Series Preview - Texas Rangers (30-26) @ Kansas City Royals (14-41)
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Business First: The Rangers announced that they expect to activate Antonio Alfonseca from the DL on Tuesday for the series against KC. They plan on going with an eight man bullpen, as they will be short on pitching with the double header against Boston this Saturday. Look for infielder D’Angelo Jiminez to be optioned down to make room for Alfonseca. With the aquisition of Jerry Hairston last week, Jiminez is looking awfully expendable. Jiminez had a great spring and a good showing in the minor leagues earlier this season. He also played in important role filling in for Ian Kinsler while he was injured. However, Jiminez is batting just .211 on the season, and had only two starts in the months of May, recording just nine at-bats.
The Lowdown: The Rangers continue their road trip on Tuesday with a three game series against the worst team in Major League Baseball in the Kansas City Royals. The Raners just won two out of three against the White Sox in Chicago to maintain their 3.5-game lead over Oakland in the A.L. West. On the road this year, the Rangers are 15-10. The Royals have had a rough season this year, to say the least. With a 14-41 record, the Royals are 6.5 games behind the second-worst team in the Major Leagues (Florida Marlins, 20-24) and 8.5 games behind the second-worst team in the A.L. (Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 24-34). They have lost 7 out of their last 10, and are just ten games removed from an 11-game losing streak. For what it’s worth, the Royals have been significantly better at home than on the road this year, with an 8-16 mark.
Players To Watch:
Gerald Laird - I know Buck has said he’s still conflicted on the starting catcher situation, but he must have earned some points with Rangers brass with his 4-for-5, two homerun performance against Chicago on Sunday. With more and more at-bats, his batting average of .367 is really starting to stand out against Rod Barajas‘ .235. Not to mention his .633 slugging percentage (.362 for Barajas) and his .387 on-base percentage (.278 for Barajas).
Brad Wilkerson - After spending a good portion of May looking like he was getting back on track, Wilkerson has been on a horrendous slide lately. His batting average, once as high as .270, has shrunk back down to .245 thanks to his having just two hits in his last 24 at-bats (.083 average). He is also not finding ways to get on base as he once did, with just one walk in the last five games. The strikeout watch is also back on for Wilky. He has 11 Ks in the last five games.
Mark DeRosa - Following a mini-slump in which DeRo went just 2-for-13 (.154 average) to lower his overall batting average to .312, DeRosa has found his stride once more. He is seven for his last 16 (.438) , putting his average back up to .330 and his OBP up to .403. Unfortunately, nobody is helping him out much. In that stretch, he has just two runs and two RBIs. One good thing to see would be for DeRosa to start picking up some extra base hits. Only one of those seven hits went for extra bases - a double.
Mark Grudzielanek - This is the guy that I really thought Texas should have gone after last off-season. With the way Kinsler’s working out, I really can’t complain. But, for a Royals team that has been miserable on offense, Grudz is one guy that has at least lived up to expectations. He is leading the team in runs (27), hits (62) and total bases (82). Among Royals with at least 100 ABs, he is first in batting average (.321) and on-base percentage (.356) and, believe it or not, second in slugging percentage (.425) behind only his teammate from St. Louis, Reggie Sanders (.465).
Royals Bullpen - Quick, what’s the only thing that’s worse than the Royals starting pitching? Okay, I kind of gave it away already. There are so many bad pitchers here that I can only brush over a few of them, so here goes. Elmer Dessens, Ambiorix Burgos and Andrew Sisco have combined this year to go 4-8 with just nine saves in 19 opportunities. Kind of Ranger-esque in that regard, aren’t they? They have also allowed 15 homeruns, and have a combined ERA of 6.09. And it’s only that low because of Dessens’ 4.40 ERA. Burgos and Sisco lead the team in save opportunities, and their combined ERA is 7.38. And while the Rangers have blown more saves than the Royals (14 to 12), only two teams in the majors have fewer saves than Kansas City (Cleveland and Florida).
Probables:
Tuesday, June 6, 7:10 CST
TEX: RHP Kevin Millwood (6-3, 4.85)
KC: RHP Scott Elarton (1-6, 4.94)
The fun thing about these pitching matchups is seeing just how much run support matters. Millwood and Koronka have comparable ERAs to Elarton, yet Millwood and Koronka have winning records, while Elarton is just 1-6. Loe has a better ERA than Koronka and Millwood, yet he is just 3-5. Just something that made me grin. I think that run support is going to be the name of the game in all of these matchups. None of the pitchers that are going have been particularly good, so which team can score last will probably be the difference. And judging from KC’s pitchers’ records, and their offensive stats, that definitely falls in the Rangers favor. Elarton is a former 1st-round draft pick out of high school by the Houston Astros. After a decent 2000 campaign, Elarton totally folded in 2001 and got traded. At 6′8″, he’s a tall, tall dude. It bears pointing out that he actually has pretty good numbers in night games, with a 1-1 record and a 3.09 ERA. And it should be pointed out, as always, that Millwood only pitches well on the road. He is 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA away from Arlington this year.
Wednesday, June 7, 7:10 CST
TEX: LHP John Koronka (4-3, 4.87)
KC: RHP Bobby Keppel (0-1, 2.70)
This is the one pitching matchup that may actually favor KC. With only one Major League start to speak of, the jury is still out on Keppel. But, his one start was a good one. He took the loss, despite allowing just two earned runs in 6.2 innings, thanks to a nine inning, two-hit shutout by ageless wonder Jamie Moyer. A funny stat, he has consistenly allowed one run every 3.1 innings. He had two relief appearances in May, each 3.1 innings, each allowing 1 earned run. Then he has his start, with two earned runs in 6.2 innings. Curiously consistent. One warning light, despite his solid ERA, is his 12 hits allowed in 13.1 innings. After two solid effots in a row, Koronka got shelled in his last start, allowing seven earned runs in 2.2 innings. It was by far his worst outing of the season. He will be looking to get back on track against a Royal team that has four regular starting position players that bat lefty.
Thursday, June 8, 7:10 CST
TEX: RHP Kameron Loe (3-5, 4.48)
KC: TBD
Originally, journeyman Seth Etherton was scheduled to start this game for the Royals, but he was optioned down to Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday after just two starts. He had a decent start in his first game of the season against Oakland, picking up the win by pitching five innings of one-run ball. In his last start, he was more true to form, taking the loss by allowing seven earned runs in 2.2 innings to Seattle. It’s the exact same thing that Koronka did in his last start, also against Seattle. Oh, how amused I’d be if they had been able to pitch against each other. To replace Etherton, the Royals called up 22 year-old righty Leo Nunez. Loe has consistently gone one bad start followed by one good start this year. In his last outing, he allowed three earned runs in six innings, so he’s due for a bad start. My suggestion would be to let him sit for this game, and pitch the day game of Saturday’s double header on long rest. In day games this year, Loe has a 2.08 ERA. One bright spot for him in this game is that he’s 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA in away games, a solid contrast from his 1-3, 5.94 record at home.
Source
Date
Tue 06/06/06, 10:17 am EST
