Out Of The Gates, Onto The Pine: Bench Battle
Let’s face it, there are now zero spots in the Texas Rangers Opening Day 9-man roster to be decided (barring injury, of course). Your likely lineup against the Seattle Mariners’ King Felix Hernandez...
View ArticleRangers Take A Spring Holaday To Solve Their Catching Woes
It’s no secret one of the struggles that have plagued Jon Daniels during his tenure as GM is bench building. Texas, at times, has had below average subs but over the last two seasons, Daniels has made...
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Texas Rangers Hitters in Daily Fantasy Sports (FanDuel, DraftKings, DFS)
Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) is awesome. Greedy politicians who are in the pockets of casinos, and those who fully support lotteries but attempt to eliminate DFS because they find it a “game of chance,”...
View ArticleChirinos To The DL, Choo Out, Mazara Coming Up?
Saturday was a big day for the Rangers. It was announced shortly before game time that right fielder Shin-Soo Choo was being scratched from his start due to a strained calf muscle and that he would be...
View ArticleStop the Whining! Rangers Fans are Spoiled
Right now, it’s Monday morning. It’s about 5:30 and I’m sitting down to write while reviewing the Rangers opening week in my mind. Baseball is back. Not “pitchers and catchers report”. Not spring...
View ArticleChirinos Injury Gives Opportunity Behind the Plate
Aside from the pitcher, the most important defensive position has to be the catcher. If for no other reason at all, this player touches the ball more than any person on the field. Communication with...
View ArticleWinter Patience Paying Early Dividends
Two clichés to ponder: “Patience is a virtue.” “You can’t win the division in April, but you can lose it.” The first has most certainly come into play in being able to use the second. Several of the...
View Article20 in 20: A Huge Test of Managerial Fortitude
From afar, and if we, as fans, only looked at results, the Texas Rangers are in great shape. At .585, they are owners of the second-best winning percentage and record in the American League. Their...
View ArticleBack It Up: The State of Catching in Arlington
Rangers won’t survive having Holaday and Nicolas as their catchers — jamie (@JamieLanders10) April 26, 2016 @Friar_Faithful so why you keep trying to send him to texas. The Rangers already have enough...
View ArticleWith one trial down, another difficult test awaits Texas
It’s June 24th and the Texas Rangers are enjoying their largest division lead at the earliest point in time in franchise history. They just finished a stretch of 20 games in 20 days, made possible by a...
View ArticleFirst half debrief: Despite heavy blows, Rangers remain standing
When the season started for the 2016 Texas Rangers, the fans held lofty expectations. Certain professionals had them listed as division winners, at the least, and a select few were expecting a...
View ArticleRay(s) of hope: Tampa Bay the key to Texas’ pitching revival
When I first started playing fantasy football in 1995, I joined an existing league and one of the veteran owners warned me, “That guy is the devil. Don’t make any trades with the devil, you’ll regret...
View Article2016 Texas Rangers 2.0: Win Now
By the time 4:00 PM EST/3:00 PM CST rolled around on Monday, August 1st, 2016, the Texas Rangers had changed from utilizing role players with a perpetually fighting “next man up” mentality to a...
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Jonathon Lucroy: Texas’ New Pitch Framing Expert
I’ve listened to a lot of sports talk radio while reading several articles and tweets since the Rangers picked up Jonathan Lucroy yesterday at the non-waiver trade deadline. The general consensus seems...
View ArticleDiagnosing(and curing) the Rangers’ offensive maladies
I don’t think it’s a big secret that a lot of analysis is based in guesswork. At least in how you start. You identify a problem or situation, before figuring out what’s wrong or right. It’s rare that...
View ArticleThe Most to Prove: Rangers playing with a purpose in October
When FanGraphs has conceded that the Texas Rangers are the inevitable American League West Division Champs, it’s easy for us blog writers to say “No News is Good News.” Right now, nothing terribly...
View ArticleOn the Fringe: Best and Worst Last Impressions for Rangers Postseason Roster
One-hundred and sixty-two games have been played. Now, what? Now it’s time to play more, of course, but the question remains: Who gets to play? Who gets to be a part of the Rangers postseason roster?...
View ArticleContract Extensions – Three Up?
One of the more prominent signs of a successful ball club is the ability to lock up talent for the long term, thus establishing a core to build around. Gone is the idea of a “franchise player,” as it’s...
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First Half Report Cards – Part 2
It’s (still) the All Star break and now is the perfect time for the Rangers midterm report cards! Over the next few days, Shutdown Inning will be looking at key Rangers and evaluating their 2015 thus...
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Building the 2016 Rangers – The Position Players
Let me lead off with a qualifier: I’ve tried to be both optimistic and realistic in the moves below. I’ve given us the benefit of the doubt in places, both in terms of trade partners and in terms of...
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