June All-Stars

This week I will give my AL and NL All-Star teams. These are as if the All-Star game was today, and who I think should be on the team.

AL Starters:

Catcher: Alex Avila, DET (.305 AVG, 9 HR, 41 RBI) – Alex is having a great year for the Tigers, and leads American League catchers in both batting average and RBIs.

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.348 AVG, 15 HR, 64 RBI) – Adrian was an easy choice here, as his batting average is outstanding and he has great power numbers to go along with it.

Second Base: Robinson Cano, NYY (.292 AVG, 14 HR, 46 RBI) – Cano has by far the most home runs and most RBIs among American League second basemen, and has one of the better batting averages, too.

Shortstop: Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE (.296 AVG, 12 HR, 43 RBI) – There are many good shortstops in the American League this year, but Asdrubal barely beat out Jhonny Peralta for the starting spot, with slightly better power numbers.

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.289 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI) – This year, the American League third basemen as a whole are performing horrendously, and A-ROD is the starter with numbers that aren’t starter worthy.

Designated Hitter: David Ortiz, BOS (.320 AVG, 17 HR, 46 RBI) – Big Papi has 9 home runs more than anybody else at DH, and also has more RBIs than anybody else.

Outfield: Curtis Granderson, NYY (.283 AVG, 21 HR, 54 RBI) – Granderson has a solid batting average, but a crazy amount of home runs, which are what got him to be a starter.

Outfield: Jose Bautista, TOR (.336 AVG, 21 HR, 46 RBI) – Bautista has had a fantastic year, and has good, if not great, numbers in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.

Outfield: Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS (.312 AVG, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 24 SB) – Jacoby has a very solid batting average, decent power numbers, but a very high stolen base total, and that is what puts him ahead of the other outfielders in the AL.

Starting Pitcher: Josh Beckett, BOS (6-2, 1.86 ERA, 79 K) – Beckett’s 6 wins and 72 strikeouts aren’t all that impressive, but is 1.86 ERA leads the American League by a pretty wide margin and is outstanding.

AL Reserves:

C: AJ Pierzynski, CWS (.282 AVG, 2 HR 22 RBI)

1B: Adam Lind, TOR (.331 AVG, 15 HR, 44 RBI)
Paul Konerko, CWS (.327 AVG, 19 HR, 56 RBI)
Miguel Cabrera, DET (.328 AVG, 14 HR, 48 RBI)

2B: Howie Kendrick, LAA (.301 AVG, 7 HR, 23 RBI)

SS: Elvis Andrus, TEX (.280 AVG, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 21 SB)
Jhonny Peralta, DET (.303 AVG, 11 HR, 40 RBI)
JJ Hardy, BAL (.293 AVG, 8 HR, 24 RBI)

3B: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.260 AVG, 12 HR, 51 RBI)
Kevin Youkilis, BOS (.261 AVG, 11 HR, 50 RBI)

DH: Jason Kubel, MIN (.310 AVG, 5 HR, 30 RBI)
Victor Martinez, DET (.329 AVG, 6 HR, 39 RBI)

OF: Alex Gordon, KC (.281 AVG, 8 HR, 41 RBI)
Adam Jones, BAL (.295 AVG, 10 HR, 38 RBI)
Matt Joyce, TB (.312 AVG, 10 HR, 36 RBI)

SP: Jered Weaver, LAA (8-4, 2.06 ERA, 96 K)
James Shields, TB (7-4, 2.40 ERA, 108 K)
Justin Verlander, DET (9-3, 2.54 ERA, 110 K)
Michael Pineda, SEA (7-4, 2.64 ERA, 85 K)
Alexi Ogando, TEX (7-2, 2.66 ERA, 64 K)
Gio Gonzalez, OAK (6-5, 2.69 ERA, 82 K)
Phillip Humber, CWS (7-3, 2.90 ERA, 55 K)
CJ Wilson, TEX (7-3, 3.03 ERA, 93 K)

RP: Brandon League, SEA (20 SV, 3.90 ERA, 20 K)
Chris Perez, CLE (17 SV, 2.39 ERA, 18 K)
Mariano Rivera, NYY (17 SV, 1.98 ERA, 20 K)
Kyle Farnsworth, TB (15 SV, 1.69 ERA, 18 K)
Neftali Feliz, TEX (14 SV, 2.13 ERA, 17 K)

Players per Team:
Boston Red Sox – 5 (4)
Detroit Tigers – 5 (1)
Texas Rangers – 5
New York Yankees – 4 (3)
Chicago White Sox – 3
Tampa Bay Rays – 3
Cleveland Indians – 2 (1)
Toronto Blue Jays – 2 (1)
Baltimore Orioles - 2
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 2
Seattle Mariners – 2
Kansas City Royals – 1
Minnesota Twins – 1
Oakland Athletics – 1

NL Starters:

Catcher: Brian McCann, ATL (.297 AVG, 11 HR, 39 RBI) – Brian has the best power numbers among NL catchers, and a batting average near .300 to go along with it.

First Base: Prince Fielder, MIL (.301 AVG, 20 HR, 61 RBI) – Prince definitely deserves to be the starting first basemen, with a .301 average and an incredible amount of home runs and RBIs.

Second Base: Rickie Weeks, MIL (.288 AVG, 14 HR, 32 RBI) – Second base does not have a whole lot of good players in the NL this year, but Rickie has had a very good season and doesn’t have much competition.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes, NYM (.341 AVG, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 26 SB) – This was one of the easiest selections, as Reyes has an incredible batting average and has stolen 26 bases.

Third Base: Placido Polanco, PHI (.295 AVG, 4 HR, 38 RBI) – Not only in the AL, but in the NL, not a whole lot of third basemen are playing well, and Polanco got to be the starting third basemen by process of elimination.

Designated Hitter: Lance Berkman, STL (.308 AVG, 17 HR, 51 RBI) – Lance did not have good enough numbers to be a starting outfielder, but was starter worthy and ended up being the NL starting DH.

Outfield: Matt Kemp, LAD (.328 AVG, 20 HR, 57 RBI, 17 SB) – Kemp has had an incredible year for the Dodgers, and every single one of his numbers is impressive.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, MIL (.310 AVG, 15 HR, 51 RBI, 16 SB) – Braun, like Kemp, has had a great year, although not quite as good, as he has shown power, speed, and the ability to hit for a high average.

Outfield: Michael Morse, WAS (.309 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI) – Morse has come out of nowhere and went from not being on my May All-Star team to starting in my June All-Star team.

Starting Pitcher: Jair Jurrjens, ATL (9-3, 2.11 ERA, 53 K) – Jurrjens, like Beckett in the AL, doesn’t have a whole lot of strikeouts, but Jair has a high number in the win column, and leads the NL in ERA.

NL Reserves:

C: Yadier Molina, STL (.297 AVG, 4 HR, 28 RBI)
Miguel Montero, ARI (.279 AVG, 8 HR, 37 RBI)

1B: Joey Votto, CIN (.327 AVG, 9 HR, 43 RBI)
Gaby Sanchez, FLA (.309 AVG, 12 HR, 44 RBI)
Todd Helton, COL (.308 AVG, 9 HR, 30 RBI)

2B: Brandon Phillips, CIN (.276 AVG, 5 HR, 36 RBI)
Neil Walker, PIT (.260 AVG, 8 HR, 46 RBI)

SS: Starlin Castro, CHC (.315 AVG, 1 HR, 32 RBI)
Troy Tulowitzki, COL (.276 AVG, 13 HR, 46 RBI)

3B: Chase Headley, SD (.286 AVG, 2 HR, 26 RBI)
Aramis Ramirez, CHC (.285 AVG, 5 HR, 32 RBI)

OF: Jay Bruce, CIN (.285 AVG, 17 HR, 48 RBI)
Justin Upton, ARI (.302 AVG, 12 HR, 38 RBI, 13 SB)
Hunter Pence, HOU (.321 AVG, 9 HR, 51 RBI)
Matt Holliday, STL (.347 AVG, 8 HR, 35 RBI)

SP: Tommy Hanson, ATL (8-4, 2.48 ERA, 89 K)
Cole Hamels, PHI (9-3, 2.51 ERA, 103 K)
Roy Halladay, PHI (9-3, 2.56 ERA, 114 K)
Jhoulys Chacin, COL (8-4, 2.81 ERA, 81 K)
Shawn Marcum, MIL (7-2, 2.85 ERA, 84 K)
Kyle Lohse, STL (7-3, 2.88 ERA, 56 K)
Ian Kennedy, ARI (7-2, 2.98 ERA, 85 K)

RP: Brian Wilson, SF (20 SV, 2.53 ERA, 33 K)
John Axford, MIL (19 SV, 2.78 ERA, 44 K)
Joel Hanrahan, PIT (19 SV, 1.39 ERA, 29 K)
Heath Bell, SD (18 SV, 2.79 ERA, 23 K)
Drew Storen, WAS (17 SV, 2.41 ERA, 29 K)

Players per Team:
Milwaukee Brewers – 5 (3)
St. Louis Cardinals – 4 (1)
Atlanta Braves – 3 (2)
Philadelphia Phillies – 3 (1)
Arizona Diamondbacks – 3
Cincinnati Reds – 3
Colorado Rockies - 3
Washington Nationals – 2 (1)
Chicago Cubs – 2
Pittsburgh Pirates – 2
San Diego Padres – 2
Los Angeles Dodgers – 1 (1)
New York Mets – 1 (1)
Florida Marlins – 1
Houston Astros – 1
San Francisco Giants – 1

Come back next week for my June Awards.

May Awards

This week I will post my May Awards.

Before getting to them, though, I want to mention my great baseball weekend over Memorial Day. I got to see three levels of the Rangers’ system in four days. On Friday night, we went to the RoughRiders game and on Sunday afternoon, we were at the Rangers game, where we got to see Mike Napoli’s walkoff slide. Then on Memorial Day, I went down to Round Rock to see the Express play against the Iowa Cubs. It was my first trip to Dell Diamond and it was a very fun experience. The Express have a great ballpark. I probably like the RedHawks’ old park better, because it’s in a downtown setting and has more history and character, but that’s nothing against Dell Diamond. Pros for Dell Diamond were the covered concourse that provided a lot of shade on a hot day, the Nolan Ryan grill area that is nicely covered and provides picnic tables for eating, a restaurant on the suite level, and rocking chairs (also in the shade) that you can reserve for the game on a first-come, first-served basis. I’m too old for it but they also had a great kids’ area with rock climbing, a basketball court, and bungee trampolines. One negative is that the seats are very narrow. Before the game, we walked over to the Salt Lick Barbeque, which is right next door.

My dad, granddad, and I saw Seth McClung pitch in Round Rock, and he got pounded, giving up 7 runs on 10 hits in only 4 innings. Justin Miller then came in and did a very good job, as he threw three shutout innings. Hitting wise, there wasn’t much for the Express, but they did have three players with two hits a piece (Matt Kata, Doug Deeds, and Luis Cruz). Doug Deeds also had two RBIs in the game. Iowa beat the Express 8-6 in the game.

Rangers Awards:

MVP: Michael Young, TEX (.329 AVG, 3 HR, 37 RBI) – Michael is second on the team in RBIs and leads the team in batting average. He is having a fantastic year.
Runner-up: Mitch Moreland, TEX (.310 AVG, 7 HR, 18 RBI)

Cy Young: Alexi Ogando, TEX (6-0, 2.20 ERA, 53 K) – Alexi is my runner-up for my AL Cy Young, so he is definitely my Rangers Cy Young. He is undefeated and has an ERA of 2.20.
Runner-up: CJ Wilson, TEX (5-3, 3.32 ERA, 75 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Gentry, TEX (.225 AVG, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 5 SB) – Craig was my Rangers Rookie of the Month by using the process of elimination. The Rangers hardly have any rookies this year.
Runner-up: Yoshinori Tateyama, TEX (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 5 K)

AL Awards:

MVP: Jose Bautista, TOR (.360 AVG, 20 HR, 40 RBI) – Jose leads all of baseball in average and home runs, and is one of the top RBI men in the American League.
Runner-up: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.335 AVG, 10 HR, 47 RBI)

Cy Young: Josh Beckett, BOS (4-2, 1.80 ERA, 63 K) – Josh might not have the best record, but that isn’t his fault, as he leads the American League in ERA.
Runner-up: Alexi Ogando, TEX (6-0, 2.20 ERA, 53 K)

Rookie of the Year: Michael Pineda, SEA (6-2, 2.30 ERA, 73 K) – Michael was a Cy Young candidate and you hardly ever see that from a rookie. He has a very bright future.
Runner-up: Jeremy Hellickson, TB (6-3, 2.80 ERA, 46 K)

Manager of the Year: Manny Acta, CLE (33-22, 1st place) – The Indians were expected to be in last place (that’s where I predicted them), but Manny has the Indians in first place.
Runner-up: Eric Wedge, SEA (30-27, 2nd place)

NL Awards:

MVP: Ryan Braun, MIL (.309 AVG, 13 HR, 42 RBI, .405 OBP) – Ryan has a batting average above .300 (11th in NL), 13 HR (t-2nd in NL) and 42 RBI (t-4th in NL). He may not be the leader of anything, but he has had a very good all-around year.
Runner-up: Jay Bruce, CIN (.294 AVG, 17 HR, 46 RBI)

Cy Young: Jair Jurrjens, ATL (7-1, 1.51 ERA, 38 K) – Jair Jurrjens is tied for second in the NL in wins, and has the best ERA in baseball. He is the obvious choice for the NL Cy Young.
Runner-up: Kyle Lohse, STL (7-2, 2.13 ERA, 47 K)

Rookie of the Year: Craig Kimbrel, ATL (17 SV, 2.79 ERA, 43 K) – Craig is the Braves closer and has had a very good year with 17 saves and an ERA under 3.00.
Runner-up: Freddie Freeman, ATL (.278 AVG, 5 HR, 21 RBI)

Manager of the Year: Kirk Gibson, ARI (32-26, 2nd place) – After a bad start to a season expected to be terrible, the Diamondbacks have gone on a run and are now half a game out of first place.
Runner-up: Edwin Rodriguez, FLA (31-24, 2nd place)

Come back next week for the third edition of my ballpark rankings.

May All-Stars

This week I will give my AL and NL All-Star teams. These are as if the All-Star game was today, and who I think it should be (which is completely hypothetical, since with the fan vote there will be about 8 Yankees starting, and possibly one player from a team outside the Bronx).

American League:

Starters:

Catcher: Alex Avila, DET (.290 AVG, 6 HR, 24 RBI) – Alex leads all American League catchers on the ballot in batting average, and has very solid power numbers to go along with that.

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS (.328 AVG, 9 HR, 41 RBI) – Adrian leads all of baseball with 41 RBIs, has a very respectable 9 home runs to go along with that, and has a batting average over .300.

Second Base: Howie Kendrick, LAA (.322 AVG, 7 HR, 18 RBI) – Howie is having a fantastic season. He is one of the leaders among AL second basemen in average, homers, and RBIs.

Third Base: Kevin Youkilis, BOS (.280 AVG, 8 HR, 30 RBI) – Most years, Kevin’s numbers would not be starting caliber, but this year, they are, as AL third basemen are doing horrible.

Shortstop: Jhonny Peralta, DET (.289 AVG, 6 HR, 23 RBI) – Jhonny is having a great year, and has a batting average near .300 and very solid power numbers.

Outfield: Jose Bautista, TOR (.364 AVG, 18 HR, 31 RBI) – Jose leads all of baseball with a .364 batting average and 18 home runs, and also has 31 RBIs, which is very good.

Outfield: Matt Joyce, TB (.358 AVG, 7 HR, 23 RBI) – Matt is second in baseball with a .358 batting average, and his power numbers are pretty good.

Outfield: Curtis Granderson, NYY (.263 AVG, 15 HR, 33 RBI) – While Curtis’ batting average isn’t to the level of Jose Bautista or Matt Joyce, his power numbers definitely are worthy of starting.

Designated Hitter: Michael Young, TEX (.341 AVG, 2 HR, 31 RBI) – Michael has a fantastic batting average at .341, and while he only has two home runs, his RBI numbers are still very high.

Starting Pitcher: Trevor Cahill, OAK (6-1, 1.79 ERA, 52 K) – Trevor is tied for the American League lead with 6 wins, and is second in the AL in ERA, behind Josh Beckett.

Reserves:
C: Russell Martin, NYY (.271 AVG, 8 HR, 24 RBI)
1B: Adam Lind, TOR (.313 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI)
Paul Konerko, CWS (.306 AVG, 10 HR, 35 RBI)
Miguel Cabrera, DET (.314 AVG, 8 HR, 30 RBI)
2B: Robinson Cano, NYY (.275 AVG, 9 HR, 27 RBI)
Ben Zobrist, TB (.260 AVG, 8 HR, 28 RBI)
3B: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.254 AVG, 10 HR, 37 RBI)
Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.267 AVG, 9 HR, 25 RBI)
SS: Erick Aybar, LAA (.314 AVG, 2 HR, 14 RBI)
Asdrubel Cabrera, CLE (.282 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI)
OF: Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS (.296 AVG, 4 HR, 22 RBI, 15 SB)
Adam Jones, BAL (.296 AVG, 5 HR, 24 RBI)
Jeff Francoeur, KC (.282 AVG, 8 HR, 27 RBI)
DH: Travis Hafner, CLE (.345 AVG, 5 HR, 22 RBI)
Jason Kubel, MIN (.319 AVG, 5 HR, 24 RBI)
SP: Josh Beckett, BOS (3-1, 1.73 ERA, 52 K)
Dan Haren, LAA (4-2, 1.84 ERA, 66 K)
Alexi Ogando, TEX (4-0, 2.13 ERA, 37 K)
Zach Britton, BAL (5-2, 2.14 ERA, 33 K)
Michael Pineda, SEA (6-2, 2.16 ERA, 61 K)
James Shields, TB (4-2, 2.26 ERA, 60 K)
Josh Tomlin, CLE (6-1, 2.41 ERA, 30 K)
RP: Mariano Rivera, NYY (13 SV, 1.80 ERA, 16 K)
Chris Perez, CLE (12 SV, 2.84 ERA, 12 K)
Jose Valverde, DET (10 SV, 2.84 ERA, 20 K)
Kyle Farnsworth, TB (9 SV, 1.76 ERA, 9 K)
Neftali Feliz, TEX (8 SV, 1.26 ERA, 8 K)

Players per Team (starters in parentheses):
Tampa Bay Rays – 4 (1)
New York Yankees – 5 (1)
Boston Red Sox – 4 (2)
Toronto Blue Jays – 2 (1)
Baltimore Orioles – 2
Cleveland Indians – 4
Detroit Tigers – 4 (2)
Kansas City Royals – 1
Chicago White Sox – 1
Minnesota Twins – 1
Texas Rangers – 4 (1)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 3 (1)
Oakland Athletics – 1 (1)
Seattle Mariners – 1

National League:

Starters:

Catcher: Ramon Hernandez, CIN (.337 AVG, 6 HR, 15 RBI) – Ramon leads all National League catchers in both batting average and home runs. That is definitely worthy of being a starter.

First Base: Joey Votto, CIN (.331 AVG, 5 HR, 26 RBI) – Joey Votto has the best all-around numbers of all NL first basemen, even though Prince Fielder has better power numbers.

Second Base: Brandon Phillips, CIN (.323 AVG, 5 HR, 26 RBI) – Brandon is the third Red to be a starter here, and is well deserving, with good power numbers and a .323 batting average.

Third Base: Placido Polanco, PHI (.337 AVG, 2 HR, 25 RBI) – Placido has a terrific batting average, and while he doesn’t hit many homers, he still has plenty of RBIs.

Shortstop: Jose Reyes, NYM (.318 AVG, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 17 SB) – Jose has stayed healthy. That is a miracle. On top of that, he is hitting .318 and has 17 stolen bases.

Outfield: Matt Kemp, LAD (.324 AVG, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 12 SB) – Matt Kemp also has a lot of stolen bases, although not as many as Reyes, but Kemp does have better hitting numbers.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, MIL (.301 AVG, 12 HR, 35 RBI, 10 SB) – Once again, Ryan Braun is having an amazing year. This guy is too good.

Outfield: Matt Holliday, STL (.356 AVG, 6 HR, 30 RBI) – It looks like Matt might do something that I never thought would happen. He may very well be the only Cardinals’ 3 or 4 hitter (he hits 4, Pujols hits 3) to make the All-Star team, as he is on mine.

Designated Hitter: Lance Berkman, STL (.349 AVG, 11 HR, 35 RBI) – Lance is having a terrific start to the season. I still don’t think he will be able to keep it up, though.

Starting Pitcher: Jaime Garcia, STL (5-0, 1.64 ERA, 53 K) – Jaime is tied for the lead in baseball with a 1.64 ERA, has a good amount of strikeouts, and is tied for 5th in the NL in wins. That is a good year.

Reserves:
C: Jonathon Lucroy, MIL (.320 AVG, 4 HR, 18 RBI)
1B: Ike Davis, NYM (.302 AVG, 7 HR, 25 RBI)
Prince Fielder, MIL (.287 AVG, 10 HR, 36 RBI)
Gaby Sanchez, FLA (.311 AVG, 7 HR, 27 RBI)
Todd Helton, COL (.323 AVG, 6 HR, 20 RBI)
2B: Neil Walker, PIT (.283 AVG, 6 HR, 30 RBI)
Rickie Weeks, MIL (.292 AVG, 7 HR, 14 RBI)
3B: Pablo Sandoval, SF (.313 AVG, 5 HR, 14 RBI)
Chipper Jones, ATL (.262 AVG, 4 HR, 27 RBI)
SS: Stephen Drew, ARI (.271 AVG, 3 HR, 27 RBI)
Starlin Castro, CHC (.324 AVG, 1 HR, 21 RBI)
OF: Carlos Beltran, NYM (.281 AVG, 8 HR, 25 RBI)
Andre Ethier, LAD (.311 AVG, 4 HR, 21 RBI)
Hunter Pence, HOU (.293 AVG, 5 HR, 33 RBI)
Jay Bruce, CIN (.265 AVG, 10 HR, 26 RBI)
SP: Josh Johnson, FLA (3-1, 1.64 ERA, 56 K)
Jair Jurrjens, ATL (5-1, 1.80 ERA, 29 K)
Tim Lincecum, SF (4-4, 2.06 ERA, 75 K)
Kyle Lohse, STL (5-2, 2.17 ERA, 36 K)
Roy Halladay, PHI (6-3, 2.21 ERA, 80 K)
Shaun Marcum, MIL (6-1, 2.37 ERA, 62 K)
Charlie Morton, PIT (5-1, 2.62 ERA, 29 K)
RP: Leo Nunez, FLA (17 SV, 2.66 ERA, 24 K)
Francisco Rodriguez, NYM (15 SV, 0.76 ERA, 25 K)
Joel Hanrahan, PIT (13 SV, 1.66 ERA, 16 K)
Heath Bell, SD (9 SV, 1.13 ERA, 12 K)
Drew Storen, WAS (9 SV, 0.38 ERA, 19 K)

Players per Team:
Philadelphia Phillies – 2 (1)
Atlanta Braves – 2
Florida Marlins – 2
New York Mets – 4 (1)
Washington Nationals – 1
St. Louis Cardinals – 4 (3)
Cincinnati Reds – 4 (3)
Chicago Cubs – 1
Milwaukee Brewers – 5 (1)
Pittsburgh Pirates – 3
Houston Astros – 1
Colorado Rockies – 1
Los Angeles Dodgers – 2 (1)
San Francisco Giants – 2
San Diego Padres – 0
Arizona Diamondbacks – 1

Come back next week for my May Awards.

Ballpark Rankings Part 2

This week I will post the second entry of my ballpark rankings. Last week I rated the ballparks of the Red Sox, Reds, Orioles, Indians, and Braves. This week I have the Cubs, White Sox, Rockies, Tigers, and Astros. The ballparks will be ranked with a point system with three categories: personality, which is basically a ballpark’s signature features, history, and game experience. Each category will be rated from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best.

Chicago Cubs (Wrigley Field)

Personality: 10, Wrigley obviously has lots of personality, from its ivy walls to the big red board outside the ballpark. Wrigley also has a great old-fashioned scoreboard in center field. It was built in 1914 and this also adds personality to the park. The neighborhood feel of the whole Wrigleyville are adds to the personality as well.

History: 6, while the stadium is history itself, the Cubs haven’t put a whole lot of history into it. They have statues of Harry Caray and Ernie Banks outside the stadium. They also have pennants and retired numbers.

Game Experience: 10, it feels like you are watching the game a long time ago, as there is an old-time feel. They have a celebrity lead the singing of Take Me Out to the Ballgame each game, which is a nice touch. But basically this park gets a 10 because you’re in an authentic old-time baseball setting. There’s no match for the feel of a game at Wrigley or Fenway.

Total: 26


Chicago White Sox (US Cellular Field)

Personality: 2, the personality at US Cellular Field stinks. They basically don’t have a personality. This stadium is a real yawner. The only thing that the White Sox have are big pinwheels on top of the scoreboard. Although they’ve made some attempts to improve it over the last ten years, it’s still just a big dull and sterile stadium. They built this park just before Camden Yards started the trend of building new old-timey classic ballparks with lots of character. So the White Sox are stuck with a stadium that looks like it was built during the cookie-cutter era of ballparks.

History: 8, the White Sox have at least done a solid job on history, most of which has been added over the last few years. They have a home plate marker for old Comiskey Park in the parking lot, and they have a gift shop that also contains a mini-White Sox museum. But the best things they have are all of their statues in the outfield concourse. They have Charles Comiskey, Minnie Minoso, Carlton Fisk, Nellie Fox, Luis Aparicio, Billy Pierce, Harold Baines, and will have Frank Thomas on July 31st of this year. These are all recent additions. And like most teams, you can see their pennants and retired numbers.

Game Experience: 1, not only is the ballpark lousy, but if you have seats to the middle or upper decks, you aren’t even allowed to walk around the lower level concourses. That is a stupid rule, especially since the stadium stinks, anyways.

Total: 11


Colorado Rockies (Coors Field)

Personality: 8, Coors Field is a very nice stadium. They have a nice entrance at home plate and you can also see the Rocky Mountains from inside the ballpark.

History: 3, the Rockies really don’t have much history at all in their stadium, and that is probably because they haven’t been around very long. They do have a statue of Branch Rickey outside the ballpark, but I don’t know why, as he has nothing to do with the Rockies.

Game Experience: 7, Coors Field does not have a big scoreboard, and that really detracts, but other than that, I have no problems with it.

Total: 18


Detroit Tigers (Comerica Park)

Personality: 7, the Tigers ballpark is certainly not the best, but it does have a solid personality with Tigers on top of the scoreboard, a carousel, and a ferris wheel.

History: 9, Comerica Park has plenty of history, with statues in center field representing the players whose numbers have been retired, including Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer, Willie Horton, Al Kaline, and Hal Newhouser. They also have Tigers history all along the lower concourse.

Game Experience: 4, Comerica Park doesn’t have a good feel to it. There’s not any particular beef that I have with it, aside from their terrible scoreboard, but I just don’t like it.

Total: 20


Houston Astros (Minute Maid Park)

Personality: 9, Minute Maid Park has plenty of personality. The coolest thing there is the train above the left field seats that goes across the track whenever the Astros hit a home run. They also have a good kids play area, and a neat area on the field in center field where they have Crosley Field’s incline and a flag pole like Forbes Field on the field of play.

History: 8, while the Astros don’t have a museum, they still found ways to incorporate history. Outside of the ballpark, the Astros have a mini-field with statues of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, plaques from every playoff appearance, and other parts of Astros history. On the inside, they also have banners along a concourse with all of the Astros home run leaders. Also, the team’s pennants and retired numbers are displayed where they can be easily seen and read from just about anywhere in the stadium.

Game Experience: 9, the Astros park has a good feel to it. It is always in good weather, as they have a retractable roof (why don’t the Rangers have one?). The Astros’ park includes a fantastic club level, too. The open concourses on the lower level are great and allow you to see the game as you walk around. Also, just this year they added a very large scoreboard in center field called El Grande.

Total: 26


Rankings so Far:
1. Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox) – 29
2. Camden Yards at Oriole Park (Baltimore Orioles) – 27
3. Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs) – 26
3. Minute Maid Park (Houston Astros) – 26
5. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds) – 25
6. Turner Field (Atlanta Braves) – 24
7. Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians) – 21
8. Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers) – 20
9. Coors Field (Colorado Rockies) – 18
10. US Cellular Field (Chicago White Sox) – 11

Come back next week for my May All-Stars.

Ballpark Rankings Part 1

This week I will start my ballpark rankings. I will only rank the ballparks I have been, too (which is 25 of the 30 current ballparks), and the ballparks will be ranked by a point system. There will be three categories: personality, which is basically a ballpark’s signature features, history, and game experience. Each category will be rated from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best.

Atlanta Braves (Turner Field)

Personality: 6, the Braves did a pretty good job as far as giving their stadium some personality. The open concourses that they have always help the personality, and the Coca-Cola Sky Field is cool. You can also see downtown Atlanta from a lot of the seats. However, they don’t have any signature features that are special just to their park.

History: 10, the Braves have their history all over the place. They have a Braves museum inside the stadium, they have a plaza outside the stadium with statues and retired numbers, and they did a good job of displaying their banners for when they won the division, NL, or World Series, as the banners are legible.

Game Experience: 8, Turner Field is a great place to see a game. As far as I could tell, there is not a bad seat in the house and the atmosphere is good. I also like the tomahawk chop, as that is a purely Braves thing. The Braves also have a nice, big scoreboard and a really good sound system.

Overall Score: 24


Baltimore Orioles (Oriole Park at Camden Yards)

Personality: 10, the Orioles could not have done much better with the personality at their ballpark. The warehouse is great for the personality and the whole look and feel of the ballpark is fantastic. You can also see downtown Baltimore from inside the stadium.

History: 10, the Orioles did a very good job displaying history. One of my favorites is the fact that they have placed plaques on the ground marking every home run ball that has ever landed on Eutaw Street out in right field. There are probably about 100 of them out there, and it is very neat. Eutaw Street also has a Orioles Hall of Fame wall, with plaques for each member. They also have statues of the Orioles’ retired numbers just outside the ballpark, along with a statue of Babe Ruth (who was born in Baltimore). To top it off, there is the Sports Legends Museum just outside the ballpark, which contains the official Orioles Hall of Fame along with other Oriole exhibits. And a short distance from there is the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, which you can find by following 60 baseballs that are set into the sidewalks.

Game Experience: 7, the Orioles stadium is a nice place to see a game, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the best, either. Baltimore has a small scoreboard and if you sit at the bottom of the upper deck, you can hardly see because of all the bars in your way. Also, they do not have open concourses and that always hurts, because you can’t see the game as you walk around the concourse.

Overall Score: 27


Boston Red Sox (Fenway Park)

Personality: 10, Fenway is full of personality. They have the Green Monster, Pesky Pole, a very good all-around green color scheme which includes the advertisements, and, on top of that, it was built in 1912.

History: 9, the Red Sox did a good job of displaying their franchise’s history. They have statues outside the ballpark of Ted Williams (twice), Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, and Dom DiMaggio. Also, they have a Hall of Fame with plaques of former Red Sox greats and do a great job of displaying all of their pennants, championships, etc.

Game Experience: 10, Fenway is a fantastic place to see a game. It doesn’t have many seats, so that makes it feel more intimate, and the fans and atmosphere are just great. They also have a nice new big scoreboard this year, and that helps, too.

Overall Score: 29


Cincinnati Reds (Great American Ballpark)

Personality: 8, the Reds really did a good job of giving their ballpark some personality. First off, they have it located right by the Ohio River. Unfortunately, they built it where you can only see the river from a very small number of seats. Also they have a boat out in center field, with smokestacks out in right-center. The smokestacks shoot fireworks when a Reds player hits a home run.

History: 10, the Reds have what is probably the best museum of any team right outside of their ballpark. It is very, very large, and is all about the Reds, including their official Hall of Fame. The Reds did a fantastic job with this, and are deserving of a 10 out of 10 with that museum. On top of that, the Reds have statues of Joe Nuxhall, Ernie Lombardi, Ted Kluszewski, and Frank Robinson outside the ballpark and have also put some of their history all along the concourses.

Game Experience: 7, the Reds have a nice big scoreboard and that is always a good thing for the game experience. They also have a very, very nice club level, which is air conditioned and is much nicer than the Rangers’.

Overall Score: 25


Cleveland Indians (Progressive Field)

Personality: 5, the Indians don’t necessarily have a bunch of signature features. They have a big wall out in left field, and you can see downtown from many of the seats.

History: 9, the Indians recently added a great new feature to their ballpark. They added Heritage Park in 2007, which is located out in center field and has plaques of all the former Cleveland greats and other bits of Cleveland baseball history. There’s also a statue of Bob Feller outside the gates and the Indians do a nice job of displaying their pennants.

Game Experience: 7, there is nothing wrong with the game experience at an Indians game, but there’s nothing special, either. The Indians also have a nice, big, new scoreboard in left field, and there are open concourses, which always help the experience as you don’t have to miss any of the game while ordering food.

Overall Score: 21

Rankings so Far:
1. Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox) – 29
2. Camden Yards at Oriole Park (Baltimore Orioles) – 27
3. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati Reds) – 25
4. Turner Field (Atlanta Braves) – 24
5. Progressive Field (Cleveland Indians) – 21

Come back next week for my second edition of my ballpark rankings.

April Awards

This week I will give my April Awards. The awards are as if the season ended today.

Rangers:

MVP: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.263 AVG, 7 HR, 21 RBI) – Adrian leads the team in both home runs and RBIs, and his batting average is just good enough to allow him to be team MVP.
Runner-up: Michael Young, TEX (.340 AVG, 0 HR, 17 RBI)

Cy Young: Alexi Ogando, TEX (3-0, 2.30 ERA, 21 K) – Alexi is tied for the team lead in wins, and has the best ERA of any Rangers starter, making him the Rangers Cy Young for the month of April.
Runner-up: CJ Wilson, TEX (3-1, 3.35 ERA, 34 K)

Rookie of the Year: Pedro Strop, TEX (1.17 ERA, 9 K, 7.2 IP) – As there are no rookies that have had an at-bat, and only two rookies have pitched 5 innings or more (one of them with a 6.75 ERA), this award became more a process of elimination than anything else.
Runner-up: Cody Eppley, TEX (1-0, 1.93 ERA, 4.2 IP)

AL:

MVP: Robinson Cano, NYY (.319 AVG, 8 HR, 21 RBI) – Cano is tenth in batting average in the American League, second in home runs, and tied for second in RBIs, and, while he may not be the best at anything so far, he is the best all-around player to this point.
Runner-up: Jose Bautista, TOR (.372 AVG, 9 HR, 15 RBI)

Cy Young: Jered Weaver, LAA (6-0, 0.99 ERA, 49 K) – Weaver is a no-brainer. He leads the majors in wins, ERA, strikeouts, and innings pitched, all outright. This guy is ridiculous.
Runner-up: Dan Haren, LAA (4-1, 1.23 ERA, 38 K)

Rookie of the Year: Michael Pineda, SEA (4-1, 2.01 ERA, 30 K) – Pineda has four wins in one month while pitching for the Mariners. That automatically means you get some sort of award, and his 2.01 ERA doesn’t hurt, either.
Runner-up: Zach Britton, BAL (4-1, 2.84 ERA, 19 K)

Manager of the Year: Manny Acta, CLE (17-8, 1st place) – The Indians are a very, very bad team, but right now Manny Acta has gotten the Indians to the best record in the AL.
Runner-up: Joe Maddon, TB (15-12, 2nd place)

NL:

MVP: Lance Berkman, STL (.402 AVG, 8 HR, 22 RBI) – As much as it pains me to say it, Lance Berkman is having a decent year. Okay, he’s having a great year, with an average above .400 and great power numbers.
Runner-up: Ryan Braun, MIL (.362 AVG, 10 HR, 23 RBI)

Cy Young: Josh Johnson, FLA (3-0, 1.06 ERA, 33 K) – Like Jered Weaver in the AL, Josh Johnson is an obvious choice for NL Cy Young at this point. He leads the league in ERA by almost 0.60, which is a huge margin, and is undefeated.
Runner-up: Kyle Lohse, STL (4-1, 1.64 ERA, 24 K)

Rookie of the Year: Darwin Barney, CHC (.321 AVG, 1 HR, 13 RBI) – Barney has had the best season among all National League rookies, and not just because of his name, although I’m sure it plays a part in it. Barney (I love typing his name) is hitting over .300 with a good amount of RBIs.
Runner-up: Craig Kimbrel, ATL (6 SV, 1.59 ERA, 14 K)

Manager of the Year: Edwin Rodriguez, FLA (16-8, 2nd place) – Edwin has the Marlins only one game out of first place and playing above expectations.
Runner-up: Jim Tracy, COL (16-8, 1st place)

Come back next week for part one of my ballpark rankings.

April All-Stars

This week I will give my All-Star teams for the season to date.

AL:

Starters:

Catcher: Russell Martin, NYY (.314 AVG, 4 HR, 11 RBI) – Russell leads all catchers with his 4 home runs and is tied for the lead with 11 RBIs. He also has a batting average above .300, so it was a no-brainer to have him as the starting catcher.

First Base: Paul Konerko, CWS (.329 AVG, 5 HR, 16 RBI) – Paul’s power numbers are one of the tops at first base, as he is tied for the position lead in RBIs and is tied for 2nd in home runs. His .329 batting average doesn’t hurt, either, and that is what makes him deserving all-around of a starting spot.

Second Base: Robinson Cano, NYY (.303 AVG, 4 HR, 13 RBI) – While Brian Roberts (also an All-Star) has more RBIs than Cano, Robinson has more home runs and a much higher batting average than Roberts, and therefore gets the edge.

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez, NYY (.366 AVG, 4 HR, 10 RBI) – A-Fraud has solid power numbers, but his batting average puts him above all other AL third basemen. A .366 batting average is fantastic, and definitely makes him deserving of the starting 3B spot.

Shortstop: Jed Lowrie, BOS (.426 AVG, 3 HR, 12 RBI) – While Jed will not hit .400 for the year, it is still impressive that he has done it three weeks into the season, and he also has good power numbers, especially for a shortstop.

Outfield: Jeff Francoeur, KC (.329 AVG, 3 HR, 17 RBI) – Jeff leads all American League outfielders in RBIs, has hit a decent amount of home runs, and has a batting average well over .300 as well.

Outfield: Alex Gordon, KC (.361 AVG, 1 HR, 14 RBI) – Gordon’s average is fantastic at .361 and is the second Royals outfielder to earn a starting position. Also, despite his one home run, he has a high RBI total at 14.

Outfield: Carlos Quentin, CWS (.320 AVG, 6 HR, 16 RBI) – Carlos Quentin leads all American League outfielders with 6 home runs and has a good number of RBIs to go with it. He also has a very high batting average.

Designated Hitter: Travis Hafner, CLE (.344 AVG, 4 HR, 10 RBI) – Hafner is having a great April and if he can keep it up, he would be Comeback Player of the Year, no question. He is hitting .344, and has very good power numbers.

Pitcher: Jered Weaver, LAA (5-0, 1.23 ERA, 39 K) – This guy is amazing. He leads the majors in wins and strikeouts and leads the American League in ERA. There is no doubt that this guy should be the starting pitcher at this point.

Reserves:

C: Alex Avila, DET (.292 AVG, 3 HR, 11 RBI)
1B: Miguel Cabrera, DET (.333 AVG, 5 HR, 14 RBI)
Mitch Moreland, TEX (.314 AVG, 2 HR, 8 RBI)
2B: Brian Roberts, BAL (.280 AVG, 3 HR, 14 RBI)
Dustin Pedroia, BOS (.314 AVG, 2 HR, 6 RBI)
3B: Adrian Beltre, TEX (.263 AVG, 6 HR, 18 RBI)
Wilson Betemit, KC (.383 AVG, 1 HR, 11 RBI)
Alberto Callaspo, LAA (.303 AVG, 2 HR, 7 RBI)
SS: Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE (.269 AVG, 4 HR, 14 RBI)
Maicer Izturis, LAA (.355 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI)
OF: Brandon Boesch, DET (.339 AVG, 1 HR, 12 RBI)
Jose Bautista, TOR (.339 AVG, 5 HR, 8 RBI)
Sam Fuld, TB (.366 AVG, 1 HR, 8 RBI)
DH: Billy Butler, KC (.352 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI)
Michael Young, TEX (.359 AVG, 0 HR, 11 RBI)
SP: Dan Haren, LAA (4-1, 1.46 ERA, 33 K)
Justin Masterson, CLE (4-0, 1.71 ERA, 15 K)
Matt Harrison, TEX (3-1, 1.88 ERA, 19 K)
Josh Beckett, BOS (2-1, 1.93 ERA, 28 K)
Gio Gonzalez, OAK (2-1, 1.80 ERA, 23 K)
Michael Pineda, SEA (3-1, 1.78 ERA, 21 K)
Scott Baker, MIN (1-2, 3.24 ERA, 24 K)
RP: Mariano Rivera, NYY (7 SV, 1.93 ERA, 7 K)
Chris Perez, CLE (6 SV, 2.25 ERA, 4 K)
Neftali Feliz, TEX (5 SV, 1.08 ERA, 6 K)
Jose Valverde, DET (4 SV, 1.04 ERA, 9 K)
Jonathon Papelbon, BOS (5 SV, 2.16 ERA, 11 K)

Players per Team:
Texas Rangers – 5
Boston Red Sox – 4 (1 starter)
Cleveland Indians – 4 (1 starter)
Detroit Tigers – 4
Kansas City Royals – 4 (2 starters)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 4 (1 starter)
New York Yankees – 4 (3 starters)
Chicago White Sox – 2 (2 starters)
Baltimore Orioles – 1
Minnesota Twins – 1
Oakland Athletics – 1
Seattle Mariners – 1
Tampa Bay Rays – 1
Toronto Blue Jays – 1

NL:

Starters:

Catcher: Ramon Hernandez, CIN (.325 AVG, 2 HR, 9 RBI) – Ramon has one of the best batting averages and some of the best power numbers among all NL catchers, and has had the best all-around season among that group.

First Base: Joey Votto, CIN (.394 AVG, 3 HR, 10 RBI, .500 OBP) – Joey has had an incredible season, even though his power numbers aren’t outstanding. He has an OBP of .500 and an average near .400.

Second Base: Brandon Phillips, CIN (.354 AVG, 2 HR, 7 RBI) – Phillips missed a week, but his stats are still good enough to make him the best second baseman so far in the National League. He has decent power numbers for a second baseman, and an outstanding average.

Third Base: Placido Polanco, PHI (.359 AVG, 2 HR, 15 RBI) – Polanco has a lot of RBIs and a really high batting average. While he may not have the best number in the home run column, he still has more RBIs than any other third baseman, and when it really comes down to it, RBIs are more important than HRs.

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki, COL (.329 AVG, 7 HR, 14 RBI) – Troy has started off the season hot, and leads all of baseball in home runs. That, especially at the shortstop position, pretty much guarantees a spot on the starting squad.

Outfield: Lance Berkman, STL (.349 AVG, 6 HR, 15 RBI) – Lance said that last year the Rangers caught lightning in a bottle, but really, that’s what he’s done the first month of the season. I don’t think he will end up being an All-Star, and I think his final stats won’t be too good, but his April is good enough to make him a starting outfielder at this point.

Outfield: Ryan Braun, MIL (.382 AVG, 6 HR, 15 RBI) – Braun has identical power numbers with Lance Berkman, but a better average, making his season better than Lance’s (take that, Rangers hater!). There is no doubt in my mind that he deserved this starting spot.

Outfield: Matt Kemp, LAD (.403 AVG, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 8 SB) – While Berkman and Braun have had good years, Kemp has probably had the best, with a batting average over .400, and the same number of RBIs as both of the other starting outfielders with 15. And while he may have less homers than both of them, he does have 8 stolen bases to his credit, while the others have a total of…..0.

Designated Hitter: Prince Fielder, MIL (.352 AVG, 3 HR, 19 RBI) – Prince leads all of baseball in RBIs with 19, but is still not having the best year among National League first baseman, as Prince’s average and OBP just don’t compare to that of Joey Votto.

Pitcher: Josh Johnson, FLA (3-0, 1.00 ERA, 27 K) – Josh Johnson has had four starts so far this season, and has almost thrown a no-hitter in three of them. The dude is amazing, and has the best ERA in all of baseball at 1.00.

Reserves

C: Brian McCann, ATL (.319 AVG, 2 HR, 10 RBI)
Nick Hundley, SD (.317 AVG, 3 HR, 9 RBI)

1B: Ryan Howard, PHI (.278 AVG, 3 HR, 17 RBI)
Ike Davis, NYM (.290 AVG, 3 HR, 16 RBI)

2B: Danny Espinosa, WAS (.273 AVG, 2 HR, 15 RBI)
Jeff Baker, CHC (.355 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI)

3B: Pablo Sandoval, SF (.328 AVG, 5 HR, 13 RBI)
Ryan Roberts, ARI (.349 AVG, 4 HR, 11 RBI)
David Freese, STL (.339 AVG, 2 HR, 10 RBI)

SS: Starlin Castro, CHC (.369 AVG, 1 HR, 7 RBI)

OF: Matt Holliday, STL (.447 AVG, 2 HR, 11 RBI)
Logan Morrison, FLA (.327 AVG, 4 HR, 11 RBI)
Andre Ethier, LAD (.388 AVG, 2 HR, 10 RBI)
Drew Stubbs, CIN (.284 AVG, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 6 SB)

SP: Aaron Harang, SD (4-0, 1.88 ERA, 21 K)
Jaime Garcia, STL (3-0, 1.44 ERA, 24 K)
Kevin Correia, PIT (3-1, 2.48 ERA, 12 K)
Roy Oswalt, PHI (3-0, 1.88 ERA, 21 K)
Shaun Marcum, MIL (2-1, 1.90 ERA, 20 K)
Tim Lincecum, SF (2-1, 1.67 ERA, 32 K)
Brett Myers, HOU (1-0, 2.39 ERA, 14 K)

RP: Logan Ondrusek, CIN (2-1, 0.77 ERA, 13 K)
Heath Bell, SD (5 SV, 1.13 ERA, 5 K)
Jose Contreras, PHI (5 SV, 0.00 ERA, 9 K)
Craig Kimbrel, ATL (5 SV, 1.00 ERA, 14 K)
JJ Putz, ARI (5 SV, 1.13 ERA, 10 K)

Players per Team:
Cincinnati Reds – 5 (3 starters)
St. Louis Cardinals – 5 (1 starter)
Philadelphia Phillies – 4 (1 starter)
Milwaukee Brewers – 3 (2 starters)
San Diego Padres – 3
Arizona Diamondbacks – 2
Atlanta Braves – 2
Chicago Cubs – 2
Florida Marlins – 2 (1 starter)
Los Angeles Dodgers – 2 (1 starter)
San Francisco Giants – 2
Colorado Rockies – 1 (1 starter)
Houston Astros – 1
New York Mets – 1
Pittsburgh Pirates – 1
Washington Nationals – 1

Come back next week for my April Awards.

Elvis Andrus Interview

Before the season started, I was able to conduct a brief interview with Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus.

Me: Is there anything specific you’ve been working on in the off-season and, if so, what is it?

Elvis: My body. I want to be in shape the whole season.

Me: What is the biggest adjustment you had to make when you started facing major-league pitchers?

Elvis: Trying to swing at strikes and be ready.

Me: Out of all the minor league stadiums you’ve played in, what was your favorite and why?

Elvis: Myrtle Beach because it’s pretty all around.

Me: What ballpark is your favorite to play in throughout the majors and why (not including the Rangers)?

Elvis: Fenway Park for the history of the ballpark.

Me: What were your favorite parts of the All-Star game and the activities around the game last year?

Elvis: I think the red carpet. You felt like a movie star (laughs).

Me: In 2009, when you were named to the Sally League All-Star team, were you happy to be on the team, or would you rather have had the days off?

Elvis: You’re always happy when you get the call for an All-Star game.

Me: Which Futures Game did you enjoy more, 2007 or 2008, and why?

Elvis: 2008 because it was the last year of the old Yankee Stadium.

Me: Do you think being so young made it harder or easier to adjust to major league life?

Elvis: It depends. For me, it was easy because all my teammates and family helped me out every day.

Me: What is the Arizona Fall League like? Are there many fans? What’s the overall experience like?

Elvis: It’s a great league to grow as a player. Nope, there's no fans and the whole experience is great.

Me: Who are the three toughest pitchers you’ve faced and why?

Elvis: Felix Hernandez, Tim Lincecum and Erik Bedard, because they’re tough.

Me: Who are your three favorite teammates since you joined the Rangers organization and why?

Elvis: Ian (Kinsler), Michael (Young) and Nelson (Cruz) because they helped me out every day and they’re always there for me.

Me: What adjustments did you make in 2007 after you were traded, as you hit .244 before the trade, and .300 after it?

Elvis: I think the desire to play soon in the bigs.

Me: What’s been the best game so far of your professional career and why?

Elvis: Game 5 against Tampa Bay because it was the key game for the team.

Me: What is the toughest thing about major league life and why?

Elvis: The consistence every day on and off the field.

Me: What is the worst injury you’ve ever had and why?

Elvis: I broke my finger in Double-A Frisco. Because I love to play, not to watch.

Me: What sports did you play growing up and which were you best at?

Elvis: Soccer. I just love it.

Me: What was your favorite team growing up and why?

Elvis: The Indians because my idol was there - Omar Vizquel.

Me: What are your hobbies?

Elvis: Music and keeping myself happy.

I would like to thank Elvis for giving me some of his time and agreeing to do this interview.

Season Predictions

This week, I’ll provide my predictions for the 2011 season.

AL East:
1. Boston Red Sox – I really like Lester and Buchholz at the top of the Red Sox rotation, but, at least in my opinion, it gets shaky after that. It’s a good thing their line-up is so good.
2. New York Yankees – The Yankees starting pitching is very thin, but you can get away with that in the regular season if you have the offense that the Yankees have. However, that does not bode well for the playoffs.
3. Toronto Blue Jays – The Blue Jays have loads of young talent on their team, with Ricky Romero and Kyle Drabek in their rotation, JP Arencibia behind the plate, and Travis Snider in left field. I think that the Jays have a bright future, but as far as 2011 goes, ‘future’ is the key word in that statement.
4. Tampa Bay Rays – I really don’t like anything about this Rays team. After David Price, their rotation is very questionable, their bullpen is awful, and, with their lineup, they will probably average about a run per game. They are better than the Orioles, though.
5. Baltimore Orioles – The O’s added come nice pieces this offseason, like Vladimir Guerrero, Mark Reynolds, Kevin Gregg, JJ Hardy, Derrek Lee, and Justin Duchscherer. They also have plenty of young prospects on the team. Despite their improvement and youth, however, they still will struggle, especially in this division.

AL Central:
1. Minnesota Twins – While the Twins don’t have an ace, their entire rotation is composed of solid pitchers, with Pavano, Liriano, Blackburn, Baker, and Duensing, and solid pitching is all you need to make it through the regular season.
2. Chicago White Sox – The White Sox could very possibly have an amazing rotation, but it is just as possible that it will be very mediocre. Buehrle and Danks are going to be very good pitchers as always, but then there is Edwin Jackson, who could be amazing, or could be mediocre, at #4 there is Gavin Floyd, and he is another guy who could be awesome or could struggle. And then who knows if Jake Peavy will stay healthy.
3. Detroit Tigers – The Tigers made a couple of big moves this offseason, signing Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit. But they didn’t do anything to help their starting rotation, which is what needed the most help. After Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, the Tigers have Rick Porcello, who has loads of talent and had a very good rookie season in 2009, but then followed that year up with an ERA near 5.00 in 2010. They finish out the rotation with Brad Penny and Phil Coke, which is a very uninspiring 4 and 5.
4. Kansas City Royals – The Royals are not a good team. The average baseball fan could probably name about …… 0 players on the Royals roster. After Billy Butler, their second best hitter is probably Jeff Francoeur, and on most teams he would be a 4th outfielder. Their Opening Day starter had a 4.81 ERA last year. This team is bad.
5. Cleveland Indians – As bad as the Royals are, the Indians are worse. Their infield looks like a Triple-A squad, and their starting rotation is terrible. They have some good pieces, with Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Santana, but those are about their only good pieces.

AL West:
1. Texas Rangers – The Rangers can hit like crazy. The line-up contains 5 players that hit 20+ home runs last year (Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, Nelson Cruz, and Mike Napoli), and another guy who has hit as many as 31 homers in a season (Ian Kinsler). The starting rotation may not be great, but it is good enough to get the Rangers their second straight division title.
2. Oakland Athletics – The A’s have fantastic young pitching. They have a good bullpen. Their overall pitching is phenomenal. But they have absolutely no hitting. Nobody on their team hit more than 21 home runs last year. However, since they have no power, they make up for it with their lack of contact and their mediocre speed.
3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – The Angels rotation could be very, very good, but I wouldn’t count on it. Jered Weaver will be an ace, but Dan Haren is getting older and struggled last year, Ervin Santana is extremely inconsistent, and Scott Kazmir seems to have lost it. And, on top of that, their lineup consists of old men on the downside of their careers.
4. Seattle Mariners – The Mariners have the reigning Cy Young winner in Felix Hernandez. They have one of the best hitters in baseball in Ichiro Suzuki. And that’s about it. Aside from those two players, there is no way to put it other than this: They’re a bad team.

AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez, BOS
Runner-up: Robinson Cano, NYY

AL Cy Young: Clay Buchholz, BOS
Runner-up: CC Sabathia, NYY

AL Rookie of the Year: JP Arencibia, TOR
Runner-up: Brent Morel, CWS

NL East:
1. Philadelphia Phillies – With the signing of Cliff Lee, no one has a better starting rotation than the Phillies. They are far and away better than anyone else in that category. But once you get past their rotation, they are shaky. Their bullpen isn’t very good, and they will struggle to score.
2. Atlanta Braves – The Braves have a very good rotation, with Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Brandon Beachy (who had a 0.90 ERA this spring), and have some good hitters in a solid lineup, even if it doesn’t blow you away.
3. Florida Marlins – It seems like every year, I pick the Marlins as a surprise team. Well, they never come through for me, and I am done picking them. I like their rotation, and I think their offense has potential, but I’ve learned my lesson. They’re underperformers.
4. New York Mets – The Mets are awful. Their rotation stinks, their offense is old, slow, and injury-prone, and their only good bullpen pitcher beat up his girlfriend’s dad. This franchise has many more bad years in its future.
5. Washington Nationals – Livan Hernandez was the Opening Day starter. Ian Desmond is leading off. I think that says enough. They’ll be doing well if they win 50 games this year.

NL Central:
1. Cincinnati Reds – Even though they have no ace, the Reds probably have the deepest rotation in baseball, with 6 proven big league starters in Edinson Volquez, Bronson Arroyo, Travis Wood, Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, and Mike Leake. Oh, and by the way, they also have one of the best lineups in all of baseball.
2. Milwaukee Brewers – Yes, they can hit. Yes, the top three in their rotation are very, very good. But they still have one of the worst bullpens in baseball, and that is why I don’t think they are good enough to be a playoff team.
3. St. Louis Cardinals – I don’t think the Cards would have won with Wainwright, but without him, they don’t have much of a chance. Their lineup has a total of two good hitters, and their rotation without Wainwright isn’t very good.
4. Chicago Cubs – Come on, it’s the Cubs. They’re old. They underperform. They’re hotheads. And they lose. The rotation could be good, but it won’t be. The offense could be good, but it won’t be. That’s the way the Cubs work, and that’s the way it will go in 2011.
5. Houston Astros – The Astros are terrible. It’s a good thing they have a good farm system. Oh, wait, they don’t have that either. It’s a good thing they’re in a good ownership situation. Oh, wait, that’s wrong. Well, there’s always 20 years from now, Houston.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates – The team slogan for the year for the Pirates is: ‘Pride. Passion. Pittsburgh Pirates.’ There is nothing for this team to be proud about, as their #1 starter had a 5.31 ERA last year, and they don’t hit the ball well.

NL West:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers – I really like this Dodgers team. They have a deep rotation like the Reds, but unlike the Reds, they have an ace. They have six starting pitchers who have proven they can pitch well in the majors in Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda, Jon Garland, and Vicente Padilla. And while they won’t score too many runs, they’re offense is good enough to win ballgames.
2. San Francisco Giants – The Giants still have a great rotation, but I think that their hitting will be even worse than last year, and I just don’t see them going back to the playoffs, as while their rotation is very good, it’s not all that deep, and an injury would be terrible for this team.
3. Colorado Rockies – This Rockies team will hit the ball, but I think that they will get hit hard as well. After Ubaldo Jimenez, I’m not a big fan of their rotation, and I just don’t think that they are good enough to be ahead of either the Dodgers or the Giants.
4. San Diego Padres – I said this last year and it was wrong, so maybe it will be wrong this year, too, but the Padres have a bad team. They have okay pitching, and they will struggle to score runs offensively.
5. Arizona Diamondbacks – Every time I see their roster, I am surprised at how bad it is. Aside from Justin Upton and Chris Young, they don’t hit well, and there is not one pitcher in their rotation that you can count on to be good this year. This team has last place written all over it.

NL MVP: Ryan Braun, MIL
Runner-up: Jay Bruce, CIN

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, PHI
Runner-up: Cliff Lee, PHI

NL Rookie of the Year: Freddie Freeman, ATL
Runner-up: Brandon Belt, SF

ALDS:

Boston Red Sox over Minnesota Twins

Texas Rangers over New York Yankees

NLDS:

Philadelphia Phillies over Los Angeles Dodgers

Cincinnati Reds over Atlanta Braves

ALCS:

Boston Red Sox over Texas Rangers

NLCS:

Philadelphia Phillies over Cincinnati Reds

World Series:

Philadelphia Phillies over Boston Red Sox

Come back next week for a brief interview with Elvis Andrus

Spring Training Trip Report

My dad, my granddad, and I went on a trip to Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona over Spring Break. It was the 6th straight year we’ve gone to Arizona for Rangers Spring Training. We got there on Sunday, March 13th and left on Thursday, March 17th. It was a great trip and I had a blast. This week I’ll give a recap of my trip and a report on how the players looked.

Sunday, March 13th:

We had an extremely early flight in the morning that required me to wake up at about 3:00 AM the morning of Daylight Savings Time. Needless to say, that part was not too fun, but it was well worth it. Our flight went very smoothly, and my dad got us upgraded to first class, which was very nice. We landed on time and got to Surprise in time to go to the backfields for the Rangers morning workouts. At the workouts, I spent some time watching Hector Nelo pitch. It wasn’t a great outing, and he left everything high. I also got to see Joe Wieland and Matt Thompson pitch. Fortunately, they both looked good.

One of the fun parts about going to spring training is getting to catch up with the people we see there every year. On Sunday morning along, I got to talk with Jamey Newberg (and his kids Erica and Max), the Cookie Lady and her husband, Thad Levine, and TR Sullivan (whose blog I was mentioned in the next day at http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/2011/03/14/poor-tobys-spring-almanac-day-27/). After the workouts, we went to lunch at NYPD (New York Pizza Department), which we go to every year, and which, as usual, was very, very good. I got pepperoni and sausage, my dad got the same plus meatballs, and my granddad got a salad that he said wasn’t too good, but it was his own fault for getting a salad at a pizza place.

After a good lunch, we headed over to the Rangers game. The Rangers were playing at home against the Giants, in a World Series rematch (in fact, it drew the biggest crowd ever at Surprise Stadium – over 11,000 people with even standing room sold out). Tommy Hunter started the game, and he looked horrible and just got clobbered. He allowed 7 runs, 4 earned, and 9 hits in 3.2 innings pitched. Mark Lowe came in to pitch the 5th after Mark Hamburger finished off the 4th inning, and looked fantastic. The Giants’ hitters went down 1-2-3. In the 6th inning, Arthur Rhodes really struggled, as he allowed 2 runs, both earned in his one inning of work. The Rangers brought Darren O’Day in to pitch the 7th, and like Lowe, he had a 1-2-3 inning. Brett Tomko pitched the last two innings for the Rangers, and while he looked decent in his first inning of work, he struggled in his second inning, and his final line was 2 runs in 2 innings. Offensively, the Rangers did well, however, and Elvis Andrus went 2-for-4 with 5 RBI’s, and David Murphy belted a Wilmin Rodriguez pitch in the 9th inning for a solo home run. Also of note would be Julio Borbon, who went 3-for-3 and scored twice, but looked very bad on defense. Mike Olt, the Rangers’ 2010 3rd round pick out of Connecticut, was impressive, as he connected for a double over the left fielder’s head at the plate, and also made two very slick defensive plays. In fact, Olt impressed me all throughout camp, between the games and the morning workouts. The final score of the game was Giants 11, Rangers 8.

That night, after the game, we went to Red Robin and got some burgers. This time my granddad got the restaurant’s specialty and ordered a burger. Red Robin is always good, and I enjoyed my fries, my burger, and my Oreo shake.

After dinner, we went to our hotel, a Marriot Residence Inn that is in easy walking distance of the Rangers’ stadium and backfield. It was awesome. We had two bedrooms, which my dad and granddad took, and a living room with a kitchen attached to it that had a sleeper sofa that I took. Having all of this space was great and made for a much better trip. In previous years, the three of us had been crammed into one big room. This year, we each had our own room (and our own TV), plus there were two bathrooms between the three of us. And being in walking distance of the stadium was nice because we could come and go between the hotel and the ballpark whenever we wanted all week.

Monday, March 14th:

On Monday morning, my dad, my granddad, and I all headed over to the workouts, and today we got to talk to Anthony Andro and his family, Jim Sundberg, and Terry Clark. We also talked with Tim Murphy for a few minutes, and he’s having to go through rehab this spring after he needed Tommy John late last year. Tim is easily one of the nicest guys in the Rangers’ system (which is saying a lot because the Rangers have a lot of nice guys in their system). We were at a table with him at a Rangers Winter Awards Banquet a few years ago and, ever since then, whenever we see him, he always takes time to come and talk with us. Even if he sees us first, he goes out of his way to come over and talk. We also talked to Josh Hamilton for a little while, and again I’m always amazed at what a great guy Josh is. He was on his way in from the workouts and was probably tired and ready to shower, but when he saw us, he still put his stuff down and spent about five minutes with us. It’s been almost three years since I interviewed him but he still always remembers me and takes time to talk.

While we were at the workouts, we saw a lot of batting practice and some PFPs (pitcher fielding practice). I also got to see Michael Kirkman’s bullpen, which was not impressive, as he was leaving a lot of pitches up.

After workouts, we headed over to the ballpark, where the Rangers were hosting the Dodgers. Neftali Feliz was the starter in this one, and he looked fantastic. His location was great, and the results showed it, as he allowed just one run in his four innings of work, and he struck out five. Eric Hurley came in next, and also pitched very well, and his results were identical to Feliz’s: 4 IP, 1 ER, 5 K. We also got to see Miguel De Los Santos pitch in the 9th, in his only major league Spring Training game before being sent down to minor league camp. Even though he allowed two runs, both earned, he was impressive to watch. I’m looking forward to seeing him in Frisco soon. The Rangers offense wasn’t all that great in this game, but Josh Hamilton did manage to hit a bomb over the Rangers’ right field bullpen. David Murphy also hit well, going 2-for-4 with a double. This game was Adrian Beltre’s first game of the spring, and he went 1-for-3. The Rangers ended up beating the Dodgers in this game 5 to 4.

After the game, we drove to Outback, where I got a steak and a baked potato, both of which were very good. I didn’t have much time to eat my steak, though, because Jamey Newberg had a Q&A session back at Surprise Stadium with John Rhadigan, Scott Servais, Tom Grieve, Eric Nadel, and Josh Boyd. I have a summary of the Q&A posted on my blog at http://texasrangerstrades.blogspot.com/2011/03/summary-of-jamey-newbergs-spring.html. It was a lot of fun. We went back to the hotel for the rest of the night and I watched TV after the session was over.

Tuesday, March 15th:

When we woke up on Tuesday, we went to the lobby and ate the mediocre (but free) breakfast that the hotel provided, and then walked over to the backfields, where the Rangers were playing against the Royals in a B game. During the game, I got to talk to Jamey Newberg, Scott Lucas (who had just arrived in Surprise), and Evan Grant.

Darren Oliver started the game, and pitched two innings, and he looked much better in the second one than the first. Dave Bush also pitched in the game, and in the three innings I saw him, he was inconsistent. He looked very, very good in the first inning, bad in the second one, and solid in the third one. He had great stuff, but the Royals hitters were pouncing on his fastballs. At the plate, Yorvit Torrealba did not look good, and swung at multiple pitches in the dirt. Brian Barden, however, did not look so bad, and actually looked good as he hit a home run off of Vin Mazzaro. There were two different mental errors in the game. One was when Endy Chavez got picked off, and the other was Jose Ruiz, as he just flat-out dropped a throw that was right to him.

Tuesday was a very busy day, as after the B game we went straight to the Dodgers’ stadium in Glendale to see the Rangers play the Dodgers. Derek Holland started in this game, and really struggled, allowing four runs, all earned, on seven hits and two walks in four innings. Alexi Ogando followed that up with a poor performance of his own, as he allowed three runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. Cody Eppley got the final out of the game. The Rangers hit Clayton Kershaw well, but after he was pulled they couldn’t get anything going. Once again, David Murphy swung the bat well, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs and the Rangers’ only extra-base hit of the game. The Dodgers ended up winning 7-6.

Right after the Rangers game was over, we drove over to Scottsdale, and went to eat at the Pink Pony. The Pink Pony is a steak place that has a lot of baseball memorabilia and in the past has been a hangout for baseball players like Mickey Mantle and Billy Martin. The Pink Pony actually closed last year after being open for 60 years, but new owners opened it back up just last month. The steak was very good, and the fries were good, too.

After eating, we headed over to see the Giants at Diamondbacks game in the Diamondbacks’ new stadium (that they share with the Rockies), Salt River Field at Talking Stick. It was fantastic, by far the best stadium in the Cactus League. Even though we left after five innings (it had been a long day), we still got to see three home runs, one for Chris Young, another for Justin Upton, and one for Freddy Sanchez.

After leaving the game, we made the hour-long drive back to our hotel in Surprise and called it a day.

Wednesday, March 16th:

On Wednesday, we went to our last Rangers game of the trip, but before that, we went to the workouts, which this morning was only the minor leaguers. In batting practice, Jonathon Roof was really impressive, and in his bullpen, Yoshinori Tateyama had very good location. This day, there were two intrasquad games on the minor league side, one with Double-A vs. Triple-A, and another with High-A vs. Low-A, where Wilfredo Boscan got pummeled and Alejandro Selen homered off of him.

Since the Rangers played a night game, during the day we went and saw the first few innings of the Giants at White Sox game in Glendale, which featured an impressive pitching match-up, with the Giants throwing Tim Lincecum, and the White Sox pitching Mark Buehrle. When we left after four innings, both pitchers had pitched well, and it was 1-1. The final score was Giants 5, White Sox 3.

The reason we left early was so that we could see the Rangers major league workouts, but it was so crowded we didn’t stay long. However, we did get to see the pitchers hit BP, which was kind of cool. In general, the crowds at Rangers camp were large this year, the largest we had ever seen at spring training. I guess that’s what winning the pennant will do for you.

At 6:00 PM, the Rangers played a game at home against the Rockies, and I took play-by-play notes of this one. See the end of this post for my notes from this game.

Thursday, March 17th:

On Thursday morning, we went over to the minor league workouts. Since the Rangers had another night game, the major leaguers were not out in the morning. I got to talk to Jamey Newberg and Scott Lucas again, and also got to talk to Jake Krug for a while. I watched Jordan Akins hit, and boy is he big. He looked a little inconsistent, but very powerful.

After we watched the minor leaguers work out for about an hour, we headed back to our hotel and packed up before going to the Reds game. After we were packed, we headed over to Goodyear to see the Indians play against the Reds. My dad was born in Cincinnati, so my dad and I are both Reds fans, although they are second for both of us. It was a fun game, and the Reds won 5-1. We got to see some good pitchers, but the most exciting pitcher we saw was Aroldis Chapman, and seeing him was so cool. Unfortunately, though, they didn’t have the radar gun on, so I can’t report that he hit 300 MPH or some crazy number like that.

After the Reds game was over, we drove straight to the airport, and our flight home went extremely smoothly. It was a great week like always. I’d like to thank my dad and granddad for taking me every year and I’d also like to thank Rich Rice for the help he gave me during the week.

My play-by-play notes from the March 16th Rockies/Rangers game in Surprise:

Top 1st – CJ Wilson pitching

Eric Young, Jr.: Strike-out looking. CJ fooled him on a backdoor slider, and had great location this AB.

Dexter Fowler: Flyout to Left Field.

Ty Wigginton: HR. Left a 2-2 pitch down the middle, and was hit over the LF fence.

Troy Tulowitzki: Infield Single. Elvis Andrus should have made this play, but he took a bad route to the ball.

Jason Giambi: Groundout to 2B.

1 run, 1 hit (Rockies 1, Rangers 0)

Bottom 1st – Jason Hammel pitching

Ian Kinsler: Double. Ian ripped a grounder down the LF line that was barely fair.

Elvis Andrus: Groundout to 3B. Very weak ground ball.

Josh Hamilton: Sac fly to LF. High fly ball that scored Ian.

Adrian Beltre: Single to CF. Line drive up the middle.

1 run, 2 hits (Rangers 1, Rockies 1)

Top 2nd – CJ Wilson pitching

Ryan Spilborghs: BB.

Jordan Pacheco: K looking. 3 pitch at-bat.

Ian Stewart: Groundout to 2B. CJ had good location in this AB.

Charlie Blackmon: K swinging. CJ threw a great slider for the third strike.

0 runs, 0 hits (Rangers 1, Rockies 1)

Bottom 2nd – Jason Hammel pitching

Mike Napoli: Popout to CF. His swing did not look good.

Mitch Moreland: Double to Left-Center. Hit liner to the warning track.

Chris Davis: Double to Right-Center. Hit the ball to the wall. Got an RBI.

Doug Deeds: Single to RF. Poked an 0-2 pitch over the second baseman’s head.

Ian Kinsler: E2. Ian got a sac bunt down, but catcher overthrew first and Ian got to third base.

Elvis Andrus: Groundout to 2B. Did not score Ian because the infield was playing in.

Josh Hamilton: BB. 4-pitch walk.

Adrian Beltre: 3-run HR. Crushed the ball over the right-center field wall.

Michael Young: BB. Got down 0-2, then watched 4 straight balls.

Mike Napoli: Groundout to SS. Didn’t look very good.

6 runs, 4 hits (Rangers 7, Rockies 1)

Top 3rd – CJ Wilson pitching

Eric Young, Jr.: Single to RF. Hit a broken bat grounder through the hole.

Dexter Fowler: E1. CJ made an error on a sac bunt attempt.

Ty Wigginton: Flyout to RF. CJ came back after starting down 3-0.

Troy Tulowitzki: Single to RF. Got tagged out after a big turn at first base.

Jason Giambi: Groundout to 2B.

1 run, 2 hits (Rangers 7, Rockies 2)

Bottom 3rd – Jason Hammel pitching

Mitch Moreland: Flyout to LF. Hit the ball to the warning track.

Chris Davis: Solo HR. Hit a moon shot to dead center. Hit the ball extremely high in the air.

Doug Deeds: K swinging. Chased two pitches.

Ian Kinsler: HBP.

Elvis Andrus: K swinging. Swung at three pitches in the dirt.

1 run, 1 hit (Rangers 8, Rockies 2)

Top 4th – CJ Wilson pitching

Ryan Spilborghs: K swinging. CJ had good location in this AB.

Jordan Pacheco: Groundout to 2B.

Ian Stewart: Single.

Charlie Blackmon: Single to 3B. CJ jammed him, but weak grounder was placed well.

Eric Young, Jr.: Groundout to Pitcher.

0 runs, 2 hits (Rangers 8, Rockies 2)

Bottom 4th – Eric Stults pitching

Josh Hamilton: Single to RF. Soft liner.

Adrian Beltre: Groundout to SS. Fielders Choice.

Michael Young: BB. 4 pitch walk.

Mike Napoli: Flyout to RF. Looked bad again.

Mitch Moreland: K swinging. Bad swings.

0 runs, 1 hit (Rangers 8, Rockies 2)

Top 5th – CJ Wilson pitching

Willy Taveras: Groundout to 2B.

Ty Wigginton: K looking. CJ had good location this AB.

Troy Tulowitzki: Groundout to SS.

0 runs, 0 hits (Rangers 8, Rockies 2)

Bottom 5th – Eric Stults pitching

Chris Davis: Single to 2B. SS threw the ball away after Davis got the hit.

Doug Deeds: Groundout to 1B.

Ian Kinsler: Groundout to 3B.

Elvis Andrus: Single to RF. Blooper that scored Davis.

Josh Hamilton: Groundout to SS.

1 run, 2 hits (Rangers 9, Rockies 2)

Top 6th – Mark Lowe pitching

Jason Giambi: Solo HR. Has that ball come down yet?

Ryan Spilborghs: Single to CF. Smashed the ball.

Jordan Pacheco: Flyout to RF.

Ian Stewart: BB.

Charlie Blackmon: Single to RF.

Eric Young: Single to RF. Got picked off of first base after taking a big turn on single.

Willie Taveras: Single to RF.

Ty Wigginton: Flyout to LF.

4 runs, 5 hits (Rangers 9, Rockies 6)

Bottom 6th – Rafael Betancourt

Brian Barden: K swinging.

Chad Tracy: Flyout to CF.

Taylor Teagarden: K looking.

0 runs, 0 hits (Rangers 9, Rockies 6)

Top 7th – Darren O’Day

Alfredo Amezaga: Triple to CF.

Mike Jacobs: 2-run HR. Crushed over Rangers bullpen in RF.

Cole Garner: Double to RF. Blooper fell in between three fielders.

Wilin Rosario: Groundout to SS.

Hernan Irabarren: K swinging.

Charlie Blackmon: Flyout to CF. Hit to warning track.

2 runs, 3 hits (Rangers 9, Rockies 8)

Bottom 7th – Franklin Morales

Joey Butler: Solo HR. Crushed into the Home Run Party Deck sign.

Jose Ruiz: Groundout to 3B.

Endy Chavez: Flyout to CF.

Omar Quintanilla: Lineout to 3B.

1 run, 1 hit (Rangers 10, Rockies 8)

Top 8th – Darren O’Day

Eric Young, Jr.: E1. O’Day made an error. Caught Stealing. Taylor Teagarden gunned him down at second with a perfect throw.

Willy Taveras: Single to 3B.

Ben Paulson: K swinging.

Alfredo Amezaga: Flyout to RF.

Bottom 8th – Matt Daley

Esteban German: K looking. Good battle. 8 pitch AB.

David Paisano: Flyout to RF.

Brian Barden: K swinging.

0 runs, 0 hits (Rangers 10, Rockies 8)

Top 9th – Seth McClung

Mike Jacobs: BB. All over the place.

Cole Garner: 2-run HR. Demolished the ball over LF fence.

Wilin Rosario: E6. Caught Stealing. Taylor Teagarden hosed him trying to take second base with a terrific throw.

Hernan Irabarren: Groundout to 1B.

Charlie Blackmon: Single to CF. I’m not sure if he could’ve hit the ball harder.

PITCHING CHANGE:
New Pitcher – Zach Jackson

Eric Young, Jr.: Single to SS. Slow roller, but ran it out.

Willy Taveras: Single to LF.

Ben Paulson: Groundout to 1B.

3 runs, 5 hits (Rockies 11, Rangers 10)

Bottom 9th – Craig Baker

Chad Tracy: K looking.

Taylor Teagarden: BB. 4 pitch walk.

Joey Butler: BB. 4 pitch walk.

Jose Ruiz: Lineout to 3B. Runner on second picked off by third baseman.

0 runs, 0 hits.

FINAL SCORE: Colorado Rockies 11 (22 hits), Texas Rangers 10 (11 hits)

Come back next week for my season predictions.

Rangers Spring Training Pitchers Analysis

The Rangers have had 30 pitchers in major league camp, although some of them have already been sent to minor league camp. I did an analysis of all of the pitchers who were in big league camp at any point this spring, gave their chances of making the team at the end of Spring Training, and predicted the pitching roster. I’ve also included each player’s spring training stats as of March 18th.

Omar Beltre (0 IP)
Due to surgery on his spinal cord to fix his spinal stenosis, Omar will start the season on the 60-day DL and will miss at least 2 months of the season due to the surgery. Obviously, this means that there is a 0% chance of Beltre being on the Opening Day roster. Last year, Omar made two spot starts for the Rangers, but neither went very well. In his first game, he allowed 3 runs, all earned in 4 innings against the Angels, and while he struck out 6, he also walked four. In his second start, against the Indians, Omar allowed 4 runs in 3 innings. However, Omar pitched very well in AAA in 2010, with a 2.65 ERA in 85 innings of work. Despite a very low ERA, Omar had a record of just 3-9 with the Redhawks. Had he been healthy, Omar would have had a chance at a spot in the back end of the rotation, but since he isn’t healthy, he will not have that chance.
Percentage: 0%

Yhency Brazoban (4 IP, 1 ER, 2.25 ERA, 5 BB)
Probably due to the difficulty of spelling his name, Yhency has been sent down to minor league camp, and is now somebody else’s spelling problem. This, of course, leaves him with a 0% chance at making the major league team out of Spring Training. I would be very surprised if he was on the big league team at any point this season. Brazoban does have major league experience, though, with 115 major league innings spread out over five years, all with the Dodgers. He has a career ERA of 4.70, but really struggled in his only year in which he had a full season in the majors. In 2005, Yhency had a 5.33 ERA and converted 21 out of 27 save opportunities in 72.2 innings. While Yhency has seen a decent amount of time in the big leagues, he has no opportunity to be on the Rangers Opening Day roster, and has already been sent down to minor league camp.
Percentage: 0%

Dave Bush (8 IP, 4 ER, 4.50 ERA, 5 K, 4 BB)
Dave Bush is still fighting for either a back-of-the-rotation starting job or a job coming out of the bullpen as a long reliever, and while he wouldn’t be a bad option at either, he wouldn’t necessarily be a good one. He has thrown 95+ innings in every year since 2004, and has a career ERA of 4.66. His only 200-inning season was in 2006 with the Brewers, when he threw 210 innings. The last three years have been up and down for Bush. In 2008, Dave posted a 4.18 ERA in 185 innings, and was a pretty solid pitcher for Milwaukee. But then in 2009, Bush had a terrible year, and had an ERA of 6.38 in 114.1 innings. But Dave got back on track in 2010, as he lowered his ERA back into the 4.00s, as he had a 4.54 ERA in 174.1 innings. He has one postseason start in his career, and it went well, as he allowed just one run in 5.1 innings. Dave will most likely not make the Opening Day roster, but he would be a fantastic option as a spot starter.
Percentage: 38.5%

Fabio Castillo (0 IP)
Not only has Fabio been sent down to minor league camp, but he is also injured with a broken bone in his foot. This puts him at a 0% chance of making the Opening Day roster in two ways, and even if he was healthy and in big league camp, he still wouldn’t have made the team. Fabio spent the bulk of last year in High-A Bakersfield last year, where he dominated, posting a 1.94 ERA in 51 IP. He also spent a very short time in Frisco, giving up 2 runs in 3.1 innings. There is no way that Castillo has any chance at being on the major league roster coming out of Spring Training.
Percentage: 0%

Miguel De Los Santos (1 IP, 2 ER, 18.00 ERA, 2 K)
Miguel never had a chance to make the team, as he has never played above Low-A ball, but since he has been sent down to minor league camp, he really doesn’t have a chance. However he did pitch very well in the minors last year, with a 1.69 ERA in 32 short-season A innings with Spokane and a 3.99 ERA is 38.2 low-A innings with Hickory. However the fact that Miguel was added to the Rangers 40-man roster during the offseason is a clear indication as to how the organization feels about his potential.
Percentage: 0%

Cody Eppley (5.1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 5.06 ERA, 3 K)
In his third pro season, Cody pitched very, very well in both High-A Bakersfield and Double-A Frisco, but then struggled a little bit once he got promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City. He had a 0.00 ERA in 18 High-A innings, a 1.19 ERA in 22.2 Double-A innings, but then a 4.08 ERA in 28.2 Triple-A innings, which is where he will most likely start the 2011 season, as the major league level was ruled out when he was sent down to minor league camp. Cody doesn’t have a chance at making the Rangers Opening Day roster, but if there’s room on the 40-man roster for him, he may end up being one of the Rangers’ September call-ups if he has another good year.
Percentage: 0%

Scott Feldman (0 IP)
Scott went into the 2010 season as the Rangers #1 starter, and enters the 2011 recovering from knee surgery, which will prevent him from being ready for the start of the regular season. In 2009, Scott went 17-8 with a 4.08 ERA in 189.2 innings, including a 3.79 ERA in 31 games started. But in 2010, Scott really struggled, with a 7-11 record to go along with a very disappointing 5.48 ERA in 141.1 innings. Players hit .313 off of Feldman last year, and that is a very bad number. Even if he was healthy, Scott would’ve had to fight to win a spot on the team.
Percentage: 0%

Neftali Feliz (9 IP, 1 ER, 1.00 ERA, 9 K)
After the All-Star season that Neftali Feliz had last year, in which he set the rookie record for saves in a season with 40, there is no question whether he will be on the Opening Day roster or not. But there is a question as to which role that will be in, as the Rangers have been stretching him out this spring to see if he should be a starter for the 2011 squad. In two big league seasons, Feliz has a career ERA of 2.42, which is incredible. In 2009, he justified his being called up with an outstanding 1.74 ERA in 31 innings. Then in 2010, he justified his spot as the team’s closer with a 2.73 ERA in 69.1 innings, and 40 saves. And despite some location problems in the playoffs, Neftali had a postseason ERA of 1.23. Feliz will be on the Rangers major league team to start off the season. The only question is whether it will be as a starter or as a closer.
Percentage: 100%

Matt Harrison (9 IP, 1 ER, 1.00 ERA, 5 K)
To this point a disappointment, Matt will most likely have a chance to change that this year. In his bid for a job in the starting rotation, Harrison has had a very good spring, allowing just one run in nine innings of work. Last year, Matt spent most of his time coming out of the bullpen, as he made 31 appearances out of the ‘pen, while making only 6 starts. Matt also pitched better coming out of the bullpen, with a 4.26 ERA as a reliever, and a 5.29 ERA as a starter, which totaled up to a 4.71 ERA on the year. But despite a very mediocre season last year, Matt’s spring has been good enough to where it looks as if he will be in the Rangers Opening Day starting rotation.
Percentage: 81.3%

Derek Holland (9 IP, 5 ER, 5.00 ERA, 12 H, 9 K)
Derek is fighting for a spot in the starting rotation, and the Rangers are hoping that this is the year that he can put it all together. He improved last year from his 2009 form, as his ERA went from 6.12 in 2009 to 4.08 in 2010, and his batting average against dropped from .288 in 2009 to .247 in 2010. His WHIP also dropped by 0.12. But due to injuries, Derek only got to pitch in 57.1 major league innings last year in the regular season. Derek’s statistics in his first two big league seasons aren’t that great, but even though the stats don’t blow you away so far, he has the potential to be an ace, and so I think that he will make the team coming out of Spring Training.
Percentage: 74.6%

Tommy Hunter (8.2 IP, 11 R, 8 ER, 8.31 ERA, 15 H, 10 K)
Tommy’s numbers have gotten better in every big league season. In 2008, he pitched 11 innings, and had an ERA of 16.36 while hitters had a batting average of .404 off of him, which made his WHIP extremely high at 2.36. Then, in 2009, Tommy lowered his ERA to 4.10 in 112 innings, while his WHIP improved to 1.30 as his batting average against lowered to .259. In 2010, Tommy’s ERA lowered again to 3.73 in 128 innings, as his WHIP (1.24) and batting average against (.255) also lowered again. But while his numbers have gotten better, the pattern in each of the past two seasons has stayed the same. He has started off the year well, with a 2.35 ERA pre-All-Star break in 2009, and a 2.34 ERA pre-All-Star break in 2010. But then, after that, Tommy has started to tail off at the end of the year with post-All-Star break ERAs of 4.55 in 2009 and 4.41 in 2010. He also really struggled in the playoffs last year, with a 5.56 ERA in 11.1 postseason innings. So while Tommy has been getting better every year, he still might not make the Opening Day roster, although I think he probably will.
Percentage: 84.6%

Eric Hurley (9 IP, 1 ER, 1.00 ERA, 5 K)
Despite a very good spring, Eric has been sent down to minor league camp, and has a 0% chance of making the team, after missing two full seasons due to injuries. But even though Eric will not be on the Opening Day roster, my guess is that he will be on the major league team at some point in the 2011 season. That could change, though, if he continues to struggle at any level above Double-A. In two stints in Triple-A Oklahoma City, Eric posted ERAs of 4.91 and 5.30 in 73.1 and 74.2 innings pitched, and those certainly are not very good numbers. Eric made it to the majors in 2008, and in 24.2 innings, Eric had an ERA of 5.47 while allowing 5 home runs, which is way too many for 24.2 innings. But while Eric will not be on the Opening Day roster, don’t expect him to stay in the minors all year long.
Percentage: 0%

Zach Jackson (4.1 IP, 3 ER, 6.23 ERA)
Even though Zach Jackson is a former Aggie, which obviously improves his chances tremendously, he probably does not have much of a chance at making the Rangers major league team out of Spring Training. He has spent parts of three seasons in the majors, but they haven’t gone so well, as he has a career ERA of 5.81 in 105.1 major league innings. And if he doesn’t improve his performance at the minor league level, Jackson probably won’t have another shot at the majors. The last three seasons at Triple-A, Zach has had ERAs of 7.85, 6.09, and 6.38. That won’t get it done, and I don’t see Jackson being on the Rangers’ active roster anytime soon.
Percentage: 2.3%

Michael Kirkman (11.1 IP, 13 R, 7 ER, 5.56 ERA, 9 K)
After a fantastic season at Triple-A last year, where Michael had a 3.09 ERA in 131 innings, Kirkman got called up to the big leagues, where he also pitched very well. Kirkman had a 1.65 ERA in 14 regular season major league games, while holding opposing hitters to a .161 average. So while he may not be having the best of springs, his performance at every level last season, in my opinion, should at least get him on the Rangers Opening Day roster, even if they do have a very short leash on him.
Percentage: 61.3%

Colby Lewis (9 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 4.00 ERA, 6 K)
In his first year back from Japan, Colby pitched well enough to lock himself into a rotation spot in 2011, most likely the #2 spot. Colby had an ERA of 3.72 in the regular season, and started off the year strong, with a 3.33 ERA pre-All-Star break. He broke the 200-inning mark, with 201 innings, and finished the season four strikeouts away from 200 K’s. But while Colby pitched well in the regular season, his biggest mark was in the postseason. He went 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched and held opponents to a .176 average. His three wins include the Rangers’ only World Series victory, and the win that sent the Rangers to the World Series.
Percentage: 100%

Mark Lowe (6 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 10.50 ERA, 11 H, 3 K)
Despite a horrendous spring and a terrible short stint with the Rangers last season, Mark seems like he has a bullpen spot to lose. Mark has played two full major league seasons, and has had one good one and one bad one. In 2008, Mark pitched 63.2 innings, and had an ERA of 5.37, while hitters crushed him, with a .301 average. But then in 2009, Mark had an ERA of 3.27 in 80 innings, while hitters hit only .232. He started off 2010 well with the Mariners, as he had an ERA of 3.48 before he got injured and then traded to the Rangers. He then allowed four runs in three innings in the regular season with the Rangers, and then had an ERA of 67.50 in the playoffs, as he allowed 5 runs in 0.2 innings. But while he hasn’t performed at all with the Rangers, his 2009 season seems to have given him an edge for a spot in the bullpen.
Percentage: 51.2%

Seth McClung (6 IP, 9 ER, 13.50 ERA, 7 BB, 10 H, 2 K)
Despite six years of big league experience, Seth McClung has no shot at being on the Rangers Opening Day roster, as he has been sent down to minor league camp. And, really, Seth doesn’t have much of a chance at being on the Rangers’ big league squad at any point during the season, as he is not on the 40-man roster, and isn’t exactly first in line to be put onto the 40-man roster. Seth has had three big league seasons in which he has thrown more than 100 innings, two with the Devil Rays and one with the Brewers. In 2005, he threw 109.1 innings for Tampa Bay, and had a 6.59 ERA, which did not improve much the next year, where Seth had a 6.29 ERA in 103 innings for the Devil Rays. In 2008, McClung pitched 105.1 innings, and had a 4.02 ERA, as he made 12 starts and made 25 appearances out of the bullpen for Milwaukee. Even though he is a major league veteran, I would be very surprised if he wore anything but a Round Rock Express uniform in the Rangers organization.
Percentage: 0%

Darren O’Day (6 IP, 4 ER, 6.00 ERA, 12 H, 4 K)
With the seasons that Darren O’Day has had in each of the past two years, there is no way that the Rangers can leave O’Day off the team. In 2009, Darren had an ERA of 1.84 in 58.2 innings, with 55.2 of those innings coming with the Rangers. Then in 2010, Darren had an ERA of 2.03 in 62 innings. In both years, Darren had a batting average against of below .200 (.199 in 2009 and .196 in 2010). Unless he gets injured, he should once again have a very, very good year coming out of the Rangers bullpen.
Percentage: 100%

Alexi Ogando (8.2 IP, 5 ER, 5.19 ERA, 12 H, 8 K)
Alexi will be on the Rangers Opening Day roster, whether it’s as a starter, a reliever, or even as a closer. The Rangers have been pitching him as a starter this spring, but my guess is that he starts the season as the set-up man. Last year, Alexi was incredible, as his ERA was 1.30 in 41.2 innings pitched for the Rangers, and he also pitched well in the postseason. In his six postseason innings, Alexi allowed only one run (a 1.50 ERA), and struck out eight. So while Alexi is not locked into any one role going into the regular season, he does have a spot on the roster, wherever that might be.
Percentage: 100%

Darren Oliver (2 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 4.50 ERA)
Oliver is the third of the Rangers ‘O No’s’ in the bullpen (O’Day, Ogando, and Oliver - the other teams’ hitters say ‘O No’ when they come in to pitch). He has had ERAs below 3.00 in each of the past three seasons, and had the lowest ERA of his career last year, when he had a 2.48 ERA. He pitches very well against lefties, as he held lefties to a .200 batting average off of him last year, while righties hit .281. Despite the possibility that Darren will need a cane to get to the mound from the bullpen by the end of the season, there is a 100% chance that he will be on the Rangers Opening Day roster.
Percentage: 100%

Zach Phillips (2.2 IP, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA, 3 BB, 4 H, 2 K)
Ever since Zach has been moved to the bullpen, he has been very successful in the minor leagues. However, Zach has been sent down to minor league camp, and will have to continue his minor league success if he wants to be on the big league team at any point in 2011. Up to 2008, Zach was a starter, and had a 5.54 ERA at High-A Bakersfield in 28 starts. Since then, though, he has been great. In 2009, he was moved to the bullpen, where he posted ERAs of 1.23 and 1.60 in High-A Bakersfield and Double-A Frisco, respectively. Then, last year, Zach had a 1.08 ERA in 16.2 Double-A innings before being moved up to Triple-A Oklahoma City, where his ERA was quite a bit higher at 3.22, but still very good. If Zach can keep this up in the Rangers’ farm system, he should at least be a September call-up.
Percentage: 0%

Arthur Rhodes (4 IP, 3 ER, 6.75 ERA, 5 K)
It’s not often that a relief pitcher that is not a closer makes it into an All-Star game, but Arthur Rhodes pitched so well last season that he forced his way onto the National League All-Star roster at the age of 40. Rhodes had a 2.29 ERA last season with the Cincinnati Reds, including a 1.54 ERA before the All-Star break, and has posted ERAs below 2.55 in each of the past three season, and four of the past five. After a 2.08 ERA in 2005, Rhodes struggled in 2006 as he recorded a 5.32 ERA on the season, but then found his 2005 form following Tommy John surgery which cost him the entire 2007 season to post a 2.04 ERA in 2008, a 2.53 ERA in 2009, and a 2.29 ERA in 2010. There is no way that Rhodes is not on the team coming out of Spring Training.
Percentage: 100%

Tanner Scheppers (1.2 IP, 4 ER, 21.60 ERA, 5 H, 2 BB)
Tanner came into camp with a decent chance at making the Rangers big league team, but due to a back injury, he really doesn’t have much of a chance at this point. After dominating Double-A with the Frisco RoughRiders last year, where he had a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings, Tanner was called up to Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he ran into some problems. His ERA with the Redhawks was 5.48 in 69 innings. While Tanner will probably not make the major league team on Opening Day, he definitely has the talent and potential to be on the team at some point during the 2011 season.
Percentage: 8.7%

Pedro Strop (7 IP, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA, 9 K)
Despite a terrible year when he was in Arlington last year, Pedro Strop has pitched well enough this spring to garner roster consideration. So far this spring, Pedro has pitched extremely well, which was not expected after his 10.13 ERA in 10.2 major league innings last season, and after his 7.71 ERA in 7 major league innings in 2009. However, he did not at all struggle at Triple-A last year, as he had a 1.91 ERA in 42.1 innings for Oklahoma City. So while I don’t think that he will be on the big league team on Opening Day, I think he has a good shot at it, and I would be surprised if we didn’t see him in Arlington at some point during the season.
Percentage: 43.5%

Yoshinori Tateyama (4.2 IP, 4 ER, 7.71 ERA, 11 H, 2 K)
Yoshinori has also been sent down to minor league camp, after having a horrendous spring on the big league side. In 4.2 innings, he allowed 11 hits (a .458 average), and really struggled against righties, which is supposed to be his specialty. Righties hit .583 off of Tateyama. In Japan last year, righties hit just 1.86 off Tateyama, as Yoshinori had a 1.80 ERA for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. With his age at 35, Tateyama needs to have enough success at Triple-A this year to get called up to have much of a chance at a decent big league career in America.
Percentage: 0%

Mason Tobin (3.2 IP, 3 R, 0 ER, 0.00 ERA, 3 BB, 2 K)
After missing the entire 2010 season and most of the 2009 season, the Cubs claimed Tobin in the Rule 5 draft from the Angels, and then sold him to the Rangers. In 2009, Tobin got injured after 2.2 innings and needed Tommy John surgery. In his last lengthy minor league action, Mason had a 3.13 ERA in 37.1 innings for the Angels Short-Season-A squad, the Cesar Rapids Kernels. If Tobin does not make the major league team, the Rangers will need to either offer him back to the Angels or offer a trade to the Angels to keep Tobin.
Percentage: 31.2%

Brett Tomko (7 IP, 6 ER, 7.71 ERA, 10 H, 6 K)
Brett will most likely not make the major league roster coming out of Spring Training, but if he does well in Round Rock, may have a chance to be moved up to the big league team. If he pitches like he did last year in the minor leagues, he will most definitely not be called up. He had a 7.18 ERA in 62.2 innings pitched split between three different levels. However, Brett does have 13 years of major league experience, and pitched very well in 57.1 major league innings in 2009. He had a 3.77 ERA between the Yankees and the Athletics. While Brett probably will not be on the Opening Day roster, if he pitches well in the minors, he may be called up at some point during the season or used as trade bait.
Percentage: 17.2%

Ryan Tucker (5.1 IP, 3 ER, 5.06 ERA, 8 H, 5 K)
The Rangers claimed Tucker off of waivers from the Florida Marlins last October, and his stats over the last couple of years definitely called for waivers and for the minor league camp that the Rangers have sent him down to. In his only major league stint (2008), Ryan had an ERA of 8.27 (awful) and a WHIP of 1.92 (awful) in 37 innings. After that, he fell apart in the minor leagues, too, as he posted an ERA of 8.40 in 15 Triple-A innings in 2009 (his only innings above Rookie ball), and an ERA of 6.15 in 33.2 innings pitched in 2010 (all in Triple-A). Ryan has no chance at being on the Opening Day roster.
Percentage: 0%

Brandon Webb (0 IP)
While Webb will definitely be in the Rangers major league rotation when he is healthy, there is no way that he will be healthy by Opening Day. However, when Brandon is healthy, if he can return to his pre-injury form (an injury that cost him two full seasons of baseball), then he should be an ace. In six years pre-injury, Brandon never posted an ERA above 3.59, and hit the 200-inning mark in 5 of the 6 years, his rookie year being the only one below 200 innings (180.2 IP). Brandon won the Cy Young Award in 2006, and is an extreme groundball pitcher, with a career GO/AO (ground-out/air-out) ratio of 3.15, which is unheard of, as he is getting over three groundball outs for every one fly ball out. So even though Brandon won’t make an appearance on Opening Day, he will still hopefully have a huge effect on the Rangers’ season.
Percentage: 0%

CJ Wilson (14 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 4.50 ERA, 18 H, 11 K)
CJ comes into the season pretty locked into the #1 spot in the Rangers rotation, which means that barring an injury, there is a 100% chance that he makes the team. In his first year back in a starting role after being moved to the bullpen permanently in 2006, CJ went 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 204 innings pitched. He held opponents to a .217 batting average against, which was second in the American League, and held lefties to a .144 batting average against. He was very consistent throughout the season, as he had a 3.35 ERA before the All-Star break, and a 3.36 ERA after the All-Star break. CJ will go into Opening Day as the Rangers’ ace, and I expect him to go into October as the Rangers’ ace.
Percentage: 100%

Projected Pitching Rotation:
SP #1: CJ Wilson
SP#2: Colby Lewis
SP #3: Matt Harrison
SP #4: Tommy Hunter
SP #5: Derek Holland

Projected Bullpen:
LRP: Michael Kirkman
MRP: Mark Lowe
MRP: Arthur Rhodes
MRP: Darren Oliver
MRP: Darren O’Day
SU: Alexi Ogando
CL: Neftali Feliz

Next in Line:
Pedro Strop
Dave Bush
Mason Tobin

Come back next week for my spring training trip report.