What is Normal?

05/14/2013

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Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
by Mike Luna

By the end of a 162-game season, you usually have a pretty good idea of which baseball players are the best and which are the worst. Last year the best player was either Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout (depending on who you ask). The worst player was either Jeff Francoeur or Justin Smoak or Michael Young (again, depending on who you ask).

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Let’s Talk About Mitch Moreland’s Hot Streak

05/13/2013

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image found at dallasnews.com
By Peter Ellwood

Mitch Moreland is a fun player to cheer for. He does all of the cosmetic things that we like to see out of ballplayers. He hustles, he is polite and intelligent when talking with the media, and if we squint and have an over-developed image of our own physique, he looks like us and that helps us associate with him. And because Moreland is on a team where he isn’t required to be the biggest run producer, when he is generating offense from the bottom of the lineup it is an extra bonus, a real pick-me-up to the rest of the team.

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One Year Since Forever Ago

05/12/2013

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Picture
Keith Allison/Flickr
by Mike Luna

It’s been roughly a calendar year since we saw one of the greatest weeks of baseball that any of us will ever see. I’m referring, of course, to the last week that Josh Hamilton looked anything like Josh Hamilton.

Before we go on, let me state clearly that this is not an anti-Josh article. I could write one of those -- or even a hundred of those -- but that’s not what I’m going for. More than anything, I’d like to look back on good....no, great times from the not-too-distant past.

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Welcome Back, Kinsler

05/11/2013

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Picture
Paul Moseley/Star-Telegram
by Bob Bland

“Yeah, we teased him a lot
‘Cause we got him on the spot
Welcome back...”
- Theme from “Welcome Back, Kotter”

#IKPU

Perhaps no single hashtag was posted to Twitter more often during Ranger games last season.  For the few of you who may be unfamiliar with its meaning, that hashtag is an acronym for Ian Kinsler Pop-Up, which seemed to be how far too many of his at-bats ended in 2012.  The only other hashtag possibly seen as often was #PADMY (which is not a misspelled reference to the gorgeous co-host of TV’s “Top Chef,” but stands for Past A Diving Michael Young, which is self-explanatory and now appears exclusively on the timelines of Philly fans).

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Goat of the Week: Umpires

05/11/2013

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Picture
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
by Eddie Middlebrook

As the resident villain of SDI, I will have a new series where I feature a guy who receives the lion share of grief for the week whether it be a Ranger or their opponent.


Choosing the topic for this weekly article was the easiest decision I made this week. I had planned on writing about umpires after the Bryce Harper/John Hirschbeck incident, but then the baseball gods decided to open the gates of Hades and thrust other frustrations on the fans.  

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Strong Like Bullpen

05/10/2013

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Picture
AP Photo/LM Otero
by Emily Cates

If the Rangers had any 2012 player back, I’d want it to be Koji Uehara. His 10.75 K/9 and his 1.75 ERA were something I knew I’d miss dearly. Not to mention that huge glove and the excitement he took with him off the mound after every outing. But I digress. A solid bullpen is really instrumental in winning ballgames. If you don’t believe that statement, please take a look at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. When a starting pitcher has a day where he’s a bit off, it’s nice to have a bullpen be able to save the day. When the offense can’t quite get going, but the starting pitcher has been solid, the bullpen needs to keep up the momentum. A lot can change with one pitch.

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Thoughts from a Seamhead: “WHIPping Boy”

05/10/2013

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Picture
Arky Vaughan
by James Holland

In April of 2011 I received my first assignment as a contributing writer for Yahoo! Sports. I had a been a die-hard fan of baseball since I was approximately twelve so this was a joy, especially when I was being asked to write about my hometown Texas Rangers. For as long as I had watched the game I ignored advanced statistics. To me all that mattered was a hitter’s average, home runs and RBI while I judged a pitcher on wins/losses, ERA and strikeouts. Man was I ever behind the times.

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Early Observations

05/09/2013

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Picture
Jeff Hanisch/USA TODAY
by Jeff Johnson

Baseball Prospectus does a semi-regular series where they will stop and evaluate and analyze their general observations of the season at certain points throughout the summer. After reading their latest in this series, I thought I would try a stab at a similar idea concerning just the Rangers. It’s still early May, but I think a few story lines and narratives have developed to the point we can acknowledge their existence and spend a little time analyzing. It’s hard to focus on the gloom and doom when the Rangers are leading the AL West and have one of the best records in all of baseball, so this may be more positive than…say…maybe an Angels website. Here are the top three bright spots and top three concerns at this point of the 2013 season:

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Let’s Go Dutch 

05/09/2013

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Picture
image found at bigstory.ap.org
By Eddie Middlebrook

With Matt Harrison out until the All-Star break and Colby Lewis yet to return to the rotation, Derek Holland is your No.2 starter. If you haven’t noticed, he’s pitching like one too.   

There was a lot of chatter with regards to Derek in the offseason about cutting down on his impressions, pitching in the World Baseball Classic and whether or not he has the makeup to be a big-time pitcher.


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Around the Minors: Rangers Affiliate News

05/08/2013

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Picture
Tracy Proffitt/Hickory Crawdads
by Sarah Powers

For those who may not have a way to keep track of the Rangers minor league affiliates, some interesting storylines have emerged in the last couple of weeks. Here’s a quick rehash of the big stories:

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