rangers vs angels - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Murphy3 · 04-05-2002, 03:02 PM

rangers face another good pitching staff..although not near as good as the starting staff that oakland throws out there..

it's time to see what I.Valdes has...

aexchange · 04-05-2002, 03:27 PM

i have a feeling valdes is gonna get blown up like a water balloon.

Murphy3 · 04-05-2002, 03:30 PM

so far he's pitching well

Murphy3 · 04-05-2002, 03:33 PM

valdes has had a pretty good career so far..he has a 3.7 ERA ..but his record is only 72-74.. low run support.. didn't have a bad year last year either..

i think he'll be a solid addition.

by the time this year is said and done, i think we'll look back and say that the rangers had the best starting pitching they have had in a long time.. however, we will probably also look back and see that they didn't have a very good bullpen

The Crippler · 04-05-2002, 04:13 PM

valdes is dealing right now. He looks pretty damn good to me, and he works VERY quick. I like it...

he's getting no run support here either though. c'mon high powered offense...

Murphy3 · 04-05-2002, 04:17 PM

damn, a-rod struck out again..
but, you know how it is with offense in baseball.. one will start clicking and then the entire gets on an extended role.

valdes has looked good and he does work fast.

i liked helling..but it was always painful to watch him pitch.. he worked so dreadfully slow... (kinda why i'm not upset at him being gone.. i hated watching him pitch)

Murphy3 · 04-05-2002, 04:22 PM

very nice play by juan to take away a hit and probably a run.. huge in this inning.

great jump.

if anyone has watched gonzalez in the field the past few years, you will realize that he is no longer a bad outfielder at all.

he has average speed for a right fielder with an above average arm and low errors.

LonestarROB · 04-05-2002, 05:25 PM

Man our pitching has been awesome(Park not withstanding). What the hell happened to our offense though?!?!? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img] .

Blonde Bomber · 04-05-2002, 05:31 PM

I don't get it....what's up with the offense.

We cannot let good pitching go to waste. Valdes pitched
a really good game today, but the offense has not shown up at all
in the first 5 games.

I hate to be pessimistic but this is pathetic.

Big props to Valdes and Doug Davis...though we are still looking
at 1-4.

I swear watching the Rangers is like watching the Stars play (they just find ways to lose games).

I like to rescend my prediction on the Rangers winning the AL West,
I must have been dragged away and been drugged and beaten to make such a prediction.
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

Blonde Bomber · 04-05-2002, 05:41 PM

I think we need to trade for some more hitting.

I mean we have enough pitching to get us to a world series but we
need more hitting to secure us a ring.

Maybe we can swing a deal for a shortstop who could give us around .320 average, 45 HR, 125 RBI's. That would be awesome. Then maybe we could pull out some of these low scoring games.

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

madape · 04-05-2002, 05:46 PM

Something people never bring up is the responsibility that Pudge has in the Ranger's below average pitching in recent years. He is known league wide as a guy who can't call a game, and really has no interest in putting in the work needed to call a good game. Everyone sees 20/20 hindsight, but it is realistic to assume that Rangers pitching, and the team record in general would have been much better over the last couple of years if we would have pulled the trigger on the Pudge/Jorge Posada deal.

Dooby · 04-05-2002, 06:10 PM

<< Something people never bring up is the responsibility that Pudge has in the Ranger's below average pitching in recent years. He is known league wide as a guy who can't call a game, and really has no interest in putting in the work needed to call a good game. Everyone sees 20/20 hindsight, but it is realistic to assume that Rangers pitching, and the team record in general would have been much better over the last couple of years if we would have pulled the trigger on the Pudge/Jorge Posada deal. >>

<u>"much better over the last couple of years"?</u> I think the difference would be there, but it would be slight. Posada wouldn't have made Rogers' arm work and wouldn't have made Olliver not suck.

BAD Radio discussed this very thing. To counter Norm who discussed it earlier this week. Norm said that Pudge's catcher ERA (apparently, a legitimate statistic) is higher than his backup's for his career.

BAD radio countered that Pudge's Catcher ERA since 1998 is better or the same than his backup.

Also, Pudge doesn't call the game or select pitches. So how can he be blamed for doing it poorly? BAD Radio chalked it up to stigma and added that 90% of pitchers would still like to throw to him on a full-time basis.

Stodamire bashed Pudge for not wanting to break down the hitters on film the night before, which I agree he should have more interest in doing. But if he isn't the one who calls the pitches, what difference does it really make.

In other words, I agree with BobandDan.

Murphy3 · 04-05-2002, 06:47 PM

i heard the same thing on BAD radio today.. two of the last three years, the rangers have had an ERA of a half a run or lower when pudge catches as opposed to someone else catching...the other year, it was exactly the same.

that argument simply doesn't fly anymore. it's a three year stretch... long enough to prove that pudge actually does handle the pitchers as well as a very seasoned vet in hasselman.

MFFL · 04-05-2002, 06:57 PM

Stupid Rangers - the only way we're going to win is if we score more runs. Another day, another loss.

Drbio · 04-05-2002, 08:05 PM

Our pitching has been surprising thus far....but that offense needs to realize that they aren't going to get it done on hype. They could be one of the most prolific offenses in baseball history. They lack focus. I am starting to blame Narron at this point.

Murphy3 · 04-05-2002, 08:51 PM

it's too early to start bitching about the offense.. they will have their ups and downs.. the downs won't be too bad and the ups will be tremendous.

Rhylan · 04-06-2002, 01:40 AM

On the Pudge-calls-bad-games tip, I still can't get it through my head as to why some people think the responsibility for calling a game should fall on the shoulders of the catcher. That's just retarded. It ought to be a dialog between the pitcher and the catcher, but in the end, the pitcher is still the one throwing the ball. I agree that there is some art to "handling pitchers," but somewhere along the way, the idea of catchers needing to know everything just grew out like a wart.

Perhaps it springs from the needs of less-offensively or defensively-skilled catchers to have a way to contribute, so they can keep their jobs.

And why is it that an everyday player like Pudge is criticized for not breaking down tape on hitters? Why not the guys who play every five days, who also happen to be the guys that throw the damn ball? Seems to me like that ought to be in the job description for a starting pitcher.

grbh · 04-06-2002, 08:18 PM

I think Pudge would be calling the game a lot better right now if we had gotten Clemens, and Johnson a couple years ago.

Drbio · 04-06-2002, 08:18 PM

That's an interesting thought.