MVN - Most Valuable Network

Young’s Walk-Off Saves Rangers From Latest Bullpen Meltdown

C.J. Wilson’s last four outings, listed chronologically:

June 15th: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 25 pitches
June 17th: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 11 pitches
June 18th: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 28 pitches
June 19th: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 21 pitches

Total: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 85 pitches

Wow. I mean, wow. It would be a lot easier to write this off as nothing more than a brief, albeit horrific rough skid if Wilson hadn’t already been struggling with baserunner and pitch count woes for the better part of the 2008 season. Instead, you have to begin to wonder if something far more sinister is in play.

Did manager Ron Washington automatically set Wilson up to fail by pitching him in a third consecutive game against the Atlanta Braves? I honestly don’t know, though it is interesting to note that he has compiled a lifetime 7.23 ERA and 1.90 WHIP in the 27 career appearances he has made (spanning a total of 23.2 innings) on no days of rest.

But even if the execution was somewhat lacking, the idea was in the right place. C.J. was still Washington’s ninth-inning guy as of approximately 3:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, and even though I’ll be the first to admit that I groaned in horror when Wilson emerged from the right field bullpen door with the Rangers ahead 4-2 going into the top of the ninth inning, it was important for C.J. - and his psyche - that he knew Ron had his back.

And then the walls caved in. Again. It took some crafty maneuvering by sinkerballer Jamey Wright - who was called upon to relieve Wilson after it became clear he wasn’t going to survive the frame - and a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning by the master of the walk-off hit, Michael Young, to save Texas from a horrible fate.

Should Texas pull the plug on their closer at this very instant? Difficult to say. If you are of the belief that the 37-37 Rangers - who presently sit 6½ games back of the first-place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - are still capable of creating a disturbance in the American League playoff picture, then it makes a certain degree of sense to go in a different direction. Preferably in the direction of Eddie Guardado, who somehow gets the job done with little more than an 88 MPH fastball.

But what ultimately matters far more than idle conjecture from the fanbase is what Ron Washington himself thinks of the rapidly growing closer controversy:

“I haven’t thought about that yet,” said Washington, who wants to talk to pitching coach Mark Connor and bullpen coach Dom Chiti about it. “We’ll get together and if there needs to be something done about it, we will. If not, you’ll see C.J. take the ball the next time a closing situation comes up.”

Stay tuned.

The reason Milton Bradley sat out Thursday’s game was because he was reportedly still “being hampered” by the mild strain in his left quadriceps muscle, sustained two days earlier while running full speed towards first base. Wet field conditions only complicated matters, but were not the deciding factor in his absence. He’ll likely be a game-time decision on Friday.

Chris Neault of The Hardball Times wrote the following on first baseman Hank Blalock on Thursday, who continues to recuperate from Carpal Tunnel surgery:

It is not uncommon for people to have persisting symptoms or soreness following surgery, as the area is still healing. Blalock did mention that he felt strong, however, which is the best news possible - meaning that there was no nerve damage during the procedure and that the compression of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel did not create muscle weakness. Said Blalock, “It felt strong, and everything felt great. The balls were carrying.”

A tip of the ole’ ballcap to Kevin Kaduk of “Big League Stew” at Yahoo! Sports for acknowledging last Sunday’s statistical revisitation of Josh Hamilton and Mark Teixeira.

Major League Baseball and State Farm are partnering on a special “Call Your Shot” promotion that can be entered through the address in parenthesis (www.sfCallYourShot.com/2008); the grand prize winner will win an all-expense paid trip for four to the All-Star Game and State Farm Home Run Derby, first-class hotel accommodations in New York, tickets to a Broadway show, and a $1,000 MasterCard gift card. More details:

The grand prize winner will also get the chance to pick a spot to which two of the Home Run Derby players must compete to try to hit a ball. If the first player hits the ball to the called spot, the promotion ends. If either player succeeds, the fan receives a 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid vehicle and a 2009 season-ticket package for any team.

Additionally, 10 fans will win first place prizes consisting of a $300 MLB.com gift card and 25 second place prize winners will receive $100 MLB.com gift cards.

[Yes, like Adam Morris at Lone Star Ball, we are not making terribly much off this humble piece of the Rangers blogosphere. Apologies if you consider the preceding three paragraphs an act of “selling out.”]

ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark writes that the Cleveland Indians aren’t particularly interested in opening a negotiating window for prospective bidders to attempt to sign reigning AL Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia to a long-term contract extension. Earlier in the week, Peter Gammons floated the idea of Texas jumping into the trade sweepstakes for his services.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Low-A Clinton outfielder Timothy Smith procured Most Valuable Player honors for his game-winning blast in the top of the 10th inning during Tuesday evening’s 2008 Midwest League All-Star Game.

Triple-A Oklahoma sinkerballer Luis Mendoza has yielded just a single earned run on 10 hits and one walk in his last 15 innings of work, spanning a total of three starts. Looking forward to seeing how he does against the Nashville Sounds on Friday, and whether he can continue establishing his growing candidacy for another shot at the big league level.

Double-A Frisco’s Max Ramirez played first base on Thursday and went 4-for-5 with two doubles. He’s batting .362/.457/.651 with 16 HR in 235 AB this year in the Texas League.

Texas has agreed to terms with left-hander Corey Young, the club’s 12th-round selection in the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft, and second baseman Jason Ogata, the club’s 38th-round selection.

The New York Yankees have signed Aruban right-hander Sidney Ponson to a minor league deal. Good luck with all of that.

And finally, from the “Miscellaneous Amusement” department:

“I have a lot more important things to worry about than some windbag GM in Canada says about me. It is very unprofessional. He can talk about his players all he wants. If he said that about anybody on our team I’d be angry because he has no right to talk about anybody other than his own team.

“Passion? He can say what he wants about the strikeouts and that I don’t fit in their scheme, whatever, but you can’t tell me about something you have no idea about. You’re not even in the U.S., you’re in Canada. He can’t tell me I don’t love the game, or I wouldn’t play 160 games a year.”

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Adam Dunn commenting to the media on Thursday, after Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi publicly suggested on his Wednesday evening radio show on The Fan 590 that Dunn “doesn’t really like baseball that much” and “doesn’t have a passion to play the game that much.” Ricciardi has since apologized for his on-air remarks to Reds GM Walt Jocketty, accepting full responsibility for the incident.

Now accepting suggestions for a new sponsorship message for C.J. Wilson’s Baseball-Reference page.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 20th, 2008 at 12:05 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.