Ariel Jurado has had a nice season for AA Frisco, putting up a 3.28 ERA for the Roughriders, albeit with just 5.1 Ks per 9. With the Rangers thin on starting depth, Jurado has been pressed into duty in the major league rotation, and had respectable results his previous two outings, albeit, again, with a low K rate.
Today, against one of the best teams in baseball, Jurado got knocked around. 6 runs allowed in 5 innings of work, including 4 home runs, with 3 walks against 1 K. Jurado’s command was off and he was leaving his pitches up in the zone, and when that happens, he can get hammered.
Matt Moore came into the game to start the sixth, even though Jurado was at just 73 pitches, and was fine. 3 innings of work, 3 Ks, 0 walks, a loan run allowed on a Neil Walker home run. He’s gotten his ERA down to 7.43 on the season. Maybe someone will take a flyer on him at the end of August as an extra long man arm for September and the Rangers can save a little money. The Rangers, after all, did something similar with Jeff Fassero, having an equally bad year as Moore is this year, back in 1999.
The Rangers scored a pair of runs on a Shin-Soo Choo double, and the other run on a Jurickson Profar home run. For Rangers fans, the highlights of the game were probably seeing Choo weirdly get hit by J.A. Happ twice, and Joey Gallo make a terrific throw to home plate to gun down a runner.
Nomar Mazara will be back in the next few days, which will probably move Gallo out of right field, but that seems like the best fit for him long-term. His arm is a weapon, and he’s clearly a better defender than Mazara, though with the expansive left field in their home park the Rangers generally prefer to have the corner outfielder with more range play left. But at some point the Rangers are going to have to decide on long-term homes for guys, and I’m not sure that Gallo doesn’t end up in right field when the dust settles.
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