Game 7: Rangers (4-2) vs. Mariners (4-3)

The final game of the series and homestand.

Vargas has started nine games against the Rangers over the past three years, going 3-4 with a 4.53 ERA, which means he gives up a run every other inning. Not good for the mariners. Vargas has a 1-0 record right now and has already started two games. He has a 2.31 ERA but a career 4.49 ERA... so I'm going to go with his career on this one and say that he did a good job against the A's in both of his starts.

Rangers vs. Vargas:

• Nelson Cruz hits .313 (5-16) with 3 homeruns and 4 RBIs
• Ian Kinsler hits .400 (8-20) with 4 doubles, a homerun, and 3 RBIs
• Michael Young hits .417 (10-24) with a double and 3 RBIs
• Mike Napoli hits .348 (8-23) with 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, and 2 RBIs

The Rangers see the ball well when Vargas pitches, batting .275 (current roster) with 9 homeruns and 18 RBIs (which really should be higher, but I think Vargas is holding a lot of solo homeruns in this mix).

Holland has a 4.50 ERA right now after one start, but I believe that this year he will finish with an ERA under 4.00, as last year he tossed a 3.95 ERA, I think this year will be better than that. Over the last three years, he has a 5-1 record against Seattle with a 3.17 ERA and has held the M's to a .226 batting average during that time.

Mariners vs. Holland:

• Chone Figgins bats .313 (5-16) with a double and 2 RBIs
• Frankling Gutierrez bats .286 (4-14) with a double
• Justin Smoak bats .364 (4-11) with a double and RBI
• Ichiro Suzuki bats .240 (6-25) with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs

Forecast: I like the Rangers in this one. I have to admit, Joe Nathan is starting to make me nervous, but I will try to keep the faith in our closer to do his job. Rangers take this one, 6-2.

Game 3: Rangers (1-1) vs. White Sox (1-1)

Rangers drop one in the ninth... gggrrrrr.

So, we have the third and final game of this three game series. The Sox send out Gavin Floyd, while the Rangers send out Matt Harrison to the mound.

Over the past three seasons, Floyd has a 5.06 ERA in April, but throws well against the Rangers with a 3.04 ERA and a 2-2 record... in his career six starts, he is 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA. His ERA has gone up in each of his last three seasons, and has a losing season in last two.

Rangers vs. Floyd:

• Adrian Beltre: .238 (5-21) with a double and 2 RBIs
• Nelson Cruz: .111 (1-9) with 3 strikeouts.
• Josh Hamilton: .600 (6-10) with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs
• Ian Kinsler: .231 (3-13) with a homerun and 2 RBIs.
• Michael Young: .267 (4-15) with two doubles and a RBI.

The current Rangers roster bats .265 (30-113) with 8 doubles, a triple (Julio Borbon), 3 homeruns (Kinsler, Murphy, and Napoli) and 13 RBIs.

The Rangers offense is struggling coming out of the gate, Cruz is 1-6, Napoli 1-7, Andrus 1-8 and Beltre 0-7... for a combined 3-28 or a .107 batting average. 

So, considering the current trend vs. historical trend... Cruz will continue to struggle tonight. And it doesn't look great for Beltre, Andrus, and Napoli. 

Harrison is a career 2-0 against the Sox in five starts. He has a 3.54 ERA against Chicago and is coming off a 3.39 ERA season where he pulled down a 14-9 record. 

Sox vs. Harrison:

• Paul Konerko: .091 (1-11) with a double and a RBI
• Brent Lillibridge: .300 (3-10) with a RBI
• Brent Morel: .500 (2-4) with a triple and a homerun. 3 RBIs.
• Alexi Ramirez: .333 (3-9) with a RBI
• Alex Rios: .429 (3-7) with a RBI

Forecast: Harrison is going to have to pitch one heck of a game to keep these Rangers in this one. He's the right pitcher for this job, but the main concern is will our hitting show up? I can't see those four staying in this opening slump for terribly long, but today is not going to be the day they break out of it. Look for a low scoring game, with the White Sox taking it away from the Rangers once again. Score 3-2.

Game 2: Rangers vs. White Sox

Rangers won the opener 3-2, just like I didn't predict ;) but I did predict the win, so that should count for something.

This time it is Chicago's Jake Peavy against the Rangers Derek Holland.

Peavy went 1-2 with an 8.78 ERA in the preseason. Good for the Rangers. Peavy hasn't done well when pitching in April over the past several seasons, which is another good thing for the Rangers. In fact, the previous three seasons, Peavy is 0-2 with an 8.80 ERA... I'm not sure this is good coaching, putting Peavy up against the Rangers to open his season.

Rangers vs. Peavy

• Adrian Beltre is batting .235 (8-34) with 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, and 5 RBIs. He's fanned more times than hit, with 9 strikeouts.
• Yorvit Torrealba is batting .241 (7-29) with a double, 2 homeruns, and 3 RBIs.
• Josh Hamilton is batting .500 (6-12) with 2 homeruns and 4 RBIs.
• Mitch Moreland is batting .750 (3-4) with 2 homeruns and 5 RBIs.
• Mike Napoli is batting 1.000 (1-1) with 3 walks. I just thought that was interesting, so I had to share it.

As a team, the current roster is batting .289 (33-114) with 6 doubles, 8 homeruns, and 20 RBIs. There shouldn't be any problem with the Ranger's offense in this game.

Derek Holland is a career 27-22 with a 4.73 ERA. When he goes the distance, he shuts them down. He has 5 complete games in 63 starts, all five are shutouts. He doesn't have much success with the White Sox (11.05 ERA; 0-1 record in two starts). The Sox hit him good with a .364 batting average and have gone yard 3 times in 7.1 innings. The Ranger fan in me says this will change. Those numbers are from last year. Hum.

On a good note, Holland is going to be better than those numbers indicate. The current roster is batting .286 (10-35) against him (still, not much better than the Rangers vs. Peavy) with a double and a homerun. Holland's stock is going up, and I don't think Peavy's stock is going up, but going down. Looking at strickly the numbers I have seen, I like the Rangers in this one.

Forecast: Rangers over the Sox, 7-4. Holland goes six plus innings, Nathan gets another save.

Opening Day Roster 2012

RH Pitchers: 

• Mike Adams
• Yu Darvish (SP)
• Scott Feldman
• Neftali Feliz (SP)
• Colby Lewis (SP)
• Mark Lowe
• Joe Nathan (CP)
• Alexi Ogando
• Koji Uehara

LH Pitchers: 

• Matt Harrison (SP)
• Derek Holland (SP)
• Robbie Ross

Catchers: 

• Mike Napoli
• Yorvit Torrealba

Infielders: 

• Elvis Andrus (SS)
• Adrian Beltre (3B)
• Alberto Gonzalez
• Ian Kinsler (2B)
• Mitch Moreland (1B)
• Brandon Snyder
• Michael Young (DH)

Outfielders: 

• Nelson Cruz 
• Craig Gentry
• Josh Hamilton 
• David Murphy

Rangers Agree to Terms with Nelson Cruz

The Rangers have signed outfielder Nelson Cruz to a two-year contract, covering the final two seasons of his arbitration eligibility.  Various reports indicate it’s a $16 million deal, with added incentives that could pay another $500,000. The 31-year-old will be a free agent at the conclusion of the 2013 season. 

The Rangers have one remaining arbitration case, catcher Mike Napoli.

The Royals agree to terms with Alex Gordon.