SERIES PREVIEW: Texas Rangers (54-54) @ LAA Angels (55-52)

by user ASwaff

Business First: I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Rod Barajas has gotten less playing time the last few days. The Texas Rangers sort of unofficially shifted primary catching responsibilities from Barajas to Gerald Laird in another effort to get more going from the offense. Laird is batting almost 100 points higher than Barajas (.351 to .255) and has two more doubles and just four fewer homeruns in 30 fewer games played.

Laird has started four out of the last five games, and has responded well to the increased role. In his last four games, he’s 7-17 (.412) with four runs, four RBI and a homer.

Kameron Loe does not appear to be getting any closer to returning to the big club. He has had an extended stay in the minor leagues because, despite the fact that he is fully healthy, he is not pitching anywhere near the level the Rangers need him to. He had a start tonight for the Triple A Oklahoma Red Hawks, and struggled yet again. Loe lasted just 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits. The outing raised his minor league ERA to 7.84. Thank goodness for Kip Wells.

The Lowdown: The Rangers are coming off a big series win against the Minnesota Twins, recovering to take the final two games of the series after losing the first game 15-2. They have now won three out of their last four, but are 3-7 in their last 10 games. Texas is currently third in the AL West, three games behind the first place Oakland A’s and 1.5 games behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

LAA went 19-7 in July, but that was mostly due to a magnificent start of the month. They stumbled a bit at the end, winning just six of their last 12. They are also coming off a hard-fought series loss at the hands of the Athletics in which two games were decided by one run, and the other was decided by two runs.

Texas has struggled in recent years against the Angels, and this season has been no exception. They are 2-4 against LAA this season. This four game series starts a crucial stretch of games for the Rangers. After four in Los Angeles, they head to Oakland for three games, followed by four games at Seattle and then two more at home against the Angels.

Players to Watch:

Gerald Laird - Kind of a no-brainer. I said over a month ago that Laird was on the verge of becoming the regular catcher over Barajas. It just took the Rangers longer to respond to his great hitting than I thought it would. The best thing is that, unlike with most hitting catchers, the Rangers don’t lose anything on defense with Laird. He has a .987 fielding percentage, and has thrown out 15 of 29 would-be base stealers. He’s one to keep an eye on to see if he continues to respond to the call of primary catcher.

Mark Teixeira - As mentioned in the last game wrap-up, Tex has a streak of 26 consecutive games reaching base safely. During the last 26 games, he’s batting .333 (to raise his overall average from .268 to .283) with nine homeruns, 21 RBI and 19 runs scored. He has hit safely in nine out the last ten games. Rangers fans have been waiting all season for his bat to come alive, and we’ve made more than our fair shair of premature predictions about when that would happen. But, this one seems to be the real deal.

Vladimir Guerrero - One of the best hitters in the game is a particular terror when it comes to the Rangers. Every time the Rangers play the Angels, it seems he is larger than life. In six games against the Rangers this year, Vlad the Impaler is 11-24 (.458) with a homerun, three runs, four RBI and a stolen base.

Any Player You Wouldn’t Normally Fear - Players you wouldn’t expect to step up really seem to step up for the Angels when they play the Rangers. On the season, Adam Kennedy is batting .268, but he has a .476 BA against the Rangers, along with five RBI and three runs. Last time the Rangers played the Angels, Mike Napoli came from out of nowhere and ate the Rangers alive, even though he’s only batting .247 on the season. So, rule of thumb - if you haven’t heard of the player or his stats aren’t that impressive, expect him to crush the ball.

Angels Bullpen - If the Rangers expect to win, they have to get to the Angels starting pitchers, because their bullpen is continuing the tradition of being one of the toughest in baseball. There are few 1-2 combos at the back of a bullpen like Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez. And, as with Guerrero, they always seem to particularly dominate the Rangers.

Probables:

Thursday, August 3, 9:05 CST

TEX: RHP Kevin Millwood (10-7, 4.62)
LAA: RHP Jered Weaver (7-0, 1.51)

This matchup seems a lot more even if I point out that Millwood is 7-1 with a 2.96 ERA away from home this season. But, it’s really just window dressing. For all the hype around Francisco Liriano and Johan Santana, Jered Weaver has simply been the most dominant starting pitcher in the MLB this summer. Eight starts, seven wins, a 1.65 ERA in the month of July. What makes it all even more impressive is that six of his eight starts have been on the road. He’s doing this in hostile environments. I honestly count this as a throwaway game for the Rangers. Just plan on regrouping for the final three games of the series.

Friday, August 4, 9:05 CST

TEX: RHP Vicente Padilla (10-7, 4.36)
LAA: RHP John Lackey (10-6, 2.95)

Padilla was cruising in July until his last two starts. He took a loss against the Chicago White Sox thanks to three unearned runs, followed by a rout at the hands of the Kansas City Royals in which he allowed seven earned runs in 3.2 innings. It was his worst start since June 3. Until his last start of July, Padilla had an ERA of 2.28 for the month. The last start bumped his ERA up to 4.02, more or less par for the season. It appears he will start despite the issue with his DUI. And whatever got into Teixeira in July must have also gotten into Lackey. His good numbers start to look great after his 5-1, 2.08 performance in July that won him AL pitcher of the month honors. In two starts against the Rangers his year, Lackey is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA.

Saturday, August 5, 3:05 CST

TEX: LHP John Koronka (7-6, 4.96)
LAA: RHP Ervin Santana (11-5, 4.20)

After weeks of looking like he was competing for the final rotation spot, the sudden collapse of Loe, John Wasdin and John Rheinecker makes it look like Koronka’s spot is safe for a while. Koronka had a rough July, but he is coming off two solid starts, one of which was the salvaging win in the last game of the Royals series last weekend. In his last two starts, Koronka is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. He won his only start against LAA this season when he faced them in April, allowing two runs over six innings. Santana’s been going one month on, one month off this year. In April and June, he was 6-0 with a 3.09 ERA. In May and July, he was 5-5 with a 5.14 ERA. So, he’s due for one of his good months. This will be his first game against the Rangers this season.

Sunday, August 6, 2:35 CST

TEX: RHP Adam Eaton (1-1, 2.79)
LAA: LHP Joe Saunders (2-0, 1.93)

This matchup is fun, as both pitchers have just two starts this season. Saunders has been great in his two starts, going seven innings in both and allowing a combined three earned runs. Eaton, on the other hand, needed a good second outing to redeem his first outing in which he lasted just 3.2 innings. He still has some control issues to work out (8 walks in 9.2 innings and an average of more than 19 pitches per inning), but his second start was a vast improvement over his first. His performance is key to Texas’ success or failure in the second half.

• FOR MORE RANGERS NEWS AND OPINIONS, CHECK OUT BASEBALL TIME IN ARLINGTON

Date

Wed 08/02/06, 10:55 pm EST