MVN - Most Valuable Network

Angels, Rangers Play To 3-3 Draw In Tempe

The Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim played to a tie on Thursday afternoon in Tempe, Arizona.

And Bud Selig was nowhere to be found, either.

Left-hander Kason Gabbard surrendered a single earned run on three hits and a walk during his first start of the exhibition season, and five members of the Rangers bullpen made scoreless appearances, but the Texas offense sputtered against an Anaheim relief quartet consisting of three non-roster invitees, and the two teams called it quits after nine innings due to a shortage of available pitchers.

Gabbard’s above-average curve allowed him to induce three ground ball outs and three strikeouts during his two innings of work; sadly, pitch count totals are not available for spring training games. The 25-year-old southpaw worked a scoreless opening frame, but allowed three singles in the bottom of the 2nd inning, including an RBI base hit by first baseman Casey Kotchman.

If you’re looking for brighter news, however, Gabbard reportedly made long-time Rangers nemesis Vladimir Guerrero look silly with two outs in the bottom of the 1st inning, as Guerrero chased a pitch well outside of the strike zone to end a potential scoring threat.

It wasn’t the greatest spring training debut in baseball history, but Gabbard hardly set himself back in the three-man race for the final spot in the Rangers’ starting rotation with his performance. A.J. Murray and Luis Mendoza, both of whom tossed a pair of scoreless innings against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday, figure to make life difficult for Gabbard if they continue to excel this spring.

Unfortunately, right-hander Eric Hurley didn’t fare quite as well as his starting counterpart. The club’s top pitching prospect coughed up one earned run (via a Torii Hunter RBI double) on three hits and two walks in just 1.2 innings, while striking out only one. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News noted that Hurley fired in excess of 40 pitches during his outing, and struggled to throw an effective changeup.

Not a tremendous setback by any stretch of the imagination, but perhaps a bit more evidence as to why he should (and likely will) be starting the 2008 season at Triple-A Oklahoma. Hurley’s good, but not quite ready - yet.

Kendy Batista notched a strikeout in relief of Hurley to escape the bottom of the 4th inning, while Jamey Wright, Kazuo Fukumori, Kameron Loe and Franklyn German teamed up to provide four shutout innings in relief.

Jason Davis, a non-roster invitee who can request his unconditional release from the organization if not added to the 25-man roster by March 29th, interspersed those four shutout innings by allowing the Angels to score the tying run in the bottom of the 7th inning on a pair of hits, resulting in the Rangers’ first blown save of the spring. Big on talent, small on results would be an accurate summarization of Davis’s big league career to this point.

The Rangers generated nearly as few highlights offensively as they did on the mound on Thursday. Center fielder Josh Hamilton did, however, enjoy his second consecutive big day at the plate, socking a two-strike RBI triple down the right field line with nobody out in the top of the 1st inning, and singling to right field on a successful hit-and-run play in the top of the 3rd inning.

Concidentally, Jean Jacques-Taylor’s latest Dallas Morning News feature piece focuses exclusively on Hamilton, and attempts to explain why the Cincinnati Reds were willing to part with such a singular talent for what many perceive to be a gifted, but highly erratic, fireballer in Edinson Volquez:

The Reds also felt comfortable trading Hamilton because they already have Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn in the outfield, and Baseball America considers outfielder Jay Bruce the game’s No. 1 prospect. Obviously, he’s going to need somewhere to play.

There were also whispers that some in the Reds clubhouse weren’t enamored with some of the special treatment Hamilton receives as part of his support to ensure he doesn’t have any substance abuse issues.

Four things:

a) Griffey is 38, and though his offensive production was indeed solid last season (.277/.372/.496 with 30 HR in 528 AB), he hasn’t shown any recent propensity for being able to stay consistently healthy. He will also make $12.5 million in 2008, and has a 2009 club option built into his contract worth $16.5 million. Anybody honestly think the Reds will pick that option up?

b) Dunn is almost certainly going to bolt for free agency after the 2008 season.

c) Both Griffey and Dunn are among the worst, if not the worst, defensive corner outfielders in baseball.

d) Shame on you, Reds clubhouse.

Getting back on track, second baseman Ian Kinsler (2-for-3), third baseman Hank Blalock (1-for-2, BB) and right fielder David Murphy (2-for-2) also chipped in with positive offensive contributions on the afternoon. Even more importantly, Blalock put his surgically repaired throwing shoulder to the test, gunning down Angels right fielder Terry Evans on a close play at first base during the bottom of the 5th inning.

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, unfortunately, went 0-for-2 at the plate during his first start of the spring - including a strikeout looking to end the top of the 2nd inning, on a pitch that was apparently down the middle. He also surrendered a passed ball during Hurley’s difficult third inning, which is unlikely to gain him much favor over his primary competition: fellow backstop Gerald Laird. Better shake those spring jitters in a hurry, Jarrod.

And finally, Evan Grant and MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan are both reporting that the Rangers are granting serious consideration to the idea of batting Kinsler leadoff on a full-time basis once the regular season commences, rather than using him in a platoon role with Frank Catalanotto at the top spot in the batting order, as they did for much of last season:

“There’s a chance of that,” manager Ron Washington said Thursday. “I didn’t think of Ian as the prototypical leadoff guy last year, but he changed my mind. We’ll just wait and see what happens. I’m not going to make up my mind after one or two games.”

[…]

“I want to hit leadoff,” Kinsler said. “I want to be a table setter. But I know if you are going to hit leadoff, you’ve got to be willing to hit with two strikes. I’m normally an aggressive hitter, but you’ve got to be a little more patient when you hit leadoff. I’m pretty comfortable hitting with two strikes.”

Well, if nothing else, it’s a better idea than batting Kinsler eighth. His high career success rate on the basepaths (34 for 40, or 85%) would likely tickle Washington’s old-school fancy rather well in the leadoff spot - that is, unless Washington begins pressuring Ian to run in less-than-optimal situations as a leadoff hitter, thereby dragging his success rate down. It’s something to think about.

On a related note, Lee Panas of Detroit Tiger Tales has created a baserunning metric, affectionately dubbed BGAA (Bases Gained Above Average), that pegs Ian as the second best baserunner in the American League last season. Panas’s measure works off of Retrosheet play-by-play data, and takes into account such items as taking extra bases on hits, advancing on grounders - and, of course, stolen bases. Fascinating stuff.

Quick Hits: Right-handers Kevin Millwood (hamstring) and Brandon McCarthy (elbow) reported further improvement on Thursday, with McCarthy targeting next Monday as a possible return date…Joaquin Benoit (weak arm) may pitch off a mound on Friday…Tom Hicks said on Thursday there was no chance of the Rangers signing free agent outfielder Barry Bonds, as the club is seeking “character players” exclusively…the contracts of general manager Jon Daniels and team president Nolan Ryan have still yet to be finalized… Mark McLemore and Rusty Greer have joined the team as guest instructors and will participate in workouts Friday morning.

Just over twelve hours until the sweet, delightful sound of Eric Nadel’s voice begins wafting through our ears once again.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 11:54 pm and is filed under Spring Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.