Nolan Writin'
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Texas Rangers observations from Opening Week

By Heath Criswell

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Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers have played 7 games now and have a record of 3-4. If my prediction of 91-71 is going to come to fruition,  they need to win 88 more games. That can still happen, right? The shorts answer is yes. I know a lot of you think I’m losing my mind. Now is not the time to panic Rangers fans. It is still very early in the season.

I have some observations during the first week of play that have me a little concerned, but I’ve noticed good things too. My finger is not even close to the panic button yet.

1. Elvis Andrus has 4 errors. Needless to say, that is a lot especially being 7 games in the season. I don’t know how manager Jeff Banister will fix this, but I’m sure he’s been in his ear about this.

2. Prince Fielder is hitting the ball well. He is batting .379 and I think it’s safe to say that he is feeling better than last year. I’m still waiting for the home runs to come though. His defense has me a little concerned. We all have seen the video of Prince missing the pop out.

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3. The Rangers offense is sporadic and that is putting it nicely. I know every team can say this, but we just don’t know what we are going to get. One game we are getting 1 hit and the next we put up 10 runs.

4. Colby Lewis so far has been great. I know he gave up 4 runs yesterday in 1 inning. He settled down nicely and pitched 7.1 innings. He’s got an ERA of 3.38 through 2 starts.

5. Leonys Martin was robbed of a walk-off grand slam.

6. The Nolan Ryan curse is still alive and affecting the Rangers. When will this give up? I hope very soon. On opening day we lost Derek Holland for 2 months, Ryan Rua came out of the game and is in a walking boot due to a sprained ankle and Shin-Soo Choo was having back spasms, although he did play last night. It seems as though this whole curse may not ever end.

One last piece of news about Matt Harrison.

Also on a side note…I went to Opening Day with my mom this year. It was a first for both of us. It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted but an experience that neither of us will forget!

It did feel like the team didn’t have a lot of fight in them. Although with losing Holland, Choo and Rua they probably were deflated.

These were not in a particular order. Again, it’s way too early to panic. It’s easy to do but remind yourself that it has only been a week. Defensively we can only get better since we can’t get worse. Hopefully soon, the offense will find it’s stride and be more consistent. Holland will come back in 2 months. In July, we get Martin Perez back and hopefully he will be close to his old form.

Next: Rangers Week in Review

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