I was as disappointed as anyone at his start last night, but I agree it’s too early to remove him from the rotation. The guy was a mess on the mound after giving up a few runs and the last thing his confidence needs is to be demoted. Give him another start or two before pulling the plug on this experiment.

It’d be great to get those guys in ASAP. Look at the waves Main made in his short time last year.

I have never enjoyed anything he has written about the Rangers because to be honest, I just don’t think he knows enough to make the sweeping opinions/judgments that he does. Not saying he’s right or wrong about Washington, but that he always borders on simply unknowledgeable.

...that Mendoza can be a serviceable ML starter. I’m not really sure he can cut it as a bullpen arm either.

Nippert on the other hand, has some really nice stuff. Nice heat and an impressive 4-pitch assortment that he appears to know how to mix up.

how about some love for Tommy Hunter. He went 9 last night and gave up only 2 runs and only 6 baserunners (all hits, no walks). Because he is a college guy, I think people forget how young he is. His success in AAA so far (very limited, I know) is very encouraging.

was very Darin Erstad v. Johnny Estrada-ish. Dirty, but the Angels probably see it is a hard play. I say earhole that mofo the very next time his ass comes up.

That play was freakin’ awesome. Max was already one of my favorite Rangers to root for, that play was like Greer making that catch in Rogers’ perfect game awesomeness.

All you pansies out there who think that was a dirty play need to go back and rewatch it. it wasn’t dirty at all. Now had Max been kneeling trying to block the plate and Mathis runs over him with his arms at head level then yeah thats dirty. but what mathis did was nothing more than a hard, aggressive, clean play. I would want our guys to do the exact same thing in that situation.

I am not sure if this is accurate, but he seems like a guy who looks very good early in games, and then fades and gives up a big inning late. I know it has happened his last two starts, and I believe a few times before that. I think he is a much better pitcher than his statistics would suggest, although he could ultimately be a bullpen arm.

Mendoza has a 7.24 ERA and has allowed 41 hits and 33 runs as a starter in the Majors (8 games and 27 innings). He also has yet to go past 5 innings in any of those 8 starts.

As a reliever, he has a 0.67 ERA, allowing 7 hits and one run in 11 innings. He’s also struck out 9 as a reliever, as opposed to a measly 8 as a starter.

Now, there’s a huge problem with sample size right there, so take all that for what it’s worth… but those are some interesting trends.

I totally agree that you dont take a starter out of the rotation if they have a couple of bad outing’s. But when said starter has had a number of bad outings, AND hasn’t shown you anything in minors to make you think that he can be a dominant starter then I think you have to look at moving him to a different capacity. its not like we are talking about a guy that showed #1,2,or even3 stuff when he was coming up, he had #5 maybe #4 stuff at best, with a real chance at pitching in the bullpen! I think if you are going to continue to give Mendoza starts then players like Kam Loe should get those starts first. Loe was by no means dominating, but he showed a heck of a lot more potential than Mendoza has.

Josh Hamilton is bringing his old high school coach to pitch to him in the home run derby.

• He’s 71 years old
• He says the only other game he saw at Yankee Stadium was Game 5 of the 1956 World Series (Don Larsen’s perfect game)

Click here for the article

Pretty cool.

Infielder Hank Blalock took batting practice for the first time since he re-injured his wrist during a rehab assignment in Oklahoma on June 22. The timetable now is for Blalock to rehab with Double A Frisco over the All-Star break and then join the team.

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia had another day off with a strained right groin muscle. He hopes to be back today.

Catcher Gerald Laird hit in the cage for the first time on Monday since injuring his left hamstring on June 21. He also jogged and hopes to return after the All-Star Game.

http://www.star-telegram.com/284/story/746563.html

yet another guy who has moved more quickly than I would have expected. After rosters came out this spring I made a spreadsheet for where I expected guys to be in July. I was a little conservative, but still, lots of significant upper level guys advancing faster than I anticipated, and among those advancing more slowly it’s mostly a result of rotation backlogs:

C Davis – MLB/AAA
Duran – MLB/AAA
Boggs – MLB/AAA
Hurley – MLB/AAA
Harrison – MLB/AAA
M Ramirez – MLB/AA
Hunter – AAA/AA
Madrigal – MLB/AA
Vallejo – AA/A+
Feliz – AA/A
M Perez – A-/RK

Garr – AA/AAA
Whittleman – A+/AA
Poveda – A+/AA
Kiker – A+/AA
Main – A/A+
Holland – A/A+
West – A-/A
Font – Inj/A-
N Ramirez – A-/A

but the bottom line on mendoza is that pitchers with his track record and ability are not going to be in a contending teams rotation. seeing if he can stick in the pen and if harrison is ready or nippert can get it together would seem to more productive towards 09 to me.

dont yo-yo top prospects, but a minor league free agent who has 1 pitch and mediocre control?

should lose his spot over last night either. However the problem is that I think Nippert deserves a shot after what he did last night. He saved the ‘pens ass for this series and looked pretty good. His fastball was in the mid 90’s, slider in the mid 80’s, and change in the mid 70’s. That is starter material right there if he can command those three pitches.

Again I think there will be plenty of starts to go around with all the injuries and possible trades coming up. Both could be in the rotation for awhile.