Maybe put him in next time with a 10 run lead and 2 out in the 9th. That's a good spot for him.

Gabbard's injury history plus the bullpen situation make it a no-brainer, imo.

Plus, given what we saw last night, when else would you want Nippert making his debut? You've got to see what he's capable of some time.

The win wasn't in jeopardy, and I'm guessing an 11-0 win means more to the fan base than the team itself, given that the players (aside from Nippert) know they played well enough to win by a ridiculous margin.

have to stay on the 25 man roster before he goes to OKC for a lit'l touch up? How much longer before we know if Robbie T has cleared waivers?

just email this missive to Gdawg?

;)

I found the whole discussion about keeping Gabbard in a little strange. Its the first week of the season! Lets be happy with 7 shutout innings...

I think there is a strong desire to see the Rangers get a shutout or even just a complete game. The fans of this team need it. But there is no reason to risk a young arm this early in the year just for that, especially with the bullpen situation what it was.

Besides, if it had been 92 pitches in 8 innings, I could see him going back out there. But 92 through 7 means that he'd have to get to near 120 to get the complete game. That's too much.

situation, but rather on the trend of the organization to "protect" its pitchers from "overuse". It isn't exactly working out for them, and for good reason. As far as getting the relievers some work, there's 2 bullpen pitching mounds and 2 bullpen catchers, so put em to good use.

Then he delivers a 2-run go-ahead base hit to LF, where Carlos Lee manages to butcher the play, allowing him an extra base.

pitcher no matter how well he is pitching, you always need him ready and rested another day. Gabbard was looking a little gassed by the end of the seventh inning, and baseball is a "show," you never really know or get to see what is going on behind the curtain. You have to trust the manager is making the right decision.

If only GA had hit that one over the fence.......

If nothing else, we can take heart that Ron Washington isn't Dusty Baker when it comes to riding pitchers' arms onto the surgical table.

I'd agree with all Adam's points about Gabbard's history and fragility and also add that he had a less-than-impressive Spring Training. Instead of letting a guy with a history of injuries pitch an abnormal amount, pull him after a deep start and, statistically speaking, one of the best starts of his career. Not to mention a quality start against our most hated opponents in the AL West.

Kason has not gone over 110 pitches in a single outing in his career. So even if he pitches the 8th you still need someone for the 9th.Plus it's the first game of the year for him, and after he rolled his ankle he had to be feeling it a little in the 7th.

Last night was a perfect scenerio to get Fuku and Nippert in the game with a huge lead. Fuku looked ok and Nippert didn't. Better to find out about Nippert in a 11-0 game rather than a 4-2 game. I think Wash handled things fine yesterday.

I would also like to take this time to appologize to BB for all the negative things I have said about him. He really came through last night. That said, I still think he stinks. :)

Nice post -- I agree completely with Worsh's rationale in this instance.

Question is, how long of a leash do you give Nippy?

Easy decision. Right decision. No issue.

we need to see what some of these bottom 3-4 relievers have, so we can make an informed decision on April 12th.

do anything to put down Washington, kind of sad.

Taylor Teagarden homers to score John Mayberry Jr. to tie it up 2-2.

does anyone know if the game is on FSN?

Gabbard was at 92 pitches. Not 120, not 110, not even at 100. I don't think everyone fully understands that. I'm not hoping that Wash becomes Dusty Baker by leaving Gabbard out there for one extra inning. 100 pitches has become the standard warning sign these days of a pitcher needing to get pulled. So why when Gabbard was looking great and his ankle didn't appear to be any problem was he being pulled so much earlier than that. I've seen pitchers go past the 100 pitch mark all the time and nothing bad happens as a result of it.

As I said in the gameday thread, Gabbard has 19 Major League starts to go with 96 minor league starts. He is turning 26 in a few days. Sure he's had injury problems in the past, but from what I recall, last season's lengthy DL stint was mainly a precaution in a lost season. At one point or another, you have to stop looking at Gabbard as a young rookie and see him as a Major League pitcher who should be able to at least make 100 pitches in a game whether its over 8 innings or 5 innings. Do you think that a pitcher like Kevin Millwood would be pulled at 90 pitches?

I don't understand also why its a big deal if he goes out there in the 8th inning and has to be pulled in the middle of the inning. You tell him he can go out there but he'll be pulled at the first sign of trouble. He should understand that and there is no issue here.

Now why I would much rather have seen Gabbard out there for one more inning was because of the unknown. As we saw, giving our bullpen some extra innings was an awful idea in the end. Sure, Fukomori got an inning in. He could have done that in the 9th instead of the 8th. What happened was that the Rangers let a couple of the last options in the pen get destroyed. So instead of the Rangers having basically a full bullpen fully rested for today's game, we had to use 4 guys yesterday. What if today's game goes into extra innings? The Rangers lose a significant advantage in having a much fresher bullpen than the Angels in that case.

is it possible to get the gameday thread a little earlier this early into the season?

comment on a few other games going on, early discussion of matchup and such... im anxious =p

5ip, 1h, 3er, 7bb, 0so

BooYahh

"They said it was impossible for four 1 seeds to make the final four.............But they also said it was impossible to get real coke taste with zero calories.

Now that was a smooth plug that made me laugh

His first full-season AB results in a double down the line driving in Paisano from 2nd.

Beltre was pulled after his first AB - Paisano moved over to CF. No idea why. Kinda worrisome.

I was not sure why Wash brings in German and faced the PH Willits who is a switch hitter. I thought he got lucky and just slapped a pitch to left field. Not a bad pitch. Then he brings in Eddie the lefty to face a RH in Hunter. I think he should of left in German to face Hunter. Just a thought, do not have a problem at all pulling Gabbard. Lets go Millwood keep the starters rollin'

Reed outdueling bonus baby Jordan Walden through 6.

Reed: 6IP, 4H, 2BB, 6K, 0ER

so I just switched to Directv and purchased their MLB package. I have a question though. I'm leaving tonight and would like to record the game. There are 2 channels with the game. One is the Rangers feed and the other is the Halos. Is there anyway to find out which is which? I don't want to record the game and be stuck listening to Hudler or the Angels anouncers, not that Lewin is much better. I guess my other option would be to record both. Anyone else with Directv that could help would be appreciated.