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HOLES IN THE RANGERS’ OFFENSE
Texas lost to the Dodgers last Sunday ending a disappointing week at home with a 2-4 record. The series was the finale of a 13-game stretch against teams above .500, and the Rangers ended the two weeks of play with five wins, seven losses and a rainout. Last week’s performance was particularly disappointing, as the team returned to Arlington on the heels of a two out of three series win in Boston and a most respectable 3-3 week on the road against the Yankees and Red Sox. Texas had averaged more than six runs per game at home, but last week they scored just 14 runs in six games. Ranger pitchers threw shutouts in the two wins.
Texas is now 10-17 against teams that currently are over .500, and 25-10 against teams under .500. The play against the better teams is an alarming trend, one that Texas wanted to reverse last week at home and didn’t. The Rangers have held first place for 40 consecutive days, but with the Angels winning four straight games, that streak could come to an end, as the Ranger lead has been narrowed to two games.
The Texas offense has always been too reliant on the long ball. Last week, the home runs didn’t come, as the team has hit just five home runs over the last eight games. When the home runs stop coming, so do the runs. Ranger hitters are aggressive at the plate, flailing away at bad pitches. They rarely walk, or even work the count to tire out pitchers. It simply is not an offense that moves runners and scores through offensive execution.
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The trouble starts right at the top, where Ian Kinsler is entrenched as the leadoff batter. On the surface, his .260 average and .339 on base percentage appear slightly sub-par, but not lethal. However, he started the season with 20 hits in his first 10 games (42 at-bats), so over the past 52 games, he is hitting an anemic .216. Ouch!
A significant key has to be Josh Hamilton. Certainly, his offensive statistics are down from last year, as he’ll end up with fewer home runs and RBIs at the All-Star break this year, than he had in April last year. He’s still a feared hitter though; one that other teams pitch around. He’s now on the disabled list for the second time, and Michael Young is seeing far fewer good pitches. Andruw Jones, Hank Blalock and Nelson Cruz have been batting behind Young, but they don’t garner the respect from opponents that Hamilton commands. Then there is first baseman Chris Davis, who leads not only the Rangers but the American League with 92 strikeouts. He’s barely hitting .200, and represents another huge hole in an offense that suddenly has a lot of holes.
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However, better times could be on the horizon. Houston is in town this week to finish the rivalry series with Texas. The Rangers swept the Astros over Memorial Day Weekend, to take a commanding lead in the race to win the “Silver Boot”, the trophy awarded to the winner of the Lone Star series. After the Astros, the Rangers complete interleague play with series against the Giants, Diamondbacks, and Padres, also-rans in the National League West. Texas leads all teams in runs scored in interleague play since its inception in 1997, and with four series against sub-.500 National League teams on tap, the Rangers expect their offense to be rejuvenated.
By: Richard W. Humphrey
MLBcenter.com Texas Rangers Correspondent
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