Just some food for thought: we started off last year 1-3 and got absolutely crushed in a game with the Mariners. Dyson and Barnette both took losses.

Yeah, while the SP was shaky, they did hand the bullpen the lead twice. Gallo has looked as though his approach is much better. Mazara is off to a hot start. The big issue is the back end of the bullpen. I think that can be fixed, or at least minimized.

On paper the bullpen should be fine and the offense should be fine (assuming Beltre comes back and all of Profar/Gallo/Napoli aren't a bust).

#3/#4/#5 in the rotation will tell the tale if this is a playoff team or not.

Really wondering if Jeffress needs to be moved to the closer role. Dyson is clearly off. I don't think i want Bush in that role.

Right now I'm honestly not confident with anyone in our bullpen being a slam-the-door in the 9th type closer. There are a few guys all capable of putting together 5+ consecutive shutdown appearances but each of those guys is also capable of melting down and playing like garbage for two weeks. Honestly the best solution is probably to roll with whoever has the hot hand at the moment and not marry yourself to the idea of one specific closer.

I think most fans think that approach is best, but you find a lot of pitchers are more comfortable knowing their role.

I get that based on the analytics that a guy that comes in a 3-run "save" situation in the 9th may be better served coming into a higher leverage situation in the 7th -- but with as much talk as we've already had about the mental aspect of the game, there's possibly something to be said for keeping guys in defined roles.

Again, I am more of a fan of using best pitchers in highest leverage -- just pointing out the reason why most teams don't do it that way.

One thing I've noticed is it seems like Dyson doesn't throw as hard anymore. I noticed it last season as well. He used to sit in about the 95-98 mph range and now you see more 93-94 with regularity. Not sure what happened with that, if anything. But it does seem like he's not throwing with as much zip as he could.

I always pick the other team it's nice to hear a new perspective and voice every 3 days. It's fun to hear their guys try to smooth things over if the Rangers are winning and honestly, the Rangers broadcast has been terrible since Josh Lewin left.

jtstanley4621 said:

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One thing I've noticed is it seems like Dyson doesn't throw as hard anymore. I noticed it last season as well. He used to sit in about the 95-98 mph range and now you see more 93-94 with regularity. Not sure what happened with that, if anything. But it does seem like he's not throwing with as much zip as he could.

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I don't think the speed is the problem, it's he has no control right now

grapespda2525 said:

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I always pick the other team it's nice to hear a new perspective and voice every 3 days. It's fun to hear their guys try to smooth things over if the Rangers are winning and honestly, the Rangers broadcast has been terrible since Josh Lewin left.

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Although I am a big Nolan Ryan fan, I did not agree with a lot of his moves when he was in the front office, the removal of Josh Lewin being one of them.

Hmmmm interesting.

And the ump wasn't like "let me see that ball for a second"?

I would investigate the chest protector and Molina's hands if I thought something funny was up.

Weird. Cubs didn't seem to care, though.

He's obviously got a sticky substance on his chest protector to help with blocking balls. Not sure if there's a rule against it, but can't that be any different than a pitcher putting pine tar on his fingers to get a better grip? The league should look into that and suspend him probably

That's freaking crazy. The league has to look into that.

The announcers seemed to laugh, and in an article he gets offended when a reporter asks him if he was cheating.


I guess it never occurred to me that catchers and other players would have pine tar on their equipment to help them throw...sure seems like it's cheating to me but it's allowed.

Huell Babineaux said:

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Won't get to watch the game tonight. I'll be dunking this shiny new piece of gold.

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Congrats! and I'm sure they'll be a tv up in the corner at the bar or wherever you are, you can at least keep an eye on it every so often.

Gomez!!

A lot of distance on those three fly balls. Great D though.

Finally did some little things. Not swinging through balls, moving runners, and hustle on the base paths helped get a run.

Tom Grieve seems to be bringing a lot more energy. More enthusiastic and talkative.

Odor

Great start so far!

bert harbinson said:

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Tom Grieve seems to be bringing a lot more energy. More enthusiastic and talkative.

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Unfortunately we still have boring ass Raymond calling the game.

I don't have much a problem with Raymond's voice or energy. He just seems to be kind of a dopey guy that doesn't know anything about baseball, or really anything.

This A's pitcher is Ranger friendly.

Full bases bomb

Boom!

Crushed it