If you have watched the Texas Rangers at all in 2019, you may have noticed a new philosophy. Actually, you may have noticed a lot of things different. The year 2013 was the last time the Rangers won the first two series of the season. The Rangers are 4-2. Here are some notables from the first two series.
- Joey Gallo is patient. Gallo was the strikeout king in 2018, but so far in 2019 he is averaging one strikeout per nine innings. He also has walked seven times in six games. While it is early and his batting average is only .222, I see this as a marked improvement from 2018. His patience has been the difference in several games this year.
- Asdrubal Cabrera is locked in. With three home-runs and seven RBI in his first six games, Cabrera has been better than expected for the Rangers so far in 2019. He committed the Rangers first error of the season in Wednesday nights win over the Astros. The team only has two errors on the season, and they came back to back. He has been a good addition to fill the void left at third base by future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre.
- Mike Minor pitched like an Ace on Wednesday. He pitched so well that AJ Hinch and the Astros batting coach were both ejected in the first two innings of the game. His fastball was particularly deadly.
“His stuff was good,” Astros manager AJ Hinch said. “His ball was moving a little bit. I had a different view on my TV than I do from the side of the game. It looked like his pitches were moving. He had a good changeup. He executed a game plan that was above the zone. He has pretty good [velocity] and was in control tonight.” texasrangers.com
- Elvis Andrus bat has been very good. He is locked in at the plate, baby shark and all. Elvis is hitting .375 through the first six games of the season. He has been locked in and it shows. It is probably the best start to a season in his career.
Up next the Rangers play the Angels in Aneheim, and the Angels start has been opposite to the Rangers. The Angels are 1-5 with a team ERA of 3.67. They have a team batting average of .178. Since I have already proved I am a glass half empty guy, I am slightly worried about the four game series against Mike Trout and the Angels. IF a team starts that bad they are going to turn it around at some point, I just hope they wait until after this weekend to do it. They have to much talent to be as bad as they have been so far. Should be a fun weekend of baseball, time to see how the other four starters do their second start.
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