This week I will analyze the trade the Rangers made this week and do a play-by-play analysis of one of the games I went to while I was at Spring Training.
On Friday, the Rangers traded Class-A pitcher Jose Marte to the Diamondbacks for relief pitcher Dustin Nippert.
Evaluation:
Nippert is out of options so the Rangers have to put him on the team. He has three years of major league experience and has a career 2-3 record with a 6.23 ERA. He has made 46 total appearances, 10 as a starter and 36 as a reliever. Dustin was a starter at first, but the D’Backs converted him to a reliever. His career minor league record is 33-25, with a 3.42 ERA. Jose Marte struggled last year, with a 5.23 ERA between Clinton and Bakersfield. I think that this is a good trade, because Nippert could be a good reliever and make some spot starts instead of having to bring a minor leaguer up for one appearance. We didn’t give up much, either, since Marte is a marginal prospect.
Basically, this trade ended Robinson Tejeda’s career with the Rangers. Nippert is taking the last bullpen spot, which Tejeda was fighting for. Since Tejeda is out of options, the Rangers were forced to DFA him. It’s very unlikely that Tejeda will clear waivers, so he’ll be out of the organization. I still think this is a good trade because Nippert has better control and better offspeed pitches than Tejeda.
Grade: B+ – this is a low risk trade with good upside
Here is my play-by-play analysis of the Rangers/Angels spring training game at Surprise Stadium on March 21st. I didn’t start taking notes until the very end of the 1st inning, so my analysis will start with the last batter of the 1st inning.
Top 1st:
Sidney Ponson vs. Chone Figgins: Single. Tied 0-0, 0 outs
Ponson vs. Howie Kendrick: Double-play. Tied 0-0, 2 outs
Ponson vs. Maicer Izturis: Ground-out. Tied 0-0, 3 outs
Bottom 1st:
Angels pitcher: Jered Weaver
Ian Kinsler: Fly-out. Tied 0-0, 1 out
Michael Young: Ground-out. Tied 0-0, 2 outs
Josh Hamilton: Way in front of a curveball for strike 2, and then took a fastball right down the middle of the plate for strike 3. Tied 0-0, 3 outs
Top 2nd:
Sidney Ponson: High speed seems to be 93-94 MPH, and he works really quickly.
Ponson vs. Garret Anderson: He threw three straight balls outside and then Garret flew out.
Frank Catalanotto: Frank made a great catch. Tied 0-0, 1 out
Ponson vs. Torii Hunter: Sidney threw a good inside pitch for a ground-out. It was a one-pitch at-bat. Tied 0-0, 2 outs
Ponson vs. Casey Kotchman: The first pitch was a ball, and the second pitch was on the inside part of the plate and forced a ground-out.
Ian Kinsler: Bobbled an easy grounder. Tied 0-0, 3 outs
Bottom 2nd:
Angels pitcher: Jered Weaver
Hank Blalock: Took first two pitches for a 1-1 count, then chased one out of the zone and flied out to center. Tied 0-0, 1 out
Milton Bradley: This was his spring debut. He swung at a ball on his first pitch, and took the next two for strikes. He looked terrible, very slow, and looked overwhelmed. He was very late for three straight fastballs. Tied 0-0, 2 outs
David Murphy: Struck out looking. Tied 0-0, 3 outs
Top 3rd:
Ponson vs. Howie Kendrick: Left a pitch up in the zone and Howie cranked it off the wall for a double. Tied 0-0, 0 outs
Sidney Ponson: Best pitch seems to be fastball.
Ponson vs. Robb Quinlan: Ponson had a good mix and got Robb Quinlan in front for groundout. Tied 0-0, 1 out
Sidney Ponson: Was a good ground-ball pitcher.
Gerald Laird: Good throw gets Kendrick stealing on first pitch. Tied 0-0, 2 outs
Ponson vs. Bobby Wilson: Good pitch got him out in front for fly-out. Tied 0-0, 3 outs
Bottom 3rd:
Angels pitcher: Jered Weaver
Frank Catalanotto: Took the first two pitches for strikes and then got good contact and hit one high off the wall for a double. Tied 0-0, 0 outs
Gerald Laird: Got a quick 0-2 count, and singled into the outfield on a check-swing, drives in Catalanotto. Rangers 1-0, 0 outs
Ben Broussard: Started with an 0-2 count for the third straight batter. He then took the first ball of the half-inning.
Gerald Laird: Picked off. Rangers 1-0, 1 out
Ben Broussard: Grounder up the middle for single. The Rangers had three straight hits after 0-2 counts. Rangers 1-0, 1 out
Ian Kinsler: Line-drive single on first pitch. Torii Hunter botched after one bounce. Rangers 1-0, 1 out
Michael Young: Walk. Rangers 1-0, 1 out, bases loaded
Josh Hamilton: Chased the first pitch out of the zone and fouled it off, and then was way out in front of two change-ups for a strike-out. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs, bases loaded
Hank Blalock: Chased a curveball swinging for the fences and screwing himself into the ground, and chased a pitch that was at about the height of his chin for strike three. Hank looked very bad in this at-bat.
Rangers 1-0, 3 outs
Top 4th:
Ponson vs. Chone Figgins: First pitch infield chopper. Awful communication as Kinsler, Broussard, and Ponson were all going for the ball with no one covering first base. Sidney finally went to first, but then he injured his ankle. Rangers 1-0, 0 outs
Rangers pitching change: Franklyn German in for Sidney Ponson.
Franklyn German vs. Reggie Willits: First-pitch ball.
Gerald Laird: Gunned down Chone Figgins trying to steal 2nd. Rangers 1-0, 1 out
German vs. Reggie Willits: German made Reggie look silly on third pitch and he hit into a high pop-out.
Michael Young: Misjudged the ball and back-pedaled the whole way. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs
German vs. Maicer Izturis: Walked him after a 1-2 start to the count. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs
German vs. Garret Anderson: 1-1 count.
Gerald Laird: Good speed on throw trying to throw out Izturis, but the throw didn’t go far enough and it bounced over Michael Young’s glove and into the outfield.
German vs. Garret Anderson: Fly-out. Rangers 1-0, 3 outs
Franklyn German: Franklyn threw a lot of balls in the inning.
Bottom 4th:
Angels pitcher: Jered Weaver
Milton Bradley: Struggled again against fastballs, and chopped one into the ground for an out.
Rangers 1-0, 1 out
David Murphy: 1-2 count, chased one way out of the zone for strike-out. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs
Frank Catalanotto: Liner to center for single, made good contact. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs
Gerald Laird: Chopper up the middle not hit very well, but he still got robbed by Weaver for the third out. Rangers 1-0, 3 outs
Top 5th:
Rangers pitching change: Kam Loe in for Franklyn German.
Loe vs. Torii Hunter: Good pitch made Torii chop it to third for first out.
Hank Blalock: Nice play. Rangers 1-0, 1 out
Loe vs. Casey Kotchman: Good pitch, Casey chopped it into the ground.
Hank Blalock: Good defensive play as the ball went very high in the air after one bounce, but Blalock’s good throw beat the runner. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs
Loe vs. Howie Kendrick: Pop-up landed between Kinsler, Broussard and Murphy for single, although it wasn’t a bad defensive play. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs
Loe vs. Dee Brown: Fly-out to left. Rangers 1-0, 3 outs
Bottom 5th:
Angels pitcher: Jered Weaver
Ben Broussard: Good hit, opposite-field single. Rangers 1-0, 0 outs
Ian Kinsler: Good sacrifice bunt, moves Broussard to second. Rangers 1-0, 1 out
Michael Young: Started off with a 2-2 count and didn’t swing at a single pitch, very patient, fouled the next pitch off, then takes a ball for a full count. Chased outside pitch and grounded up the middle to Weaver and moved Broussard to third. Rangers 1-0, 2 outs
Josh Hamilton: Lined out to second. Rangers 1-0, 3 outs
Top 6th:
Loe vs. Bobby Wilson: Starts with 2-0 count, and then Kam threw an awful pitch that was hit for a home run. Tied 1-1, 0 outs
Loe vs. Chone Figgins: 1-2 count, good pitch, chopped to second for out. Tied 1-1, 1 out
Loe vs. Reggie Willits: Four-pitch walk. Tied 1-1, 1 out
Loe vs. Maicer Izturis: Single up the middle, men on first and third. Tied 1-1, 1 out
Loe vs. Garret Anderson: Kam’s control seems off, Garret hits into a sacrifice fly. Angels 2-1, 2 outs
Loe vs. Torii Hunter: Deep fly-out.
Josh Hamilton: Great catch on warning track. Had to make running catch and then crash into the wall. Angels 2-1, 3 outs
Bottom 6th:
Hank Blalock: 0-2 count, liner to second, got past second baseman, but hit hard enough to be counted as a hit, not an error. Angels 2-1, 0 outs
Milton Bradley: Grounded into double play, and practically walked down the first base line, even though it was a 3-6-3 double play. Angels 2-1, 2 outs
David Murphy: Worked a full count, then reached at one out of the zone and flied out to center.
Angels 2-1, 3 outs
Top 7th:
Loe vs. Casey Kotchman: Line drive up the middle for a single. Angels 2-1, 0 outs
Loe vs. Erick Aybar: 0-2 count.
Gerald Laird: Easily gunned down Kotchman at second even though the pitch was in the dirt.
Angels 2-1, 1 out
Loe vs. Erick Aybar: Three-pitch strike-out. Angels 2-1, 2 outs
Loe vs. Dee Brown: Ground-out to second. Angels 2-1, 3 outs
Bottom 7th:
Frank Catalanotto: 0-2 count, good hit to warning track, but good defensive play for out. Angels 2-1, 1 out
Gerald Laird: Foul ball for pop-out. Angels 2-1, 2 outs
Ben Broussard: Fouled a ball off his foot, but stayed in the game. He singled up the middle on the next pitch. Angels 2-1, 2 outs
Ian Kinsler: Ground-out to short. Angels 2-1, 3 outs
Top 8th:
Rangers pitching change: Robinson Tejeda in for Kam Loe
Tejeda vs. Bobby Wilson: First pitch popped out to third in foul territory. Angels 2-1, 1 out
Tejeda vs. ?: Deep fly ball misread by Josh Hamilton and turned into a triple. Angels 2-1, 1 out.
Tejeda vs. Reggie Willits: 0-2 count, worked to 3-2, and then Reggie hit a sacrifice fly.
Angels 3-1, 2 outs.
Tejeda vs. Maicer Izturis: Fly-out to center. Angels 3-1, 3 outs
Bottom 8th:
Michael Young: Liner to right for single. Angels 3-1, 0 outs
Josh Hamilton: Liner to left for single. Angels 3-1, 0 outs
Hank Blalock: Double-play. Angels 3-1, 2 outs
Milton Bradley: Late on second pitch, and third pitch. Worked the count full. Nice defensive play got him out. Angels 3-1, 3 outs
Top 9th:
Tejeda vs. Juan Rivera: Double. Angels 3-1, 0 outs
Tejeda vs. ?: Ground-out. Angels 3-1, 1 out
Tejeda vs. Casey Kotchman: Good play by Ramon Vazquez, jumped and caught liner. Angels 3-1, 2 outs
Tejeda vs. Erick Aybar: RBI single. Angels 4-1, 2 outs
Tejeda vs. ?: Walk. Angels 4-1, 2 outs
Rangers pitching change: Elizardo Ramirez in for Robinson Tejeda
Ramirez vs. Bobby Wilson: Fly-out. Angels 4-1, 3 outs
Bottom 9th:
Nelson Cruz: Strike-out. Angels 4-1, 1 out
Kevin Mench: Pop-out. Angels 4-1, 2 outs
Adam Melhuse: Ground-out. Angels 4-1, 3 outs
Results of last week’s poll:
Do you think instant replay should be implemented in baseball?
Yes – 50%
No – 33%
In playoffs - 16%
Come back next week for my season predictions.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment