The Texas Rangers baseball team came into the 2008 season hoping to quickly forget about the many problems and hard lessons learned over the 2007 season.
At times in 2007, new manager Ron Washington seemed out-coached. The pitching staff's designated aces Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla had down years due to DL time, struggles with their command, and lack of run support. The injury bug seemed to hit the whole team.
The season seemed to end before it got started, with the one highlight being Sammy Sosa's 600th home run. But the biggest news story for the team was the departure of switch-hitting, power first baseman Mark Teixiera and trading away Kenny Lofton and Eric Gagne.
The 2008 season started off almost the same as 2007, with struggles from the bullpen, lack of timely hitting, and a 7-16 record, which was the worst in the Majors.
But this season, something different happened. The starting pitchers are going deeper into starts, the bullpen is pitching better at times, the outfield seems to be covered by four fielders, and the hitting is, arguably, the best in all of baseball.
Was it an offseason free agency signing, was it a new approach from the manager, was it a new team president, or was it something else?
True, the offseason signings of players like Milton Bradley and Eddie Guardado have paid off well for the team. But remember Ben Broussard, Chris Shelton, Kaz Fukumori, and Jason Jennings? Not so good.
True, Ron Washington has his first season as the main guy under his belt and as his close friend, and bench coach Art Howe would tell him, your always wrong in this position, unless you win. Then the players were right, not you.
Washington, in 2008, seems to be much more comfortable as the manager and at times out-coaching his opposition.
True, bringing back one of the most beloved Texas Rangers, Nolan Ryan, was a bold move made by owner Tom Hicks. And even though it is only his first year as the manager, things have changed and will continue to change. As fans, we can only hope for the best.
All of these things have factored into a better season in 2008 than 2007. However, the biggest difference I can see has got to be the day-in and day-out production from the rookies and players that started the season in the minor leagues.
At the beginning of the season, the Rangers roster included rookies David Murphy, Dustin Nippert, and A.J. Murray.
Today the young players that have been brought up from the minors include Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Brandon Boggs, German Duran, Chris Davis, Max Ramirez, Travis Metcalf, Scott Feldman, Luis Mendoza, Eric Hurley, Doug Mathis, Matt Harrison, Warner Madrigal, and now most recently Joselo Diaz.
That means the Rangers have 16 players that at some time this season have seen the field, 13 that started their years off at Triple-A Oklahoma City or Double-A Frisco, and none that have played full seasons in Major League Baseball.
Though at times most, if not all, of these players have looked like young 20-year-olds playing with a bunch of men, what more do you expect from a youngster making their Major League debuts? They will need time to develop, but early reports show some great signs.
4 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Christian Russell 11 months ago
i love it...can't wait for the 2nd half of the season to watch these youngsters continue their maturation and development, which will hopefully lead to the future success of the Rangers.
Keep up the great stuff matt.
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Matthew Irby 11 months ago
Thanks man, work pretty hard on this piece, took just a bit of research to get it done.
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Mario Quesada 11 months ago
Lately I've been keeping close tabs on these guys. Their hitting is obviously phenomenal. Considering they have 4 position players playing in the All-Star game. If Millwood and Padilla can pitch well I believe the Rangers can make a run in the second half.
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Matthew Irby 11 months ago
Yeah Padilla got some All-Star consideration, but having a Ranger pitcher in the midsummer classic will take at least 12 wins and an ERA below 4.00
If Padilla continues what he has been doing this year, Millwood can figure something out about his pitching (has been awful he last few starts), and we can find three youngsters to continue what they have been doing, we can make a run at it.
Likely rotation for second half...Millwood, Padilla, Eric Hurley, Matt Harrison, Scott Feldman or Luis Mendoza or maybe Doug Mathis.
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