It’s nothing but playoff teams from here on out. Here is the report card for the American League Champions, the Texas Rangers!
Texas Rangers
Record: 90-72 (First place in AL West, nine games ahead of Oakland. American League Champions.)
Record: 90-72 (First place in AL West, nine games ahead of Oakland. American League Champions.)
Batting Leaders
Batting Average: Josh Hamilton (.359)
Home Runs: Josh Hamilton (32)
RBIs: Vladimir Guerrero (115)
On-base Percentage: Josh Hamilton (.411)
Batting Average: Josh Hamilton (.359)
Home Runs: Josh Hamilton (32)
RBIs: Vladimir Guerrero (115)
On-base Percentage: Josh Hamilton (.411)
Pitching Leaders
Wins: C.J. Wilson (15)
Strikeouts: Colby Lewis (196)
Innings Pitched: C.J. Wilson (204)
ERA: C.J. Wilson (3.35). Bullpen- Alexi Ogando (1.30)
WHIP: Colby Lewis (1.19). Bullpen- Neftali Feliz (0.88)
Saves: Neftali Feliz (40)
Highlight of the Season: On October 22, the Rangers defeated the Yankees in Game Six of the ALCS 6-1, to clinch the American League Pennant, the first in team history.
Lowlight of the Season: The euphoria from the AL Pennant would quickly end just 10 days later, as they fell to the Giants in Game Five of the World Series 3-1 to lose the Fall Classic, four games to one.
The Lowdown:
While some considered Texas a dark horse in the American League West, nobody could have imagined the impressive season the Rangers would have this year, as they ran away with the division en route to their first pennant in team history. The team finally was able to back up their impressive offense with good pitching, as C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and company were able to pitch efficiently enough to get the team out to a big lead in the division early. Then, on July 9, the Rangers acquired ace lefty Cliff Lee in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, and that seemed to be the icing on the cake for this team, as Lee strengthened an already decent rotation. With Oakland’s mediocrity, Seattle’s ineptitude and Los Angeles’ bad luck, the Rangers were able to easily coast to their first division title in 11 years.
Offense:
Texas had arguably the most intimidating lineup in baseball this year, featuring Josh Hamilton, a rejuvenated Vladimir Guerrero and the ever-capable bats of Nelson Cruz and Michael Young. Hamilton was simply impressive last year, hitting an American League-best .359, with 32 home runs and 100 RBIs in just 133 games. Even though he missed a great portion of September, his numbers were still good enough for him to earn the AL MVP, and deservedly so.
Behind him was DH Vladimir Guerrero, who had a phenomenal comeback year, hitting .300, with 29 home runs and 115 RBIs in 152 games. His resurgence no doubt played a big part on this team, making their lineup more formidable, as well as providing Hamilton some protection in the order.
Adding more pop in the lineup was outfielder Nelson Cruz, who hit .318 with 22 home runs and 78 RBIs in just 108 games. Third baseman Michael Young also continued to do what he does best, and that’s hit consistently. He finished with a .284 average, with 22 home runs and 91 driven in, as he missed another 200-hit campaign by only 14 safeties. Ian Kinsler, David Murphy and Elvis Andrus also contributed to making this lineup an imposing one as well.
Overall, Texas finished fifth in runs (787), first in batting average (.276), sixth in on-base percentage (.338), ninth in slugging (.419) and 10th in homers (162). When you take into consideration that Hamilton and Cruz each missed some time due to injuries, it makes this lineup look all the more impressive.
Final Grade: A+
Pitching:
The backbone of this team that led them to new-found glory in the American League was their pitching. Texas’ starting rotation to begin the year was led by a very capable stable of arms including Colby Lewis, C.J. Wilson and Tommy Hunter. The even more impressive part about their pitching was that they were able to perform well in spite of the performance of Scott Feldman, their 17-game winner from 2009. Feldman finished with a 5.48 ERA in 22 starts, along with an unspectacular WHIP of 1.60, a far cry from his 2009 numbers, when he recorded a 17-9 record with a 4.08 ERA in 189.2 innings.
Meanwhile, the other aforementioned three stepped up to account for the lack of performance put together by last year’s staff ace. Lefty C.J. Wilson stepped up big this year, recording a staff-high 33 starts and 15 wins to go with a solid 3.35 ERA. Behind him was Colby Lewis, who came up big during the regular-season and the postseason, going 12-13 in the regular season with a 3.72 ERA before going 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four playoff starts.
Rounding out their initial trio of starters is 23-year-old Tommy Hunter, who finished with a fantastic 13-4 record with a decent 3.73 ERA in his second full big-league season. These three starters were good enough to get Texas out to a sizable lead in the fairly weak AL West, but once they acquired lefty Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners, the division was effectively put to rest. Lee made 15 starts with Texas, going just 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA, but his WHIP was still a spectacular 1.06 in that time span. These four starters would form the best rotation of any American League team in the postseason last year, and looking back, I’m surprised that they were even considered a “surprise pennant winner.”
Their bullpen was just as effective last year, as they featured four pitchers with ERAs under three with at least 40 appearances. Righty Darren O’Day made the most appearances out of the ‘pen with 72, and he did a remarkable job as a set-up man for Neftali Feliz, recording 22 holds, a 2.03 ERA and a WHIP of 0.89. Slamming the door on games was AL Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz, who set the record for saves by a rookie with 40, and he was just as good as O’Day statistically, recording a 2.73 ERA along with a WHIP of 0.88. The seemingly ageless Darren Oliver continued to be effective out of the bullpen, finishing with 2.48 ERA in 64 appearances, while Alexi Ogando was lights-out, recording a 1.30 ERA in 44 appearances.
Overall, the Rangers finished 10th in MLB in ERA (3.93), sixth in “batting average against” (.246), 11th in WHIP (1.31) and ninth in home runs allowed (162). You can give Texas a mulligan for surrendering as many home runs as they did, considering that they play in one of the more homer-friendly ballparks in baseball. Even though this staff collectively doesn’t “wow” you, they are more than capable of getting the job done night in and night out, even without Cliff Lee.
Final Grade: B+
Wild Card: Ron Washington
Even though we already know about his admission of testing positive for cocaine during Spring Training last year, Washington was able to successfully battle back from his demons to lead this Rangers squad to the penthouse of the American League. Their playoff appearance last year was their first since 1999, and their AL West title was a breath of fresh air in a division that usually saw either the Angels or A’s win it time and again (Those two teams accounted for nine of the ten division titles won in the AL West between 2000 and 2009). The work he did in battling back from an embarrassing personal situation to lead this team to the playoffs should have earned him AL Manager of the Year, but I guess the voters apparently thought that Minnesota’s Ron Gardenhire did a better job with a team that was already expected to win the division. Oh well.
Final Grade: A+
Overall:
The Rangers were able to take advantage of a weak division last year, and more power to them. What’s even better is that they did not become complacent after winning their division so handily, something that has befallen many runaway division winners in the past once playoff time came around. Hopefully for the Rangers and their fans, 2010 should just be the beginning of more great things to come for this franchise.
Final Grade: A+
Check back soon for the report card on the Atlanta Braves!
Wins: C.J. Wilson (15)
Strikeouts: Colby Lewis (196)
Innings Pitched: C.J. Wilson (204)
ERA: C.J. Wilson (3.35). Bullpen- Alexi Ogando (1.30)
WHIP: Colby Lewis (1.19). Bullpen- Neftali Feliz (0.88)
Saves: Neftali Feliz (40)
Highlight of the Season: On October 22, the Rangers defeated the Yankees in Game Six of the ALCS 6-1, to clinch the American League Pennant, the first in team history.
Lowlight of the Season: The euphoria from the AL Pennant would quickly end just 10 days later, as they fell to the Giants in Game Five of the World Series 3-1 to lose the Fall Classic, four games to one.
The Lowdown:
While some considered Texas a dark horse in the American League West, nobody could have imagined the impressive season the Rangers would have this year, as they ran away with the division en route to their first pennant in team history. The team finally was able to back up their impressive offense with good pitching, as C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and company were able to pitch efficiently enough to get the team out to a big lead in the division early. Then, on July 9, the Rangers acquired ace lefty Cliff Lee in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, and that seemed to be the icing on the cake for this team, as Lee strengthened an already decent rotation. With Oakland’s mediocrity, Seattle’s ineptitude and Los Angeles’ bad luck, the Rangers were able to easily coast to their first division title in 11 years.
Offense:
Texas had arguably the most intimidating lineup in baseball this year, featuring Josh Hamilton, a rejuvenated Vladimir Guerrero and the ever-capable bats of Nelson Cruz and Michael Young. Hamilton was simply impressive last year, hitting an American League-best .359, with 32 home runs and 100 RBIs in just 133 games. Even though he missed a great portion of September, his numbers were still good enough for him to earn the AL MVP, and deservedly so.
Behind him was DH Vladimir Guerrero, who had a phenomenal comeback year, hitting .300, with 29 home runs and 115 RBIs in 152 games. His resurgence no doubt played a big part on this team, making their lineup more formidable, as well as providing Hamilton some protection in the order.
Adding more pop in the lineup was outfielder Nelson Cruz, who hit .318 with 22 home runs and 78 RBIs in just 108 games. Third baseman Michael Young also continued to do what he does best, and that’s hit consistently. He finished with a .284 average, with 22 home runs and 91 driven in, as he missed another 200-hit campaign by only 14 safeties. Ian Kinsler, David Murphy and Elvis Andrus also contributed to making this lineup an imposing one as well.
Overall, Texas finished fifth in runs (787), first in batting average (.276), sixth in on-base percentage (.338), ninth in slugging (.419) and 10th in homers (162). When you take into consideration that Hamilton and Cruz each missed some time due to injuries, it makes this lineup look all the more impressive.
Final Grade: A+
Pitching:
The backbone of this team that led them to new-found glory in the American League was their pitching. Texas’ starting rotation to begin the year was led by a very capable stable of arms including Colby Lewis, C.J. Wilson and Tommy Hunter. The even more impressive part about their pitching was that they were able to perform well in spite of the performance of Scott Feldman, their 17-game winner from 2009. Feldman finished with a 5.48 ERA in 22 starts, along with an unspectacular WHIP of 1.60, a far cry from his 2009 numbers, when he recorded a 17-9 record with a 4.08 ERA in 189.2 innings.
Meanwhile, the other aforementioned three stepped up to account for the lack of performance put together by last year’s staff ace. Lefty C.J. Wilson stepped up big this year, recording a staff-high 33 starts and 15 wins to go with a solid 3.35 ERA. Behind him was Colby Lewis, who came up big during the regular-season and the postseason, going 12-13 in the regular season with a 3.72 ERA before going 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in four playoff starts.
Rounding out their initial trio of starters is 23-year-old Tommy Hunter, who finished with a fantastic 13-4 record with a decent 3.73 ERA in his second full big-league season. These three starters were good enough to get Texas out to a sizable lead in the fairly weak AL West, but once they acquired lefty Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners, the division was effectively put to rest. Lee made 15 starts with Texas, going just 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA, but his WHIP was still a spectacular 1.06 in that time span. These four starters would form the best rotation of any American League team in the postseason last year, and looking back, I’m surprised that they were even considered a “surprise pennant winner.”
Their bullpen was just as effective last year, as they featured four pitchers with ERAs under three with at least 40 appearances. Righty Darren O’Day made the most appearances out of the ‘pen with 72, and he did a remarkable job as a set-up man for Neftali Feliz, recording 22 holds, a 2.03 ERA and a WHIP of 0.89. Slamming the door on games was AL Rookie of the Year Neftali Feliz, who set the record for saves by a rookie with 40, and he was just as good as O’Day statistically, recording a 2.73 ERA along with a WHIP of 0.88. The seemingly ageless Darren Oliver continued to be effective out of the bullpen, finishing with 2.48 ERA in 64 appearances, while Alexi Ogando was lights-out, recording a 1.30 ERA in 44 appearances.
Overall, the Rangers finished 10th in MLB in ERA (3.93), sixth in “batting average against” (.246), 11th in WHIP (1.31) and ninth in home runs allowed (162). You can give Texas a mulligan for surrendering as many home runs as they did, considering that they play in one of the more homer-friendly ballparks in baseball. Even though this staff collectively doesn’t “wow” you, they are more than capable of getting the job done night in and night out, even without Cliff Lee.
Final Grade: B+
Wild Card: Ron Washington
Even though we already know about his admission of testing positive for cocaine during Spring Training last year, Washington was able to successfully battle back from his demons to lead this Rangers squad to the penthouse of the American League. Their playoff appearance last year was their first since 1999, and their AL West title was a breath of fresh air in a division that usually saw either the Angels or A’s win it time and again (Those two teams accounted for nine of the ten division titles won in the AL West between 2000 and 2009). The work he did in battling back from an embarrassing personal situation to lead this team to the playoffs should have earned him AL Manager of the Year, but I guess the voters apparently thought that Minnesota’s Ron Gardenhire did a better job with a team that was already expected to win the division. Oh well.
Final Grade: A+
Overall:
The Rangers were able to take advantage of a weak division last year, and more power to them. What’s even better is that they did not become complacent after winning their division so handily, something that has befallen many runaway division winners in the past once playoff time came around. Hopefully for the Rangers and their fans, 2010 should just be the beginning of more great things to come for this franchise.
Final Grade: A+
Check back soon for the report card on the Atlanta Braves!
