In Review

The Rangers’ long, wet weekend finally came to an end with a disheartening 5-0 loss at the hands of Felix Hernandez  last night. And after spending more time waiting out rain delays than actually playing baseball, the M’s departed Arlington having taken two of three from Texas and pushing the Rangers from two back to four back in the wild card standings. The inclement weather not only meant the Rangers had to get creative with rescheduling and rearrange the rotation, but it also left us with plenty of time to contemplate Ron Washington’s decision making.

The weekend also provided quite a bit of injury news, especially regarding Josh Hamilton’s problematic back. After seeing specialist in California and receiving his third shot in a matter of weeks, it was announced that Hamilton would likely miss another week of action and wouldn’t return until Friday’s opening with the Angels at the earliest. While that still seems to be the case, the good news is the most recent treatment appears to have helped significantly, and Hamilton — as well as Michael Young — could be back sooner rather than later.

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Weekend In Review

It was a big weekend at InsideCorner, mostly because Evan dished the dirt on the five worst Rangers teammates he’s covered. But there was also something about a playoff chase and a big series against Boston that created quite a buzz.

The Rangers managed to win their series by taking two of three from the Red Sox despite having to put their biggest power threat on the DL. And just when the news that Ian Kinsler would no longer be out — or in the leadoff spot — after a hamstring injury had hampered him, the disabled list claimed another Ranger, as catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia will miss at least two weeks with shoulder problems.

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Weekend In Review

As the Rangers headed into their Biggest Series Of The Season v. 12.0, Michael Young was scorching hot and riding a 13-game hitting streak. But after going 3-6 with a homer in the opener, Young cooled off, managing just one hit in nine at bats over the final two games.

It was a bad weekend for Hammys as well. Andruw Jones acknowledged that his is not at 100 percent after he was thrown out Thursday in Oakland trying to stretch a 360-foot RBI single into a double. He went 0-8 over the weekend against the Angels. Josh Hamilton admitted that photos taken of him in a bar in January were real. He managed a 2-4 outing after verifying the pictures, but the Rangers lost the game and he was the only Texas player not to record a base hit Sunday.

Then came the news that Vicente Padilla was released and C.J. Wilson was demoted to 8th inning duty in favor of Frank Francisco. All of this seemed to come at just the wrong time for Texas, who was in need of at least two wins in L.A. to stay close in the division race.

But none of it mattered, at least not yesterday, because Derek Holland is pretty good.

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Weekend In Review

There was a lot of buzz in Arlington heading into the weekend. Not because the Rangers are only a few games back in the division and wild card races. Not because division rival Seattle was in for a four-game series.  Not even because Derek Holland finally showed more than just a flash of his potential by spinning one of the most dominating pitching performances the Rangers have seen in years.

The buzz was surrounding Roy Halladay, and whether or not he’d be in a Rangers uniform by Friday afternoon. The answer, as it turned out, was not, but it wasn’t because the cash-strapped Rangers couldn’t afford him. Rather, Halladay didn’t seem all that interested in a move south, and when formally asked by GM J.P. Ricciardi, he invoked his no-trade clause and said he wouldn’t accept a trade to Texas. Just to add insult to injury, Rangers fans had to endure 30 minutes with their hearts in their throats when it looked like the Angels might be finalizing a deal to snag him for themselves.

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Weekend In Review

Eric Hurley and Joaquin Benoit both having to undergo season-ending surgery to repair torn rotator cuffs? Shame, but that’s baseball. A combined seven trips to the 15-day DL — as well as two stints on the 60-day DL — for Frank Francisco, Dustin Nippert, and Willie Eyre? Unfortunate occupational hazard. A fractured shoulder blade that will keep Brandon McCarthy out for the rest of the season? Tough break, but not unexpected with his injury history.

Kevin Millwood leaves due to glute tightness? Matt Harrison needs a rib removed? Vicente Padilla out with swine flu??

The injuries that have started to pile up on the Ranger pitching staff are getting so ridiculous it’s almost funny. Almost. But the Rangers have managed to persevere so far, holding their lowest team ERA since 1992. They’ve allowed 422 runs through the season’s first 96 games, a number lower or equal to any Ranger team since 1976. And while the starters have been excellent, limiting damage and pitching deep into games, the bullpen has been the key the last few months. So Evan convinced the two huge waiver-wire additions, Jason Grilli and Darren O’Day, to sit down and discuss the keys to Texas’ success in relief, and then questioned Nolan Ryan on how a new approach to pitching has helped the Rangers keep late leads.

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Weekend In Review

The All-Star Game probably won’t mean much to 28 teams come October. And for the time being, it probably doesn’t mean much to most people. But when your most dangerous offensive threat has missed half the season with injuries and has struggled even when healthy, you’ll take any signs of progress. Which is why Ron Washington sounded so encouraged by Josh Hamilton’s performance in St. Louis last Tuesday. And he seemed to be right, at least for a day. Hamilton went 3-4 with three RBI in the opening game Friday night, but followed with 0-4 and 0-5 performances against Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano to finish the series with Minnesota. The silver lining is still there, as nobody could hit Baker and Liriano is notoriously tough on left-handed hitters, but with three Red Sox righties due up in Arlington starting tonight, the Rangers need Hamilton to help heal the hurting offense.

Another name the Rangers would love to see producing in Texas soon is Chris Davis. It’s hard to project exactly how long the Rangers plan to keep Davis in triple-A, but so long as he maintains a 1.200+ OPS in the minors, he’s probably never far from being sent back up.

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Weekend In Review

Let’s just get to the real point of the post right off the bat: to remind all of you loyal InsideCornerians one more time that this Thursday, July 16, we will have our Pennant Race Pep Rally at Pappasito’s in Arlington.

And in case you missed it, Ian Kinsler still isn’t an All-Star. After narrowly missing being voted in as the AL’s starting second baseman, then narrowly missing being voted in as the AL’s final member, Kinsler not-so-narrowly missed being added to the roster by manager Joe Maddon after Dustin Pedroia pulled out to be with his pregnant wife. See, Kinsler never had a chance to make the team when Pedroia decided he wouldn’t head to St. Louis because Maddon picked his own player to replace Pedroia. It’s not that it’s a move most managers wouldn’t make or that Carlos Pena wasn’t deserving of a spot, it just leaves the AL with an awkward roster that features four 1Bs and only Aaron Hill at 2B.

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Weekend In Review

There are many reasons (read: excuses) as to why you may not have kept up with InsideCorner over the weekend. But whatever the cause of your absence, here’s what you missed…

The biggest story most Ranger fans were anticipating entering the weekend wasn’t whether Josh Hamilton was elected a starter in the All-Star game (he was), or Ian Kinsler was selected at all (he wasn’t), or top prospect Justin Smoak would finally get the call up to triple-A (he did), but whether or not Hamilton would make his return after a monthlong stint on the DL (he didn’t). And though it appears that Hamilton is finally ready to debut for the Rangers tonight in Anaheim, the story of his arrival took an unexpected turn late last night when instead of sending Julio Borbon back to the minors as expected, the Rangers optioned Chris Davis to Oklahoma City to make room for Hamilton on the active roster.

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The Weekend In Review

For those unfortunate folk who were unable to get their fill of InsideCorner over the weekend, here’s a recap of what you missed…

The prize of Texas’ 2008 draft, Frisco 1B Justin Smoak, has an OPS of .947 in AA this year. Combine that with Chris Davis’ well-documented struggles at the plate, and you get an awful lot of speculation as to when Smoak will get the call-up to Arlington and if the Rangers even have room for both sluggers in the long-term. But Smoak says he’s confident that he and Davis can coexist in the same lineup.

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