Friday night in Arlington, Cole Hamels took the mound knowing that the Rangers needed him to go deep into the ballgame. A day after the Rangers 13-inning, 1-0 marathon win, there was no room for an inconsistent, short Hamels performance.
Hamels responded like a veteran, ace pitcher responds—8 strong innings, allowing just 1 run.
Performances like Friday night remind us why it’s too early to panic. The question all season has never been whether or not the Rangers possessed the ability to win baseball games. The question has been more about resolve, about consistency, and the ability to string performances like Friday night together. Coming into Friday night’s game, the Rangers had won back-to-back games just once all year.
When you’re 5 games under .500 this early in the year, you can’t afford to ride the wheel of mediocrity long. The Rangers know that and they know that how they finish April could very well define the rest of their season. As is often said, you can’t win the division in April, but you sure can lose it.
Friday night was a step toward consistency; now we just need to see that performance again, and again, and again.
Pitching: When Cole Hamels reminds you why you traded for him two years ago, it’s always a good night.
On Thursday night, the Kansas City Royals had 41 at-bats, just 4 hits, and did not score a single run. On Friday night, the Royals had 2 at-bats against Cole Hamels and were on the scoreboard. Just like that, it was 1-0 as doom and gloom tried to make its way into Globe Life well before the forecasters had said it would. When the inning ended, Hamels had thrown 21 pitches, and just 11 of those were strikes. It’s that type of start, for Hamels, that makes his final line so impressive:
8 innings pitched, 3 hits, 3 strikeouts, 2 walks, and just 1 run allowed.
The night’s pitch count for Hamels was 107, as he averaged just over 12 pitches per inning the rest of the way. Furthermore, after throwing just 50% of his pitches for strikes in the first inning, Hamels responded by throwing strikes at a 70% clip the rest of the way. For the game, Hamels strike percentage was a healthy 66%.
On the night, Hamels best pitch was his fastball as he had excellent control and feel for the pitch. According to Brooks Baseball, Hamels threw 50 fastballs at a 78% strike rate. Of the 24 outs, 11 of those were off the fastball.
Hamels had this to say when asked about his start:
“Being able to go out there deep, I mean, I know the bullpen, with what happened last night, with the pitchers. Our pen did outstanding, and, I mean, even on their side. You want to at least take some of the heat off of them and give them a break, so good enough that Chirinos and I had a really good game plan and were able to stick with it and we had good results.”
When asked about the team overall and how they turn the page after a slow start, Hamels had this to say:
“I think every day we come in here, it’s a new day, and we’re not dreading what happened the day before or the week before. Everything is in the past is in the past, and we’re always looking to this day, this moment. We’re not even really looking towards tomorrow. I think guys have a really good time when we come in. The clubhouse chemistry that we have here has been outstanding from Day 1, and I think that’s been something that’s been very exciting to be a part of. And that’s what it takes.”
Hitting: Forget Fulton and Portman. Move over McGwire and Canseco. Step up Gallo and Chirinos?
Yes, you probably can’t get named after the bash brothers in one night, or even a pair of movie Mighty Ducks, but the show Joey Gallo and Robinson Chirinos put on Friday night was certainly worthy of the comparison for one night at least. Chirinos and Gallo both went yard twice, knocking in 5 of the Rangers six runs, giving Hamels more than enough cushion to do his thing.
On a night, when all the attention should have been on Gallo, you have to give it to Chirinos. He’s the back-up catcher, getting at-bats just a few times a week, and he goes out and hits two bombs on a night when the Rangers needed to see runs cross the plate.
In just 16 official at-bats this year, Chirinos is hitting .375 with three home runs and 8 RBIs. Think about that: in just 16 at-bats, Chirinos is second on the team in home runs and 3rd in RBIs. That’s more than you could ever ask for out of the back-up catcher position. And remember it come summer and the stretch run; this team has the luxury of a two-headed monster at catcher, which has a ton of value in many different ways.
Joey Gallo came into Friday night sitting on three home runs for the year, still seeming on the verge of really getting going but not quite there yet. Perhaps Joey’s double late Thursday night gave him some momentum because his next two at-bats ended with fireworks and the theme song from The Natural playing over the loud-speaker.
Gallo’s first home run was by far his most impressive, as he demolished a low and inside fastball down the right field line. The ball was a line drive shot that just keep going, completely over the stands into the concourse just before the popcorn cart. When the numbers came out from StatCast, the home run was the farthest and hardest hit by anyone in baseball this year: 462 feet, with an exit velocity of 116 mph. In Gallo’s next at-bat, he hit another home run, this time on a first pitch curveball that stayed up in the zone. This home run was especially impressive because it came early in the count.
One of the most impressive things about Gallo’s performance this year has been his ability to work the count and get on base, even if it means taking a free pass. Lately however, it has seemed that in his quest to see pitches and stay patient, Gallo has almost been waiting too long to get the perfect pitch to hit. Don’t get me wrong; long at bats and walks are great, but sometimes you just have to go up swinging.
Gallo touched on his approach and what may have changed Friday night:
“I just wanted to get some pitches in the zone today and take good swings on them. Mash (assistant hitting coach Justin Mashore) was just kind of reminding me today that I was just trying to do too much and put the ball in play and he said, ‘Don’t try to hit .300. Be you.’ So my at-bats after that have been more the way I play and swing.”
This is a great sign for Joey: keep the adjustments you have made, but don’t let it affect who you are .You’re probably not going to hit .300, but that’s okay, because it’s not who you are.
If Friday night is who Joey Gallo is, well, that’s more than the fans and the Rangers could ever ask for.
Moving Forward
The Rangers will look to keep their momentum going on Saturday evening and will need a big performance from spot-starter Nick Martinez for that to happen. A.J. Griffin, the game’s scheduled starter, will be sidelined for at least this start with gout in his left ankle, so Martinez gets the call.
If the Rangers can take care of business Saturday night, they will have a great opportunity to sweep the Royals Sunday afternoon with Yu Darvish on the mound.
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