Something Wonderful This Way Comes

As Spring Training dwindles, it's time to really begin to think about the regular season and what promises it may hold. Is it just me, or does 2009 hold a striking resemblance to 2008? The Rangers have made very few acquisitions this year, but, though one might criticize their lack of action in the off season, I think that is for their own strength because expectations will be lower, thus taking the pressure not just off of young guys like Chris Davis and Elvis Andrus, but also veterans like Hank Blalock and Michael Young. It is a known fact that just about everyone does better when pressure isn't high (take the 2004 Rangers for example), but when the pressure mounts, success is harder to come by (now take the 2005 Rangers). This will be an interesting season for the Rangers. One of their biggest investments in recent years, Elvis Andrus, will get his first test, Chris Davis will get to prove how powerful he really is at the big league level, Brandon McCarthy will get another opportunity to show what he's worth (the chip on his shoulder seems to be growing bigger and bigger), and a guy like Matt Harrison will get to show everyone whether or not he's a potential ace. Oh yeah, and David Murphy will...uh... be David Murphy. But this has been news to us since last year (with the exception of Andrus). There are other questions waiting to be answered: Will Josh Hamilton be better than last year? Worse? What about Michael Young? Are his 200 hit days over, or will he rebound again now that his hand is healed? Of course, another question, as stated in my most recent article, is whether Hank Blalock will be any good. I think everyone is extremely eager to find out the answers to these questions. There is still another one though that I was saving for last: What will Ian Kinsler do if he can stay healthy? Kinsler, one of my favorite Rangers, will, barring injury, likely make the All Star team again. As a matter of fact, if he can stay healthy, he could be seriously considered for the AL MVP. There is endless reason to be excited about the individuals on Rangers club this year, but will the team as a whole be any good, and last but not least, will the pitching hold up?

Everyone knows that pitching has always plagued the Rangers and to be honest, it's hard to see the staff shaping up this year. Still, my hope is that they can maintain a level of consistency. All I really ask is that they keep the Rangers in the game, because with our offense, average pitching can take us to contention. My greatest wish is that the Rangers get off to a good start. They need momentum to carry them through the season, and there's nothing like a hot start to generate that momentum. I sincerely hope that sports writers don't clutter the headlines with 'Another Ranger Season Down the Drain,' by May. In the end, it's up to the pitching to decide that. More questions can be raised about the bullpen: Frank Francisco was solid as the closer when C.J Wilson went down last year, but I don't see him as a closer for this team. My guess is that Wilson regains the job before too long. I think that a key player is Derek Turnbow. Turnbow was an all star a few years back, and he is definitely capable of being an effective pitcher. If he can return to his A form this year, I think the pen will be much better off.

There will be some other changes this year that are irrelevant to the players and that most of you are probably aware of. First of all, the Ranger uniform will be red on Saturday home games. I'm not against this, but it seems odd that they would only wear them on Saturday. I suppose it's sort of like the Red Sox wearing their green jerseys on certain occasions. Also, you can say goodbye to the Ranger's manual scoreboard in left field. Now we'll be looking at flashing lights and electronic images. Other news is that 105.3 the Fan will now be your home for Rangers radio broadcasts on weekdays. KRLD will still be broadcasting the weekend games. Finally, for those of you without cable television, you will have to be heavily reliant on your radios because FSNSW will be taking over an all time high 133 games. But hey, baseball was meant for the radio in the first place.

Soon another season will be upon us. Generally the months fly by. The hope is that we'll get one extra month of Ranger baseball this year. It will be interesting and exciting to see how these next several months pan out. I'm pretty sure there will be
some official predictions coming soon, so stay tuned. (P.S. I'd like to thank John Paul for allowing me to ramble about my favorite team during his absence, also, to Jonathan Page for his terrific game reports)