Exhibition games don't count, but you'd still rather start off the Cactus League season with a win than a loss. And a 13-3 win is particularly nice.
There was some concern that Rich Harden was only hitting 90 mph on his fastball yesterday, but in Jeff Wilson's game story, Harden says that's not a concern. He says he mixing his fastballs at anywhere from 88 to 96 mph usually, and doesn't amp up the velocity until later in the spring.
T.R. Sullivan has notes up from yesterday's game, saying that Tanner Scheppers, Alexi Ogando and Pedro Strop all impressed.
Evan Grant liveblogged the game, and you can see his ongoing thoughts here.
Sullivan's game story focuses on Colby Lewis and Rich Harden, who were "economical" in their short stints.
The S-T's notes include an injury update on a variety of players, including Josh Hamilton, and the news that all of the players on the 40 man roster have now signed contracts, with a salary breakdown for each of the non-arb-eligible guys who have now signed.
Randy Galloway has a column on Hamilton, and how his ability to stay healthy is his biggest issue. I've said this before, but even if Hamilton is a J.D. Drew, a guy who takes longer to heal and seems to always have nagging injuries holding him back and limiting to 130 games per year, he can still be a real asset if he's the guy who performed in 2007 and 2008, rather than 2009.
Wilson has a short item about how five of the Rangers' 9 lefty pitchers in camp are all lockering next to each other.
In off-the-field news, VPs Andrew Silverman and Dale Petroskey are leaving the Ranger organization. Petroskey is noteworthy because, from what I understand, he was someone Nolan Ryan had recruited to join the organization, although his role was " vice president for marketing and community development," and it may be that with the devil finally selling, marketing and community development won't be quite so hard anymore.
And on a separate note, non-Rangers related note, I thought this comment from Stephen Jones, explaining why the Cowboys' tender to Miles Austin meant Austin wasn't going anywhere, was funny:
"How many times have [you] seen another team give up a one and a three?" Cowboys exec Stephen Jones recently said,
He's right, of course...no smart team would give up a #1 and a #3 for a non-elite wide receiver.