Don't Mess With Texas

Don’t Mess With Texas: Why the Rangers May be Better Than Ever

The Texas Rangers entered 2013 with a lot of questions. Will they overcome the loss of players in the offseason? Will the players signed live up to their predecessors? Will the offense be anywhere near as potent? So far, in the first month of the season, the answer to all those questions is a resounding yes. They haven’t lost a step and look to again be one of the frontrunners to make the World Series. Consider the fact that the Rangers have the best ERA in all of baseball, rank 5^th in strikeouts, and 3^rd in batting average against. Offensively, they have the 2^nd best run differential, rank 6^th in home runs, 6^th in RBIs, 7^th in average, and 6^th in on base percentage. Taking into account the guys this team lost and the fact that their Opening Day starters the last two years have two starts combined this season, both coming from Matt Harrison, is astounding.

When talking about the Texas Rangers you have to begin with their pitching. It is well documented this team has an assembly line of arms at their disposal and this year that theory is proving true. Young, power arms are everywhere you look with this team; the best of all being Japanese import Yu Darvish. Darvish is in his second season with the Rangers and while he had a good year last year, 16-9 record with a 3.90 ERA and 221 strikeouts, his game has taken a step up this season.

Darvish is currently 5-1 with a 2.33 ERA and leads the league in strikeouts with 58. Watching him pitch is an experience unlike many others. The guy has at least 6 pitches he can count on at any time to get outs and when his fastball isn’t working, unlike many other pitchers, he doesn’t panic because there’s so many more bullets in the chamber. The rest of the rotation isn’t exactly setting the world on fire but they are making quality starts and doing just enough to hold down the fort until the reinforcements arrive. It also doesn’t hurt them that they have one of the best and deepest lineups tacking on runs left and right for them.

Given a choice, there aren’t too many people who would choose Lance Berkman, AJ Pierzynski, and Leonys Martin over Michael Young, Mike Napoli, and Josh Hamilton, but for the Rangers the tradeoff is working in spades. Lance Berkman seems to be rejuvenated playing in Texas again batting .319 which is a step up from Young last season who looked like age and experience were starting to catch up to him. Pierzynski may not be as good an offensive player as Napoli, who is one of the league leaders in RBI thus far, but defensively they are worlds apart. Pierzynski is a championship catcher who knows how to handle a staff and is doing great with the team. It also helps that he is a brash hard-nosed grinder who will hold guys accountable and make them play hard. For all the success Texas has had lately and as good as they are they seemed to lack that vocal leader like Pierzynski so his effect can be felt just as much in the clubhouse as it is on the field. And finally as far as new additions there’s no bigger gap than the one between Josh Hamilton and Leonys Martin. However, Martin is 25 years old and is a faster, much fresher option in the outfield. Being that he is surrounded by such quality in the lineup, Martin doesn’t need to be Hamilton. He just needs to play good defense and cause havoc on the basepath when he gets on. He makes the Rangers a more well-rounded offense.

The rest of the crew like Kinsler, Andrus, Beltre, Nelson, Ross, and Nathan are all performing up to their typical standards. They are hitting for power, for average, stealing bases, and shutting down opposing hitters with great pitching and great defense. The Rangers could arguably be the deepest team in baseball and that’s before even mentioning guys like Mike Olt and Jurickson Profar, who are top ranked prospects in the system. They could be used as trade bait to bring back a superstar type player or as great bench options when guys need some rest, but either way, there may be no team better suited for the long march to October.