Tuesday: What the Tuesday Morning Box Score Won't Tell You (and Some of What It Will)

Despite the fact that I usually leave game recaps to Jon (who is much better at them), for particularly interesting games I had an idea about writing an article entitled "What the Box Score Won't Tell You (and Some of What It Will)". I'm going to reserve these articles for games in which the box score just doesn't do the game justice (which, if you want to get technical, is every game, but I'll save this for the extreme circumstances). This game, though the Rangers' fourth loss in a row, was certainly exciting and had a multitude of notable moments. For those who haven't had the chance to read-up on the game yet, here are the links: Recap, Boxscore

So, without further delay, here is the first edition of . . . .

What the Tuesday Morning Box Score Won't Tell You:
**Marlon Byrd got away with a defensive miscue in the first inning (that was not ruled an error) and led to a run
**Aubrey Huff, a Texas native from Mineral Wells, reached base all 5 times even though he struck out once
**On a similar note, Jason Jennings struck out 3 in the seventh but didn't strike out the side
**Koji Uehara (Baltimore's starter) collected the first three strikeouts of his American baseball career
**Elvis Andrus and Taylor Teagarden had key RBIs on groundouts to key a 3-run 6th inning
**The ever-so-atheltic Eddie Guardado fell down while fielding a comebacker in the 8th yet still threw the runner out
**Home plate umpire CD Bucknor upheld his notoriety for a consistently inconsistent strike-zone, frustrating pitchers and batters alike (especially Ian Kinsler, who was nearly ejected)
**Ian Kinsler led off the ninth inning with a clutch double, but followed with a not-so-clutch baserunning blunder on Michael Young's lineout to the wall
**Nick Markakis saved the game for the Birds when he slammed into the wall catching Michael Young's 9th inning screamer with Ian Kinsler on second base and no outs
**Marlon Byrd struck out to end the game with the tying run on third and the winning run on second

And Some of What It Will:
**Chris Davis busted out of an 0 for the season slump with a 3 for 4 performance and 1 HR
**Michael Young slugged his first HR of the year en route to a multi-hit night
**Andruw Jones had a double and a HR in a solid offensive outing as the DH/cleanup
**Rangers pitchers had 9 strikeouts
**There were only 12,184 fans in attendance
**Vicente Padilla and Scott Feldman soiled the sheets

Sunday: Did You Know . . . ? Kris Benson Edition

The arrival of Kris Benson marks yet another minor league deal the Rangers have completed in this blockbuster offseason. I am somewhat familiar with Benson, in that I knew he was once a highly regarded prospect in the Pirate's system. He fell off the map a few years ago, though, so if you are looking to catch up on the Kris Benson "buzz", here you go:

**Benson was the first overall pick out of Clemson University in the 1996 draft, selected by Pittsburgh

**His career statistics are here.

**He last pitched in the big leagues in 2006 with Baltimore, where he posted a 4.56 ERA, 183 IP, 11-12 W-L

**Baseball-reference.com lists his 5 most similar pitchers as Bronson Arroyo, Willard Nixon, Aaron Harang, Carl Pavano, and Adam Eaton. Benson also reminded me of our very own Jason Jennings. What do all these guys have in common? They tend to have average ERAs and eat up innings (when they are healthy). Most of them also have a nasty gopher-ball habit (see next point).

**In his last 2 full seasons in the big leagues (2005-2006 with the Mets and Orioles), Benson gave up an average of 28.5 HRs per season. Uh oh.

**Baltimore traded John Maine to the Mets to get Benson before the 2006 season. Whoops.

**Benson throws the three standard pitches, mixing in a cut fastball every now and then.

**The only things for which he has been ranked top 5 in the league over his career are for sacrifice hits (won't come in useful at all), complete games (ok, so this one isn't bad), losses (sigh), and home runs allowed (no comment).

**He once faced Kosuke Fukudome while the two played for their respective countries in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. You can watch it here.

**His wife is former Playboy model Anna Benson.

I can't recall an offseason with this many minor league signings of veteran players. My take on the situation is that the Rangers don't want to rush any of the talent in the minors in the event of an injury. If you remember, last year we had to resort to guys like Elizardo Ramirez. While guys like Jennings and Benson may not be great, it's better to fall back on them than someone like Ramirez, or to rush guys like Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz before they are ready. Benson's signing is a pretty low risk move all around, so it's hard to feel strongly in either direction. Let's hope he makes an impact for the Rangers or just stays in the minors.

Around the Horn: TR Sullivan has a funny story about Eddie Guardado in Spring Training; Ron Washington gives advice to Sweet Lou and the Cubs about Milton Bradley; Sports Illustrated takes a look at Nolan Ryan's influence so far;

First exhibition game is this Wednesday!

Around the Horn: Tuesday (Afternoon)

We already knew that Eddie Guardado was going to skip out on playing for Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. Yesterday, TR Sullivan posted that Luis Mendoza will not play for Mexico in the Classic either. Too bad for Mexico, they could have used someone who posted an 8.67 ERA and a 3-8 record last year in the majors. Also too bad for Team USA.

Hank Blalock and Marlon Byrd will be introduced to new roles: Blalock as the DH, Byrd as the self proclaimed "I don't know -- fifth outfielder?". Baseball Time in Arlington revisits exercising Blalock's club option, and TR Sullivan thinks that Byrd's knee surgery may be more of an issue than previously let on. Kason Gabbard will also try out new digs in the bullpen, as the starting rotation is already set to be Millwood, Padilla, Feldman, McCarthy, Harrison. I imagine we will have Jason Jennings sighting in the rotation at the first hint of the need for a sixth starter to step in.

Michael Young is sure that "Andruw is going to have a monster year." To be honest, I'm not going to be impressed with anything less.

Frankie Francisco is heading into camp as the top choice the closer's role, from which he will receive considerable competition from CJ Wilson. I like this move, Francisco was dominant when took on that role last year. I was never comfortable with Wilson as the closer anyways; he is much more powerful as a setup/LOOGY type.

Spring Training Updates: TR Sullivan, Jeff Wilson

Last, but not least, one of the highlights of my day yesterday was reading Jamey Newberg's article on why the Rangers are going to be better in 2009. I have to admit that I wasn't too terribly optimistic about our chances for this season, but this article changed my mind.

Around the Horn: Sunday (afternoon)

“The highlight of my career? In '67 with St. Louis, I walked with the bases loaded to drive in the winning run in an inter-squad game in spring training.”--Bob Uecker

This made me smile (regardless of the fact that Uecker didn't play for St. Louis in 1967) and brought to mind all of the positive memories we all have of Spring Training. Baseball Time in Arlington's post on Spring optimism, based on Josh Hamilton's "win 90 games" comment, reminds me of the fresh start associated with the beginning of each school semester or perhaps the start of every new year. No problem seems insurmountable, no deed seems undoable. For a baseball team, phrases like "if we can stay healthy" and "stay focused the whole season" are tossed around with careless excitement. All the Rangers, especially Hamilton, seem to be optimistic about the upcoming season. Here's to hoping their optimism is closer to reality than most people (myself included) seem to think . . .

Jeff Wilson writes about Elvis Andrus (and has a Spring Training update here). Apparently, Andrus is pretty well-spoken and handles the media well:

"When you have teammates like I do, they are superstars you want to follow and want to be in the future. I know it's going to be crazy, but I'm trying to keep it cool and trying to be myself and not change or do anything different."

So far he's not missing the forest for the trees. Great. Let's hope that he plays well enough to stay in the big league forest all season. I think he will be an exciting, if not frustrating, player to watch.

TR Sullivan forecasts answers to some early questions that have been lobbed the Rangers way. No real surprises here. In a different article, he also notes that Jason Jennings could start the season at AA or AAA. This would be a great move for the Rangers and would prevent learning the hard way about Jennings like they did last year:

(screenshot from espn.com)

Scott Lucas of The Ranger Rundown notes that the franchise is 197 games under .500 since the move to Arlington . . .

And that is about it for today. 11 days until Spring Training!

Around the Horn: Friday

Today in Oklahoma the temperature is about 70 degrees. It is days like this that make me wish the baseball season would hurry up and start already. College baseball starts on February 20th, a few days before the Rangers kick off Spring Training.

The new station that will be broadcasting the Rangers games, 105.3 The Fan, is reportedly not as powerful as KRLD and will thus not be able to reach as many Rangers fans. Why do I care about this? KRLD could occcasionally be picked up on clear nights in Norman, but according to the linked article, 105.3 The Fan can not be heard around Oklahoma City. Fortunately, I am obsessed enough that I have XM Radio's MLB package and MLB's Gameday Audio, so I will not be affected. There are, however, quite a few Rangers fans here in Oklahoma that are getting burned, and there are no Rangers radio affiliates in Oklahoma. It would seem natural to have Rangers coverage here in Oklahoma (or at least in the Oklahoma City area), given that the Rangers are the closest MLB franchise to most Oklahoma residents, and the Rangers' AAA team plays in the heart of Oklahoma City.

The rest of the reporting today deals mostly with pitchers who have elbow flexor tendon issues:

Gil LeBreton at the Star Telegram thinks the Rangers should wait on Sheets to recover from surgery to repair his torn right elbow flexor tendon. In other words, restructure the contract to let Sheets go through rehab and workout with the team. And then reap whatever "benefits" Sheets sows during the remainder of his contract. The other option for Sheets, of course, would be to wait until August when he is healthy and sign with a playoff bound team desperate for every possible advantage, like the Yankees. For those who are worried about a pitcher's performance after such a surgery, TR Sullivan added this bittersweet endorsement in his "Friday Happy Hour" notes:

"Andy Pettitte had flexor tendon surgery in August 2004. Came back to go 17-9 with a 2.39 ERA for the Astros in 2005. The 2.39 ERA is the lowest ever in his career. Victor Zambrano had the surgery three years ago though and his career is still not back on track."

Speaking of pitchers recovering from flexor tendon surgery, Jeff Wilson reported the Rangers' signing of Jason Jennings to a minor league deal this morning, and Richard Durrett is wondering why people are so opposed to this deal. I'm with Durrett here; the Rangers are going to need all the help they can get. It's not as if Jennings is the new ace, or like he's going to be blocking any of our pitching prospects. Many fans, I imagine, have soured on Jennings based on his performance last year, and based on the pitcher we traded to make room for Jennings on the roster. All that aside, I don't think the Rangers can lose on this deal. If Jennings pulls a 2008 then just relegate him to a long-relief role or send him down to AAA.