Texas Rangers Spring Training Recap: March 3rd

Mar 2, 2014; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers second baseman

(3) works out prior to the game against the Detroit Tigers at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers day began with the breaking news that Ian Kinsler slammed his former franchise (mostly the front office, and more specifically Jon Daniels) and said he hopes they get their a** beat.

Several writers gave their take on the controversy here on NolanWritin.com. My reaction was very emotional and very immediate. Jennifer’s was about the players reaction, Brice had a great piece about villans and Donny had a well thought out piece supporting Ian. Be sure to check them out if you have not.

The Texas Rangers had their first televised game of the season against the LA Angles of Anaheim. The Rangers lost the game and Yu Darvish was not as sharp as he was in his first start, but overall it was enjoyable. We have some good ERA’s so far (fourteen different pitchers with an ERA of zero, ten of them have pitches at least one full inning), some have struggled to throw strikes and have a very high ERA (nine players with an ERA of 9.00 or higher).

The bats are going pretty well, with 13 players batting .300 or above, including Adrian Beltre, Prince Fielder, Alex Rios and Brent Lillibridge. The Texas Rangers seem to be able to hit pretty well, but one thing I took away from today’s game was the fact that the Texas Rangers batters didn’t seem to be taking a lot of pitches. There was a plethora of first pitch outs. I hope that gets better S the spring rolls on.

Then the Rangers picked up veteran left-hander Joe Saunders and according to sources he is signed to a major league contract.

The Rangers hope that Saunders can be a veteran presence for the younger players and provide some leadership and also ramp up the competition, now there is another player in the mix.

Up next the Rangers play the Rockies at 4:05 Texas time.