Wins are good. And I feel a lot better this morning at 3-7 than I would have felt at 2-8.
Jim Reeves says that Jon Daniels isn't panicking...of course, even if Daniels were panicking, I can't imagine he (or any other g.m.) would admit it, at this point. But still, the fact that Daniels sat down and talked to Reeves despite the wretched start points out another difference between the current g.m. and the former g.m.
Kat O'Brien notes that the catalysts for the Rangers' worst-in-the-majors offense last night were two guys -- GMJ and Gerald Laird -- who had combined for one start all year.
On the second base situation...the good news is that Ian Kinsler's recovery time is expected to be 3-4 weeks. The bad news is, the Rangers apparently are going to start Mark DeRosa at 2B against righthanders while he's gone, with Jimenez maybe playing against lefties, with DeRosa moving to the outfield.
Jimenez has a career 759 OPS against righthanders, versus a 662 OPS against lefties. DeRosa has a career 653 OPS against righthanders, with an 803 OPS against lefties.
Platooning Jimenez and DeRosa at 2B while Kinsler is out makes sense...but it appears that Buck is going to be platooning them in exactly the wrong way.
Evan Grant also has a few notes this morning, saying that Kevin Mench returned to DFW last night to get a cortisone shot on his toe, which has been bothering him all season.
Grant also says that the strong performances from Bauer and Koronka early in the season have lessened the need to rush Robinson Tejeda to the majors, and Tejeda will make another start for Oklahoma on Sunday before any decision is made as to whether or not to bring him up.
It has been only two starts, but John Koronka has been impressive thusfar, much better than anyone had a right to expect. With the off-days coming up, I'd like to see the Rangers skip Bauer's start and go with Koronka in his place, and give him a few more starts to see if he can continue this run of success.