Saturday a.m. Rangers things

Much buzz this morning about Yu Darvish's outing last night, more than you'd normally expect to get from a 6 inning, 3 run performance in spring training. Darvish did have 11 strikeouts against just one walk (although he also hit a batter), and showed the impressive stuff that has had scouts swooning over him all spring.

The pitching performance that may have been more important in terms of finalizing the Opening Day roster was Robbie Ross's two inning shutout performance. With Michael Kirkman, Mark Lowe, and Koji Uehara all struggling this spring (although Jon Daniels dismissed yesterday the notion that either Lowe or Uehara's jobs were in jeopardy), and Yoshinori Tateyama having a couple of rough outings in a row late in the spring, the path may be clear for Ross to make the team out of camp.

T.R. Sullivan has his game story at the Rangers' website.

Evan Grant has his game report from yesterday's game at the DMN blog.

Richard Durrett has his "rapid reaction" at the ESPN Dallas blog.

Kevin Sherrington calls Darvish's performance yesterday "impressive."

Durrett takes a closer look at Darvish's outing.

Jeff Wilson has a story on how Darvish has fit in with his teammates off the field and in the clubhouse.

Evan Grant says the Rangers appear prepared to put Josh Hamilton in centerfield, although that still leaves open the question of who is going to fill the final two bench spots. One would assume that Craig Gentry would get one spot, as the team's backup centerfielder, but Gentry doesn't have the job locked down, apparently.

Of course, Hamilton got pulled from the game last night with a tight groin, and is listed as day-to-day, so who knows what will ultimately happen.

Durrett has a lengthy piece on Julio Borbon's spring, including quotes from Borbon about needing to improve his focus and what he hopes to do the rest of the way before Opening Day.

While we suggested yesterday that Andres Blanco could end up back in Texas as the Rangers utility infielder, that's apparently not going to happen, as he's signed a minor league deal with the Phillies.

Tanner Scheppers is staying in the major league camp for now, although he isn't a candidate for the Opening Day roster, to work with Mike Maddux and Andy Hawkins on his mechanics.

The S-T's notes talk about Hamilton in centerfield and the search for a righthanded bench bat.

The S-T talks about the Kentucky/Louisville rivalry with Robbie Ross.