Friday morning, and the Rangers are still in first place in the A.L. West.
They are also 3-2 on this road trip, a trip that, at this time last week, we were afraid could end up crippling their season.
Things aren't bad...
Evan Grant has a piece on Francisco Cordero transitioning to a setup role. Ultimately, I don't think it matters if Cordero is the setup guy and Akinori Otsuka is the closer, or vice versa...they both need to pitch well...
Kat O'Brien touches on the Rangers not getting to use the DH this weekend, and has this unintentionally amusing line:
Nevin is capable of playing first, third or even catcher, though he is strongest at first. But as much as the Rangers like Nevin's bat, they don't want to lose first baseman Mark Teixeira's offense or defense.
If the Rangers "really like" Nevin's bat, I think they need to up their standards a little.
Nevin, incidentally, is hitting a Barajas-esque .208/.312/.375 on the season against righthanders. And he has been the cleanup hitter in every game of the year.
The Rangers need to do something about the DH spot.
Richard Durrett had a chat session yesterday, and this was the item that jumped out at me:
And when [Kinsler] is ready, I'm not so sure he automatically returns as the starter. He'll have to compete with DeRosa. As great a start Kinsler had, do you want to mess with making a move now that DeRosa appears settled there? Probably not right now. Should be interesting to watch.
I don't understand this thought process. How is Kinsler going to "compete"? By starting at second one day a week? And DeRosa isn't necessarily "settled" in at second base...he's been the starter for 16 games...
DeRosa is also hitting .263/.317/.342 in his last 11 games, so it isn't as if he's currently carrying the offense...