The Rangers take on the Detroit Tigers. Will the Rangers finish at 500 or better this season? That is the question that lingers on my mind right now.
Tigers: The Tigers will give Willis his shot at a start down the stretch after he spent most of the summer working on his command and delivery in a Minor League stint. He went from Class A Lakeland up through Triple-A Toledo and back to the big leagues, where a pair of simulated games earned him this test. How he fares could determine his course this off season towards next year, the second season in the three-year contract he signed in December.
Rangers: Padilla came off the disabled list on Tuesday and beat the Mariners, 7-3, holding them to one unearned run in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits and a walk while striking out five. He is 3-2 with a 5.01 ERA in eight starts since the All-Star break while dealing with inflammation in his neck and a strained left hamstring. He is 3-4 with a 4.57 ERA in 11 starts at home. He is 3-2 with a 4.63 ERA in six starts against the Tigers in his career.
Dontrelle Willis is 0-1 in five four starts this season (5 games), with the last one getting hammered by the Cleveland Indians back on June 9th. He has played for the AAA team, the Toledo Mud Hens, starting six times and going 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA. He pitched a total of 28.1 innings and still walked 14 batters.
He also pitched some A ball with the Lakeland Flying Tigers. He pitched 28 innings there and went 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA. He walked 11 batters there.
Willis has an ERA of 10.32 coming into this game. This is the same Willis, who for Florida, went 22-10 in 2005 with 7 complete games and 5 shutouts.
Notable Rangers:
As a team, the current roster is 10-44 with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 HRs, and 6 RBIs. This includes 15 at-bats from pitchers, so the hitters are 8-29 which is a .276 batting average. Padilla is one of the pitchers with a hit, and his was a triple... just an FYI.
Padilla is 13-7 with a 4.79 ERA this season. Detroit hits Padilla for a .272 batting average and have clocked 8 HRs in 35 career innings. That is one HR every 4.1 innings. The current roster is 55-170 (.324 BA) with 9 doubles, 14 HRs and 30 RBIs. The HR ratio here is 1 HR every 12 at-bats. Detroit seems to get the game on against Padilla.
Tigers to Watch:
Gary Sheffield: 16-42 (.381 BA) with a double, 3 HRs, and 6 RBIs
Edgar Renteria: 8-16 (.500 BA) with a double, 2 HRs, and 6 RBIs
Magglio Ordonez: 4-11 (.364 BA) with 2 doubles, a HR, and 2 RBIs
Ramon Santiago: 6-11 (.545 BA) with a double, a HR, and 4 RBIs
Today's baseball card is Frank Catalanotto. He was a good player in his "hay-day", but now... well, I just don't think he is as good as he once was. Still an OK player, but chances are, he's not the deal maker that gets you a World Series Title.
Trivia: What do Wright, Vicente Padilla, Josh Rupe, Frank Catalanotto, Ramon Vazquez, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, and Milton Bradley have in common?
They're the only eight players out of the Rangers' 29 active big leaguers who didn't play for Oklahoma or Frisco this year. 
Forecast: Well, this one seems a little one-sided to me... like Padilla is not going to last six innings. I am not even feeling good about him lasting five innings. The Tigers have his name and number (which is #44). Detroit takes this one with a score of 7-2.
Home Plate
The Rangers take on the Detroit Tigers. Will the Rangers finish at 500 or better this season? That is the question that lingers on my mind right now.
Forecast: Well, this one seems a little one-sided to me... like Padilla is not going to last six innings. I am not even feeling good about him lasting five innings. The Tigers have his name and number (which is #44). Detroit takes this one with a score of 7-2.
0 Random Thoughts:
Post a Comment