Rangers and Astros Notes
By Simon Gutierrez
Rangers: Looking perhaps to jumpstart what has been a disappointing and unproductive offense so far, the Rangers today called up 23-year-old super prospect Jarrod Saltalamachia. Hitting .291 with 13 RBI in 15 games in Triple-A, expect he’ll be plugged in at 1B, C, and DH in an attempt to shake up an offense that ranks 9th in the league in batting average, 9th in home runs, and holds the dubious distinction of leading the league in strikeouts. Expect some moon shots from Salty going forward, but plenty of swings and misses to go with them.
Losers of 6 straight going into Friday’s contest, the Rangers just plain stink right now. Besides a stagnant offense, the Rangers currently have the worst pitching staff in the American League, ranking last in ERA, last in strikeouts, and leading the league in walks. Key setup men Wes Littleton and Joaquin Benoit have seen their ERAs balloon to 8.64 and 7.56, respectively, but the best stat line comes from Dustin Nippert: a 16.62 ERA, with 16 earned runs in 8.2 innings. Yikes.
Astros: Flip the Rangers’ coin, and you have the Houston Astros. Winners of five straight going into Friday night, they’re just a game under .500. Miguel Tejada has been tearing the cover off the ball of late, hitting .348 so far this year, with 4 HR and 19 RBI. Lance Berkman leads the team with 6 HR and 20 RBI, and Hunter Pence is starting to pick up the pace, lifting his average over the last week and a half to .268. The downside? With the exception of Roy Oswalt, who has struggled, the starting pitching has been overachieving. Expect Shawn Chacon’s 2.77 ERA to come back down to earth, and don’t expect Wandy Rodriguez to continue his hot start once he returns from the DL. Also, closer Jose Valverde has been a mess, as predicted. He’s blown three saves compared to three converted, has an ERA of 8.18, and has given up 16 hits in 11 innings of work. Not the stopper Astros fans were looking for at the back of the bullpen. Anyone miss Brad Lidge yet?
