After an exciting opening series sweep of the AL East favorite Boston Red Sox, the Rangers now face off against the second place Seattle Mariners. The Mariners are predicted by anyone and everyone who follows baseball to finish dead last in the AL West despite having the reigning AL Cy Young winner and future hall of famer Ichiro Suzuki. That didn’t stop them from taking two of three from America’s sweetheart Oakland A’s. If Seattle is planning on winning many more games this season it’s going to be on the heels of their pitching, and this series is no different. 
Game 1: Monday, April 04, 2011 Derek Holland vs Erik Bedard
Derek Holland gets his first start of the season against one of the most anemic offenses in the American League. Holland had an impressive spring (sans two awful outings, one against the Dodgers, the other the Rockies). The Mariners offense should be improved from last year, but they could trot out the first 9 readers who see this and improve from last year. Ichiro will be Ichiro, and Chone Figgins looks like he will rebound from his poor 2010. Milton Bradley hasn’t blown up or gotten hurt yet and Justin Smoak still has a lot of potential. After that you have the Jack Custs and Jack Wilsons of the world who strike fear in the hearts of low A pitchers everywhere, and that’s about it. There couldn’t be a better team to get your first start of the season against for a young pitcher trying to establish himself, that goes for Ogando in game two of this series as well. As for Erik Bedard, if you listen to the podcast you know that I am high on Bedard this year. He’s the healthiest he’s been since he was in Baltimore and he’s still got great stuff. I think the Rangers shouldn’t have a problem generating some offense in this one, but it’s not going to be a walk in the park.
Game 2: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 Alexi Ogando vs Michael Pineda
This is a pitching matchup I can’t wait to see. I want to see how Ogando looks the second and third time through an order. This is a perfect matchup for Alexi because even though he has great stuff and three pitches that can get good hitters out, these are professional hitters who make adjustments throughout the game. On the other side, the Rangers get to face the Mariners top pitching prospect in his big league debut. The kid has an electric fastball but his secondary stuff is lacking behind on the developmental curve. This is the type of lineup who could feast on that. It’s always interesting to watch a top prospect or a young player with great stuff, and we get that from both sides here, but considering the lineups each team is facing it’s easy to see who will have the advantage here.
Game 3: Wednesday, April 06, 2011 C.J. Wilson vs Felix Hernandez
This is the really exciting pitching matchup. Obviously the edge has to go to the Cy Young winner, but considering the lineup C.J. will be facing it almost nullifies Felix’s edge. This could be a game where the first team to score 2 runs will win. It’s ace versus ace, but Texas has historically handled Felix better than most teams in baseball.
The Rangers have the edge on offense, clearly. Defensively it’s closer, but Texas still has the edge. Seattle is hurt by Franklin Gutierrez’s injury, but they still have a strong defensive club (outside of left field). The bullpen is a heavy edge for the Rangers, especially for the setup/closers roles. If the Rangers can sweep the Red Sox they SHOULD sweep the Mariners, but I don’t know if that will happen. I look for Texas to take at least two of three, but Seattle surprised Oakland with two wins in their opening series.
