Spring Training Recap

This week I did an analysis of how all of the Rangers are doing so far in Spring Training.

Outfield:

Nelson Cruz: .200 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Nelson is leading the team in at-bats with 20, and isn’t taking advantage of it with only 4 hits. With the way he’s playing, he probably won’t make the team.

Jason Botts: .375 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Jason is playing well, but his power numbers aren’t that great, so that’s the only thing he needs to step up on.

Marlon Byrd: .188 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Marlon has struggled going only 3-for-16, so his trade value might have gone down, but he’ll still make the team if not traded.

Jason Ellison: .438 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Jason has played very well getting on base over half the time with a .571 OBP. If he’s not getting a hit, he’s walking, as he leads the team in walks with 4. He might play himself onto the team.

David Murphy: .438 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI
David is playing very well, but hasn’t walked at all so far this Spring Training. He struck out twice already.

Josh Hamilton: .533, 1 HR, 8 RBI
I think Josh has played the best of anybody so far this Spring Training, with the most RBI’s and second best batting average.

Kevin Mench: .214 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Kevin has walked plenty, but to make the team he has to be able to hit better.

Brandon Boggs: .200 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Brandon hasn’t played well and has no chance of making the team.

John Mayberry, Jr.: .300 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI
John has played well, but has only had 10 at-bats, already striking out twice.

Julio Borbon: .429 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI
Julio has played incredibly well, with 7 RBI’s in only 7 at-bats. Even though he’s playing so well, he has no chance of making the team.

Frank Catalanotto: .286 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Frank has had a decent spring,


Infielders:

Ian Kinsler: .474 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Ian has had the most plate appearances of anyone on the team and has definitely taken advantage.

Michael Young: .222 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Michael has struggled so far and needs to pick it up by the time the season starts.

Travis Metcalf: .412 AVG, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Travis is fighting for the utility job and is playing very well, so he has a good chance of making the team.

Ramon Vazquez: .467 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Ramon is also doing very well, so it will be fun to see who wins the utility job.

Ben Broussard: .077 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI
The first base job is his, but he could lose it if he keeps this up.

Edgardo Alfonzo: .364 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI
Edgardo is playing well, but due to his competitors playing even better, he probably won’t make the team.

Elvis Andrus: .273 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Elvis is doing decent, but he has no shot at the team. He’s in major league camp for experience.

Chris Davis: .182 AVG, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Chris hasn’t played well, with only two hits, but both of them were homers.

Ryan Roberts: .455 AVG, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Ryan is playing very well, but he’ll have to play even better to make the team the way Travis Metcalf and Ramon Vazquez are playing.

German Duran: .200 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI
At this rate, German has no chance of being the utility guy.

Chris Shelton: .200 AVG, 0 HR, 3 RBI
Chris hasn’t played too well, but has outplayed Ben Broussard, so if he plays a little better and Ben Broussard keeps playing the way he has, he could make the team.

Nate Gold: .111 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI
Nate hasn’t played very well, but has 2 walks in 9 at-bats.

Joaquin Arias: .143 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Joaquin hasn’t played very well, but has only had 7 at-bats.

Hank Blalock: .400, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Hank might have been doing well, but a car crash has kept him from having any more than 5 Spring Training at-bats.


Catchers:

Gerald Laird: .286 AVG, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Gerald has played well, but will need to do better to win the starting job.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: .200 AVG, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Jarrod hasn’t played well, but has only had 10 at-bats.

Adam Melhuse: .375 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Adam has a good batting average, but will need to bring up his power numbers to even have a shot at making the team.

Taylor Teagarden: .667 AVG, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Taylor has played well, but only in 3 at-bats.

Chris Stewart: .500 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Chris only has 2 at-bats.

Max Ramirez: .000 AVG, 0 HR, 0 RBI
Max struck out in his only at-bat.


Pitchers:

Scott Feldman: 5 IP, 0-0 W-L, 1.80 ERA
Scott leads the team in innings pitched and has played well, so he has a good shot at making the team at this point, especially with Rheinecker’s injury.

Vicente Padilla: 5 IP, 2-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Vicente is pitching really well so far and needs to keep it up into the regular season.

Elizardo Ramirez: 5 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Elizardo is doing pretty well, but still probably won’t make the team.

AJ Murray: 5 IP, 0-1 W-L, 10.80 ERA
AJ is not doing very well, and has probably lost any chance he had to make the team out of camp.

Eric Hurley: 4.2 IP, 0-0 W-L, 1.93 ERA
Eric is pitching very well and is getting some great experience to help him prepare for possibly being called up to the majors late in the season.

Jason Jennings: 4.2 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
If Vicente Padilla starts to struggle, he might slide up to the #2 spot in the rotation.

Josh Rupe: 4.2 IP, 1-1 W-L, 7.71 ERA
Josh is playing poorly, and has lost whatever chance he had of making the team.

Jamey Wright: 4.2 IP, 0-0 W-L, 3.86 ERA
Jamey is doing decent, which is just what was expected of him.

Matt Harrison: 4.1 IP, 0-1 W-L, 6.23 ERA
Matt has struggled so far, but he has only been in A-ball, so it doesn’t mean anything to the roster and is great experience for him.

Kazuo Fukumori: 5 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Kazuo is playing very well and hopefully he can do well in the regular season, too.

Kason Gabbard: 4 IP, 0-1 W-L, 11.25 ERA
Kason is not pitching at all well so far and if he’s not careful, he could lose his major league job.

Robinson Tejeda: 4 IP, 0-0 W-L, 11.25 ERA
Robinson has been awful and won’t make the team.

Jason Davis: 3.2 IP, 0-0 W-L, 9.82 ERA
Jason still has a slight chance of making the team, but his window of opportunity is really closing.

Frank Francisco: 5.1 IP, 1-0 W-L, 1.69 ERA
Frank has played well and has clinched a bullpen spot.

Kea Kometani: 4.1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Kea has played very well, but this is mostly about experience. He has almost no chance at the team, unless there’s another injury, but could be putting him in position for call-up during the season.

Kameron Loe: 3.2 IP, 0-0 W-L, 14.73 ERA
Kameron’s struggles are hurting his chances to make the team. Hopefully he’ll start putting together some strong outings. He’s been working on a new pitch, so the coaching staff might cut him some slack.

Luis Mendoza: 3.1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 10.80 ERA
Luis has a chance of making the team, especially with the injuries to McCarthy and Millwood. He’s struggled so far but seems to be getting stronger.

Franklyn German: 3 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Franklyn has played very well, and due to his play and the injuries, he could make the team.

Eddie Gaurdado: 3 IP, 0-0 W-L, 6.00 ERA
Eddie isn’t playing very well, but might get the closer role due to CJ Wilson’s biceps tendinitis.

Bill White: 3 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Bill has done well, and might be setting himself up for a mid-season call-up.

Doug Mathis: 2.1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Doug is not in big league camp, but has done well with his opportunity.

Wes Littleton: 2 IP, 0-0 W-L, 4.50 ERA
Wes might replace someone due to injury, but he hasn’t pitched many innings yet.

Warner Madrigal: 2 IP, 0-1 W-L, 13.50 ERA
Warner has struggled and has almost no chance of making the team.

Tommy Hunter: 1.1 IP, 1-0 W-L, 13.50 ERA
Tommy was just drafted last summer and is not part of major league camp. He’s probably excited to have gotten the chance to pitch in a big league spring training game.

Steve Rowe: 1.1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 6.75 ERA
Steve has been in the minors for a long time and came up from minor league camp to pitch in a game. Even though he won’t be on the major league team, the Rangers respect them and might be looking at him as a coach when he retires.

Brandon McCarthy: 1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Brandon has only pitched 1 inning due to injury. Hopefully he’ll recover in time to start the season.

CJ Wilson: 1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
CJ Wilson has also only pitched 1 inning due to injury.

Kendy Batista: 0.2 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Kendy pitched 0.2 innings in an appearance out of minor league camp.

Eric Cyr: 0.1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00
Eric was also making an appearance out of minor league camp.

Brennan Garr: 0.1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 0.00 ERA
Brennan has only gotten 1 out in an appearance out of minor league camp.

Omar Poveda: 0.1 IP, 0-0 W-L, 108.00 ERA
Omar allowed 4 ER and only got one out in an appearance out of minor league camp.

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think will be the utility infielder?
Ramon Vazquez – 47%
German Duran – 23%
Travis Metcalf – 14%
Edgardo Alfonzo – 4%
Ryan Roberts – 4%
Other – 4%

Come back next week for Tom Grieve Trade Analysis Part 4.