Phillies Opposition Roadblock: Texas Rangers
The Phillies are heading into Texas with the hopes to start their season anew. They can finally stop turning every corner and see the Washington Nationals. Time to try out the new look on the rest of baseball.
We can finally say goodbye to the Nationals. It is hard to believe, but exciting that the Phillies will not see the team from Washington until after Labor Day. And by then, both teams will have an incredibly different look to them. At this point, the Phillies are looking to add some wins. While they are past a tough spot on their schedule, they still have a couple of tough teams in the way, starting with the Texas Rangers.
Anthony Rendon was 2-9 with three walks and two runs scored in the series. He came into the series a bit cooled off from the last series (five days prior) against the Phils. Rendon was quieted a bit against the Orioles but still came in with a solid .285/.371/.455 line for the young season. He did not do anything devastating over the course of the series, but the Nationals have enough fire power to withstand one of their hotter hitters not performing.
Phils Grade: B+
Gio Gonzalez has always had a way with the Phillies. When he is effectively wild or even controlling his pitches in the zone, he is tough. And Sunday afternoon, he was able to control the game for the 6.2 innings he was out there. He threw 112 pitches, walking three and striking out seven. He left with a comfortable 3-1 lead, only allowing one run on a recently awakened Tommy Joseph homer. However, as has become the norm in D.C., the bullpen could not hold the lead in the ninth inning, and the Phils would steal a win.
Phils Grade: B-
The Team: Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers are in an odd spot. They are a very talented group but find themselves struggling early on because of some injuries. In their pitching staff, they are working through long term injuries from players like former Phillies, Jake Diekman and Cole Hamels. Also, they are without Tyson Ross and Chi Chi Gonzalez. Offensively, they are working without star third baseman, Adrian Beltre and outfielder, Carlos Gomez.
It obviously does not help to play in the same division as the team with baseball’s best record, the Houston Astro’s. With the mix of injuries, a 19-20 start, and the Astros inability to lose, the Rangers find themselves eight games out of first place.
On the pitching end of things, they are in the top ten of the league ERA standings. In the same breath, they are not very far behind the Phillies in home runs allowed (50). They are also in a three-way tie for fifth place in walks surrendered (136). Those numbers lead me to believe the Phils will be given their opportunities over the course of the next few days.
The struggles do not mean the Rangers come without strengths. They are currently ranked 12th in baseball in runs scored. They average nearly five runs a game through 39 games played. Their 56 homers rank them third in all of baseball, only behind the Brewers and the Nationals. This could pose a problem for the Phillies, who are baseball’s second-most prone team to raising inventory in that department with 57 homers allowed so far this season.
On the other hand, one of their weaknesses is getting on base. They rank 22nd in baseball with a .305 on-base percentage and only 130 team walks. Also, their 335 strikeouts are 6th most in the league. The problem there is that the Phils’ staff ranks 28th with 249 punch-outs as a team.
The Phils hope to add to their total this week.
The Position Player: Nomar Mazara
I have to admit, I expected this decision to be a bit more clear cut. I liked Joey Gallo at first glance, but a guy who has struck out 57 times in 123 at bats should not be too much of an issue. Elvis Andrus is another player I have always liked, and he leads the Rangers in hits at this point, but there is a player in Texas who is heating up right now. And I love Jonathan Lucroy but feel like the Phils have always had a good feel for how to get him out during his time in Milwaukee.
Nomar Mazara is a player we were all hoping would come as part of the Cole Hamels return, but Texas fans are probably thrilled they kept the now 22-year-old. This season, he is currently slashing .250/.313/.412 in the first couple of months. However, I am choosing him because of what he has done over the last week.
He is 7-19 (.368) with four doubles, 5 RBI, and a walk over the last seven games. He does not have any of his five homers over that time, but he is obviously seeing the ball well right now. As of now, he is sitting right around last year’s final season stats, so for a 22-year-old, that is a pretty good sign.
Mazara will strike out and does not take a ton of walks. Right now, he has 26 strikeouts to only 11 walks. The strikeouts are probably a result of just not being familiar with Major League pitching quite yet. Once he becomes more comfortable, look out. Watch him this week when he gets fooled. He will still find a way to make contact.
Do not miss with a fastball anywhere near the middle of the plate or forget it. He will launch it somewhere. Right now, he is hitting a ton of groundballs, but the potential is there for more. At this point in the early stages of his career, the way to beat him is with offspeed and breaking stuff. If Phils’ pitching can do that, he may become a non-factor in the middle of the Texas order.
The Pitcher: Yu Darvish
The Rangers are not holding back on Yu Darvish after last year’s back-and-forth stints on the DL. Tonight will be his ninth start of the 2017 season. Last season, Darvish made only 17 starts total. And with Cole Hamels on the shelf, the Rangers will need Darvish to continue being their workhorse.
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This season, the 30-year-old has been very effective. In 51.2 innings, he has only allowed 17 earned runs. He has walked 21 hitters and struck out 52 along the way. His shortest outing so far has been 5.1 innings against Oakland during which he allowed four earned runs on three hits and two walks. Darvish has not allowed more than three earned in six of his eight starts in 2017.
Darvish has never faced the Phils, but there are players on the current roster that have previously hit against the righty. Howie Kendrick, Daniel Nava, and Michael Saunders have 37 at-bats against Darvish and only four hits, all from Saunders. So the question that begs answer is what makes Yu Darvish so effective?
For starters, any pitcher that can unleash seven pitches in any count ‘s hard to face. As a hitter, knowing that the opposing pitcher can throw any pitch 1-4 is tough enough. Now add three more pitches to that repertoire, and that gives you Mr. Darvish.
Next: Five Questions to Ask Going Into Phillies/Rangers
His fastball and slider are the two pitches he will use the most. Last year those two pitches logged him 102 strikeouts, each one finishing off opposing hitters an equal 51 times.
This season, he is pitching to more contact early in counts so that an aggressive approach would be in the Phillies’ best interests.
With hitters stroking his fastball at a .293 average early on this season, it may prove valuable to get after him early, or they may not get him at all.