(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Well, the lead is officially gone. The Texas Rangers, after dropping five games in a row, have surrendered their lead in the American League West and are now tied with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
What happened? Has the pitching fallen apart? How about the fielding?
No, believe it or not, the Rangers just cannot hit.
The first reason (excuse) you hear is that the Rangers' best player, Josh Hamilton, has been hurt. This is true.
However, Hamilton, who was on fire during spring training, has been off to a slow start even when he has been in the lineup.
In his 35 games, roughly half of the Rangers 69 games played so far, Hamilton is batting a disappointing .240 with only six home runs and 24 runs batted in.
Remember, this is the guy who had 95 RBI last year by the All-Star break.
Hamilton made two spectacular catches crashing into outfield walls this season that resulted in two stints on the disabled list this season. The second crash led to surgery to repair an abdominal muscle that tore away from his pelvic bone.
There is still no date set for his return, and the Rangers are hopeful he will be back to full speed around the All-Star break.
But the Rangers' woeful hitting performance goes way beyond the loss of Hamilton’s presence in the lineup.
Perhaps at the top of the list is the fact that second baseman Ian Kinsler is not a leadoff hitter. Kinsler, who started hot in April, has tailed off significantly, as reflected in the 18-for-77 stretch he is in so far in June.
You cannot score runs and hope to win when your leadoff hitter is hitting .234 for the month and only .266 for the year. He's also scored only 48 runs, which ranks 12th in the American League.
Kinsler loves to swing at the first pitch and rarely makes the pitcher work. He has a trademark upper-cut swing more suited for deeper in the order, as his 18 home runs suggest.
The Rangers need a more balanced lineup. Ideally, the team needs to find a leadoff-hitting center fielder.
This would solve two major issues: allowing Hamilton to move to a corner outfield spot to reduce the chance of injury, and dropping Kinsler in the order to either the second or fifth spot where the Rangers could take advantage of his power.
Of course, Kinsler is not the largest hole in the Rangers lineup. That honor belongs to first baseman Chris Davis.
Let me say this as nice as possible: Davis is not ready for the big leagues.
I have never seen a team stick with a player who has less than one full season in the Major Leagues the way the Rangers have with Davis.
Come on, the guy is hitting .196 and he still plays almost every day?
Last week, Davis became the fastest player in Major League history to reach 100 strikeouts in a season, doing so in only 219 at-bats. That means he has struck out over 45 percent of the time he has been at the plate.
Even more ridiculous is the explanation that Rangers manager Ron Washington has used of he is keeping Davis in the lineup for his glove.
Seriously? How absurd is that?
The Rangers have to send Davis down to the Minors to get his swing and confidence back today. Not tomorrow or next week, but today.
In the meantime, they can platoon Hank Blalock and Andruw Jones at first, although neither one of them is hitting the ball right now either.
Former first round draft pick Justin Smoak just came off the DL in Double-A Frisco, so he is probably not quite ready to join the big club. But he is hitting .331 for the year and has only struck out 31 times with 32 walks, so he may be an option later this season.
The Rangers could also look to add a bat via trade.
Baltimore may be interested in moving first baseman Aubrey Huff, who is from the Dallas area and is in the final year of his guaranteed contract, so the Rangers would not be inheriting a huge financial commitment.
And finally, has hitting coach extraordinaire Rudy Jaramillo lost his magic touch?
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