Buck Showalter suspended four games, Vicente Padilla five and Scott Feldman six games… it makes things a little interesting. Showalter and Padilla have both started their suspensions. As to who starts on Sunday, it is still very much in the air, but I have found that it most likely will be Tejeda.
Sunday: Robinson Tejeda (1-3) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (11-5)
Robinson Tejeda will come in and pitch this game for the Rangers. He’s thrown 19 1/3 innings this season and has given up 21 runs for an ERA of 9.78. He’s started five games for the Rangers and seriously only looked good twice, his Ranger debut against Tampa Bay and a game at Houston. The rest of the time, he’s been scored upon really hard, normally lasting three innings. He looked great for Philadelphia last year, posting an ERA of 3.57 in 26 appearances (13 starts). The minors this year, Tejeda has done well. He is 6-2 with a 3.15 ERA over 80 innings of work. He’s only given up 61 hits, but 42 walks for a WHIP of 1.29. He’s looking good, but so is Rheinecker who has an ERA of 2.50 in the minors over 72 innings. Danks still doesn’t seem ready; he is 3-4 with a 4.63 ERA. Kameron Loe is not ready, but hopefully he will be by September (although time is starting to run short). ERA is 8.47 and he is 1-1 in the minors. Still, I would be surprised to not see Rhino, Loe, and Danks come September. Anyway, now onto Bonderman… he has three career starts and is 2-0 against the Rangers in those starts. He averages nearly seven innings when he pitches against us and sports a 4.50 ERA against the Rangers. His ERA this season is 3.69 and he has a WHIP of 1.18 (1.35 against the Badges). He is better on the road than at home, with an ERA of 4.54 and a record of 4-4, so the Rangers have a better chance with him now. His last three starts have been no-decisions for him, but two the Tigers have won. Four of his five last decisions have been wins. He is also 3-1 since the All-Star break and his ERA has been higher (4.30), although batters continue to hit the same average (.237). I guess they are just making more of what they get. He hasn’t pitched against the Rangers this season, but has faced Carlos Lee and Matt Stairs this year. Stairs has a homerun and three RBIs this season against him. For his career, Stairs is 9-18 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs. Lee is 4-16 with a solo homerun. Hairston is 4-5 with 3 RBIs. Young has a homerun (and is 3-10 overall) and Blalock is 3-11 with an RBI. Current Rangers bat .304 against Jeremy. And that makes it hard to not pick the Rangers, despite Tejeda not doing well this year in the majors. If anything, this could be a slugfest. Forecast: Rangers drop a close game while getting pounded 10-8. Watch-clock: Tex is a career 0-9 against Bonderman.
Close – But NO PRIZE:
The Rangers have finished less than ten games behind 1st NINE times and didn’t make it the playoffs: 1974 (5), 1977 (8 – won 94 games that year), 1978 (5), 1979 (5), 1981 (5), 1986 (5), 1993 (8), 1995 (4.5), and 2004 (3). The 94 wins in 1977 is second most in club history.
Sunday: Robinson Tejeda (1-3) vs. Jeremy Bonderman (11-5)
Robinson Tejeda will come in and pitch this game for the Rangers. He’s thrown 19 1/3 innings this season and has given up 21 runs for an ERA of 9.78. He’s started five games for the Rangers and seriously only looked good twice, his Ranger debut against Tampa Bay and a game at Houston. The rest of the time, he’s been scored upon really hard, normally lasting three innings. He looked great for Philadelphia last year, posting an ERA of 3.57 in 26 appearances (13 starts). The minors this year, Tejeda has done well. He is 6-2 with a 3.15 ERA over 80 innings of work. He’s only given up 61 hits, but 42 walks for a WHIP of 1.29. He’s looking good, but so is Rheinecker who has an ERA of 2.50 in the minors over 72 innings. Danks still doesn’t seem ready; he is 3-4 with a 4.63 ERA. Kameron Loe is not ready, but hopefully he will be by September (although time is starting to run short). ERA is 8.47 and he is 1-1 in the minors. Still, I would be surprised to not see Rhino, Loe, and Danks come September. Anyway, now onto Bonderman… he has three career starts and is 2-0 against the Rangers in those starts. He averages nearly seven innings when he pitches against us and sports a 4.50 ERA against the Rangers. His ERA this season is 3.69 and he has a WHIP of 1.18 (1.35 against the Badges). He is better on the road than at home, with an ERA of 4.54 and a record of 4-4, so the Rangers have a better chance with him now. His last three starts have been no-decisions for him, but two the Tigers have won. Four of his five last decisions have been wins. He is also 3-1 since the All-Star break and his ERA has been higher (4.30), although batters continue to hit the same average (.237). I guess they are just making more of what they get. He hasn’t pitched against the Rangers this season, but has faced Carlos Lee and Matt Stairs this year. Stairs has a homerun and three RBIs this season against him. For his career, Stairs is 9-18 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs. Lee is 4-16 with a solo homerun. Hairston is 4-5 with 3 RBIs. Young has a homerun (and is 3-10 overall) and Blalock is 3-11 with an RBI. Current Rangers bat .304 against Jeremy. And that makes it hard to not pick the Rangers, despite Tejeda not doing well this year in the majors. If anything, this could be a slugfest. Forecast: Rangers drop a close game while getting pounded 10-8. Watch-clock: Tex is a career 0-9 against Bonderman.
Close – But NO PRIZE:
The Rangers have finished less than ten games behind 1st NINE times and didn’t make it the playoffs: 1974 (5), 1977 (8 – won 94 games that year), 1978 (5), 1979 (5), 1981 (5), 1986 (5), 1993 (8), 1995 (4.5), and 2004 (3). The 94 wins in 1977 is second most in club history.
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