Labor Day stuff

Evan Grant has praise for Kevin Millwood and Frankie Francisco for their solid performances yesterday.  Francisco came in and bailed out Jamey Wright who, once again, struggled.

Wright has now allowed 15 runs in 15 innings for the month of August, he has a 6.15 ERA since June 1 (which understates the damage he's created, as he's allowed a lot of unearned runs), and he's allowed 12 of 16 inherited runners to score.

And yet, Ron Washington still keeps sticking Wright in there in close games.

At this point, Wright shouldn't be getting anything other than garbage time.  I'd rather see Joaquin Benoit and Warner Madrigal in the 8th inning of a close game.  I'd rather see Kam Loe or Luis Mendoza or Wes Littleton (even though I think the organization has made it clear that Littleton and Loe, who are both out of options after this season, aren't in their plans going forward).

There's two reasons for that.  Number 1, all the guys I mentioned have a chance to have a future with the Rangers as a middle- or long-reliever, which I don't think Wright does. 

But secondly, Wright is toast.  He's never been a good pitcher, but for some reason, the organization got infatuated with him last season, and after a bad stint as a starter, decided he had a future as a rubber-armed reliever.  Washington rode him hard early in the season, and either because he's worn out or isn't good (most likely, a combination of both), he'd been terrible the past three months.

There's zero reason for Jamey Wright to be coming into a close game right now.  None.  The fact that he was brought in last night just gives credence to those who believe Washington can't manage a bullpen to save his life.

In other news...Grant also mentions that Taylor Teagarden is coming up today, which gives the Rangers three catchers.  No indication as to who else may come up, other than Bill White, who will return later this week when Bakersfield's season is up.  In a blog entry last night, Grant says that German Duran is also coming up, but his article (which was updated after the blog entry was posted) says just Teagarden and White.

David Murphy is going to see Keith Meister today to see if he can return from the disabled list later this week without risking more injury to his sprained knee.  With the Rangers committed to playing Nelson Cruz every day, I'd just as soon see Murphy sit much the rest of the way, as it would allow for more playing time for guys like Brandon Boggs, Teagarden, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (the latter to at the DH slot).