West Coast wind-down continues.....Seattle 9/19-21

[donaldson79]

What I'd like to see the rest of the season is: (1) Gallo to continue to impress, although I sense he's hit the wall a little bit mentally. It's been a long season. (2) Chirinos continue to work at b/c a better catcher. Been quite pleased with him this season already. (3) Martin keep throwing like he has for about the last month and make us try and forget his 1st half. (4) Calhoun get regular time, and let it be what it is.

 

[BULLPEN FAILURE]

What I'd like to see the rest of the season is: (1) Gallo to continue to impress, although I sense he's hit the wall a little bit mentally. It's been a long season. (2) Chirinos continue to work at b/c a better catcher. Been quite pleased with him this season already. (3) Martin keep throwing like he has for about the last month and make us try and forget his 1st half. (4) Calhoun get regular time, and let it be what it is.

Not to be a dick here, but there's 12 games left. In my opinion that's a small enough sample size that it won't (and shouldn't) impact anyone's stock, good or bad.

 

[donaldson79]

Not to be a dick here, but there's 12 games left. In my opinion that's a small enough sample size that it won't (and shouldn't) impact anyone's stock, good or bad.

OK

 

[DT LUNA]

OK

Even tho it's only 12 games left, I want to see each of them excel and finish the season feeling good about themselves going forward.

 

[Duane1952]

I think Cashner, Mazara, Gallo, DeShields, and Elvis should all be given some consideration for most pleasant surprise.

Odor for biggest disappointment.

I would add Chirinos and Claudio has pleasant surprises.

 

[BULLPEN FAILURE]

Even tho it's only 12 games left, I want to see each of them excel and finish the season feeling good about themselves going forward.

Same.

Although, I miscounted. It's 13 games left.

 

[donaldson79]

I would add Chirinos and Claudio has pleasant surprises.

Claudio has been a wonderful eye-opening and unexpected shocker on the hill. For crying-out loud, I didn't think the guy was a ML caliber pitcher 3 years ago, and now he's closing games for us.....think I may have just missed on this fella a tad.

 

[DT LUNA]

Claudio has been a wonderful eye-opening and unexpected shocker on the hill. For crying-out loud, I didn't think the guy was a ML caliber pitcher 3 years ago, and now he's closing games for us.....think I may have just missed on this fella a tad.

It's that jiration wind up

 

[Nightcrawler]

In going back to look at the season prediction thread that I put up before the season started I see I missed in a lot of areas. There were two questions that I would like to see what you guys think about as the season comes to a close. They are:

Which player will be the most pleasant surprise this season?


Which player will be the most disappointing surprise this season?



The players picked before the season started were Profar, Mazara, DeShields and Rua for the most pleasant surprise.

The ones picked for most disappointing were Hamels/Choo, Cashner, Odor and Choo again. I wonder who that was that picked Cashner?

I picked deshields for pleasant surprise and Choo for most disappointing.

My really bad picks were roogie as team MVP and Gallo to get only 50 at bats.

Beltres injuries and the Darvish trade really destroyed my predictions.

 

[saddles]

 

[donaldson79]

I picked deshields for pleasant surprise and Choo for most disappointing.

In order to be disappointed, you had to have expectations of success for him in the first place. You've never expressed anything other than what a dismal player Choo is.

 

[jta4437]

Disappointing players: Beltre (injuries), Napoli, Gomez (injuries), Maz, Profar, Perez, Odor, Lucroy, Bush, Dyson

Surprises: DDJ, Gallo, Chirinos, Andrus, Cashner

Everyone else was about par for the course for what I expected

Welcome to the era of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 30-home-run hitter

 

[Nightcrawler]

In order to be disappointed, you had to have expectations of success for him in the first place. You've never expressed anything other than what a dismal player Choo is.

Not exactly.

I've always said how disappointing his contract is and that he's never played up to it. Throw in the fact that he seems to always be injured and he could definitely be considered a bust from the stand point of what we paid him and what the front office expected. He's been a decent player for us ( whenever he's actually on the field)

The Choo and Fielder contracts really seem to be crippling this team. I can't wait until both of those guys are off the books.

 

[donaldson79]

Disappointing players: Beltre (injuries), Napoli, Gomez (injuries), Maz, Profar, Perez, Odor, Lucroy, Bush, Dyson

Surprises: DDJ, Gallo, Chirinos, Andrus, Cashner

Everyone else was about par for the course for what I expected

Welcome to the era of the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 30-home-run hitter

I try not to be disappointed in guys who get hurt. I usually think of a player who disappoints as one who falls well below expectations due to his production.

You bring up a couple of guys I had not considered disappointing, yet they certainly were. That being Lucroy and Dyson. I guess, out of sight, out of mind.

Agree with ya 100% on guys who came through this season, and I liked the read re: Mr Odor as well.

 

[BULLPEN FAILURE]

Amazingly, every team ahead of the Rangers lost last night (or was idle), so they actually gain a half game (4.5 back) and lose none of the Magic Number.

Just think if the bullpen didn't have a collective 21 blown saves.

2017 Texas Rangers Player Pitching Relief Stats | Blown Saves

 

[donaldson79]

Not exactly.

I've always said how disappointing his contract is and that he's never played up to it. Throw in the fact that he seems to always be injured and he could definitely be considered a bust from the stand point of what we paid him and what the front office expected. He's been a decent player for us ( whenever he's actually on the field)

Thanks for clarifying.

But for me, I can't and don't hold it against a player when the team pays him too much. That faux pas lies 100% at the feet of management.

 

[saddles]

In order to be disappointed, you had to have expectations of success for him in the first place. You've never expressed anything other than what a dismal player Choo is.

When I was answering those two questions I answered based on the general consensus of the fans and not how I felt personally. That is how I asked the questions as well, but maybe at the time I didn't make that clear enough. That is why I chose Maz as the most likely to be pleasantly surprising even though I expected good things from him. The reverse was true for me in choosing Cashner to be the opposite.

 

[saddles]

Amazingly, every team ahead of the Rangers lost last night (or was idle), so they actually gain a half game (4.5 back) and lose none of the Magic Number.

Just think if the bullpen didn't have a collective 21 blown saves.

2017 Texas Rangers Player Pitching Relief Stats | Blown Saves

What I don't know though is how many of the other teams could point to something like that and say they should have been better too.

 

[BULLPEN FAILURE]

What I don't know though is how many of the other teams could point to something like that and say they should have been better too.

Most are in comparable positions.

 

[saddles]

I really like Crouse better than most any draft pick we have made in quite some time. Seise seems like a very good pick as well. I am not a fan of Bubba Thompson though.

2017 Texas Rangers Prospect Year In Review: The Draftees

I think the most notable thing about Thompson’s first dip into pro ball was the way he was handled by the organization. He was played at a rate that I would call “a bit more than sporadically.” He played 30 of the rookie team’s 56 games. He started the first two games of the season, then again a couple days later, then he spent the next couple weeks at the team facility in Peoria. He only played 6 games in July. Then in August through the end of the season the team had him playing three days, then sitting three days, then playing another three days, etc. There could be a number of reasons why Thompson was handled this way, and I think of the realistic possibilities, the least likely is that he showed up to Arizona out of shape and in need of conditioning drills in extended spring training.

In the 30 games he played Bubba put up respectable offensive numbers, slashing .257/.317/.434 with 3 homers. Pre-draft there were questions about his power but now it’s being graded as a 50 by many parties. He was also 5 for 5 stealing bases and played a decent CF. Bubba won some folks over with a few charming interviews after the draft and looks like he’ll be a fun guy to watch over the next few years. I expect him to be held in Arizona to start next season then shipped off to Spokane when the short-season fires up.

Three picks after Thompson the Rangers selected SS Chris Seise out of West Orange HS in Winter Garden, FL, alma mater of Kole Enright, blegh. Tall and lean, Seise is another good athlete who should stick at the position the Rangers drafted him. Unlike Thompson, however, the Rangers challenged Seise in his rookie season, playing him in 51 games with a promotion to Spokane midway through. Seise dominated the Rookie League, posting a .336 average with a .904 OPS. Upon his promotion things got a little harder, and Seise’s slashline was all in the 2’s for Spokane, but it’s a league where he was over 2 and a half years younger than the average player. He should get another spin through Spoke in 2018.

With their second rounder the Rangers selected RHP Hans Crouse and signed him for about 500k over-slot. Crouse pretty much immediately proved to be steal and a favorite, at least for the time being, due to his stuff and the results and the fact that he seems like he’s kind of a weirdo.


Described as “animated” and “openly competitive” on the mound (maybe just a little), Crouse brings the noise with a mid-to-high 90s fastball that should tick up a few more mph as he matures and adds muscle. Simply put, he was way, way better than the rookieball competition he faced. In 20 innings he allowed 7 hits and 1 earned run, striking out 30 of the 74 batters he faced. Overpowering.


He’s got work to do, though. The curveball, at times, is a lights-out big bender, and at other times it’s a slow slider without much movement that would get crushed at the upper levels. He’s got a changeup that’s not out of the developmental stage. And the delivery needs work, as it’s wild and at times flailing, with a big leg kick and a lot of whipping action. The command should improve as he wrangles that in. Overall he’s an exciting arm and could already be the Rangers #2 pitching prospect with a profile that carries a ton of upside.