MVN - Most Valuable Network

NEWSFLASH: Ballard Scratched; Madrigal To Start For Texas

In light of these latest breaking developments, I suppose I could have saved my typing fingers last night when detailing southpaw Michael Ballard’s statistical profile and pitching repertoire.

Multiple local media sources, including Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, are reporting that the Texas Rangers have opted for the piecemeal approach as part of their pitching battle plan against the first-place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim tonight.

Rookie right-hander Warner Madrigal will now receive the Wednesday evening start in place of Ballard, who will evidently remain at Double-A Frisco for currently undisclosed reasons. Jered Weaver, a former 12th-overall pick in the 2004 MLB First-Year Player Draft, will oppose Madrigal; Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that the club hopes to follow Madrigal with fellow right-handers Josh Rupe and Jamey Wright, who haven’t pitched since July 6th in Baltimore.

Why the sudden change in plans? I’m not completely sure. But two potential explanations jump to mind immediately:

● By purchasing Ballard’s contract from Frisco (thereby adding him to the 40-man roster) and then immediately designating him for assignment (thereby dropping him from the 40-man roster), Texas would have irreversibly set Ballard’s minor league options clock into motion. Already at age 24, one would like to think that the Norfolk, Virginia native would establish himself one way or another by the end of the 2010 season, which would exhaust the last of his three options.

But it’s good to maintain some player development elasticity, and perhaps the organization didn’t feel it was prudent to execute a roster move with such significant implications for Ballard’s future - particularly when the only tangible benefit was going to be a single Major League spot start.

● The more probable line of reasoning is that the Rangers were frightened Ballard would be snatched off waivers by an enterprising front office if designated for assignment immediately after his Wednesday evening start. There’s a line of thought out there that Ballard’s decent, if not entirely overpowering arsenal and strike-throwing tendencies could eventually make him a great fit for the Rangers’ bullpen as a left-handed relief specialist.

Indeed, Texas League lefties have batted just .250/.283/.273 in 44 AB versus Ballard this year, who has yielded only 1.59 walks and recorded 11.12 strikeouts per nine innings against those same left-handed batters. I don’t think I need to tell you that there’s a lot of value contained within pitchers who can effectively neutralize such a dangerous segment of baseball’s offensive population.

Whatever the case, Angels general manager Tony Reagins - the man responsible for Madrigal’s initial departure from the Anaheim organization last November, by virtue of an egregious procedural error - will surely be flinching as Madrigal effortlessly pumps mid-90s heat into the strike zone against his team on Wednesday evening.

Here’s to hoping this ever-volatile Rangers bullpen can stand up to the giants of the AL West and secure at least a split of this vital four-game home series.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 at 2:00 pm and is filed under NEWSFLASH, 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.