When the defending American League champion Texas Rangers opted not to try and negotiate with free agent pitcher CJ Wilson, instead spending hundreds of millions to bring on a relative unknown in Yu Darvish, there were a good number of per head bookies that had their doubts about the decision. With Darvish picking up his major league-leading sixth win of the season in a 4-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night, it is safe to say that nobody is doubting the first-place Rangers anymore, as they continue to inch closer to a third-straight World Series appearance.
While Darvish is only one piece in a large betting equation that has Texas out front in the AL West once again, his play early on this season has been solid enough to think that he could be one of the answers for the question marks left by consecutive World Series defeats. The 25-year old looks like an absolute stud, striking out at least seven batters in each of his last five starts, the longest streak for a Rangers’ pitcher since 1987. Over that same span, Darvish has thrown first-pitch strikes to 60-percent of the batters he has faced, factoring in a changeup to go with the curveball and fastball he opened the year with. The Texas pitching staff ranks fourth in the majors in ERA with a combined 3.24 mark, with Darvish leading the way at 2.60, and three other starters keeping their number under 4.00 including Neftali Feliz, Colby Lewis, and Derek Holland. The depth the Rangers have demonstrated in their starting rotation has allowed them to move Alexi Ogando in to a relief role, where he has combined with Mike Adams for 13 holds already. Closer Joe Nathan has already recorded eight saves, completing what could very well be the deepest pitching staff in baseball, if not the best according to the stats on the sites listed by the sportsbook reviews.
For all of the sportsbook points we have already made about the pitching staff, it is that much more incredible that Texas’ offense has been even better, leading the majors in runs scored, batting average, slugging percentage, and ranked second in on-base percentage. Everybody knows just how good Josh Hamilton has been early on with 18 home runs already and a .408 average, but the Rangers also have five other regulars that are hitting over .270, with Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Nelson Cruz the three among them that have already hit 20 RBI in addition toHamilton’s 45.
As far as the MLB blogs evaluation is concerned, this Rangers’ team is actually better than the two that lost in the World Series in consecutive seasons, a scary thought considering how good those teams were.Texas is undoubtedly the most complete team in the majors, and as long as they can maintain their focus and consistency throughout the length of this marathon season, the Rangers will once again be right there contending for a World Series championship in what could be their best chance at finally bringing a title home.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.