MVN - Most Valuable Network

Kazmired: Rangers Dominated By ML-Best Rays On Memorial Day, 7-3

There have been, still are and always will be days in the great game of baseball where you can ultimately do little more than to offer a tip of the ole’ ballcap to the opposing pitcher.

For the Texas Rangers, Memorial Day 2008 was a somber invocation of that ancient principle. Awe-inspiring, but somber.

I often refer to players that possess that unequivocally perfect mix of supreme athletic prowess and raw, unadulterated talent as being transcendent - that is, capable of utterly dominating the opposition on any given day or night they happen to be on the field, be it through their game-changing bat, arm, glove, legs or some combination of the four.

Josh Hamilton, who was greeted by the 12,174 fans in attendance at Tropicana Field on Monday evening with a light smattering of boos that was largely drowned out by a raucous round of applause for the Rays’ one-time cornerstone of the future, obviously fits that description.

So does Tampa Bay’s Scott Kazmir, who fired seven breathtaking innings of one-run baseball against a bewildered Rangers lineup that fanned 10 times (including seven times during Kazmir’s first three perfect innings of the ballgame) and collected just three hits against the 24-year-old Houston native. He walked nobody during his pristine 95-pitch outing.

That was really something special to behold. And regardless of whether the Rays live up to their undeniable promise over the coming years (granted, their ML-best 31-20 record suggests they’re well on their way in that regard), it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where the three-year, $28.5 million contract extension inked by Kazmir two weeks ago won’t wind up being extremely profitable for player, management, ownership and fan alike once it’s all said and done.

In terms of potential historical significance, consider the following: all-time strikeout leader (and Rangers club president) Nolan Ryan notched 356 strikeouts before his 24th birthday. Whether Kazmir can eventually attain the otherworldly longevity and durability that Ryan enjoyed during his record-setting Hall of Fame career is unknown, but there is something to be said for having already compiled 617 strikeouts before that same age-24 threshold.

There is, unfortunately, not quite so much good to be said for right-hander Sidney Ponson, who coughed up five earned runs on a whopping 12 hits and three walks in just five innings of work. Eric Hinske’s three-run homer with nobody out in the bottom of the fifth inning created a 5-0 hole for the Rangers that they never legitimately threatened to escape from, even after Ian Kinsler’s two-run blast in the top of the ninth inning that trimmed the deficit to 7-3 - the eventual final score.

Yes, Ponson yielded an average of three baserunners per inning, skyrocketing his season WHIP to 1.50; that’s despite a still respectable 3.63 ERA that is likely to further balloon, given his maddening inconsistency on the mound as of late. No, you’re not seeing things. Yes, you could probably use a drink.

High alcohol content, preferably.

In lieu of available Memorial Day spirits, however, you can always turn to the Rangers’ unstoppable minor league stable, where singular performances and accomplishments from the future of the franchise have become a seemingly everyday occurrence…

…such as Double-A Frisco’s Max Ramirez procuring Texas League Player of the Week honors for the second time this month, thanks to a dominant 10-for-22 stretch at the plate from May 19th through May 25th that included eight runs scored, 10 runs driven in, two doubles, four home runs (all slugged in consecutive games) and two walks.

His .362 EqA going into Monday was the best such mark in the Double-A Texas League, followed not so closely by his RoughRiders teammate, Ben Harrison (.346).

..or the organization’s two preeminent center field prospects, Engel Beltre (10 for his last 26 at Single-A Clinton) and Julio Borbon (.328/.376/.414 in 174 AB at High-A Bakersfield, with 18 steals in 22 tries), beginning to catch fire in such a way that even the most casual of Texas fans can appreciate their slow but steady progression towards the big leagues.

…or shortstop Marcus Lemon (.288/.435/.413 in 104 AB at Bakersfield) bucking all the preconceived notions I erroneously held against him before the onset of the 2008 season.

…or the LumberKings’ Blake Beavan casually tossing six more fantastic innings of walkless baseball, surrendering just a pair of unearned runs on four hits while collecting a quartet of strikeouts. He has issued just a single free pass in 31 innings pitched in the Midwest League this season.

…or Triple-A Oklahoma’s Taylor Teagarden extending his hitting streak to 15 games, spiking his season (and lifetime) Pacific Coast League batting line to .310/.459/.483 in 58 AB.

…or, of course, Chris Davis’s first multi-hit effort in an RedHawks uniform. I’ve got a feeling there are plenty more of those to come.

No Major League player since 1957 has stolen more than 21 bases in a season without being caught at least once. Just one-third of the way through the 2008 season, Ian Kinsler is already two-thirds of the way to that benchmark with 14 steals in as many attempts.

And finally, from the “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Fire” Department: MLB.com’s Shawn Shroyer reports that TCU’s Andrew Cashner is “expected to be selected as high as No. 11 [by] the Rangers, and as low as No. 21 [by] the [Detroit] Tigers,” with a strong possibility existing of the 21-year-old junior being converted back into a starter upon his selection in the 2008 MLB Draft on June 5th.

Let me see if I have this straight: a stellar fastball-slider combo, but no third pitch and worrisome command issues? If Nolan Ryan - as was indirectly implied by Baseball Prospectus’s Kevin Goldstein on Saturday - is indeed privately lobbying for general manager Jon Daniels and his scouting department to draft Cashner against their better judgment, there’s a potentially catastrophic flaw present in the organizational chain of command.

Mere idle conjecture on my part? We’ll find out soon enough.

Quick Hits: Hank Blalock (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) is expected to receive a cortisone injection from team physician Dr. Keith Meister in Dallas on Tuesday, as oral anti-inflammatory medications are not producing the desired results…utilityman German Duran, hitting just .193/.254/.263 in 57 AB for the Rangers this season, could be optioned back to Oklahoma to ensure more regular playing time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 1:45 am and is filed under The Season. 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.