Rangers Update 8-18-2010

In the past few days the Rangers have held strong in the West, although they are ailing.  Michael Young who is suffering from a sore neck.  He has been in and out of the lineup for a few days, but he is still on the 25 man roster.  The Rangers haven’t been as lucky with another player.

The biggest loss was that of right fielder Nelson Cruz was placed on to the disabled list on Monday and they reactivated Joaquin Arias from the disabled list to take his roster spot.  This is Cruz’s third trip to the disabled list for hamstring injuries and the second time for a left hamstring injury.

I actually had the opportunity to speak with Cruz earlier this summer and at the time he was on the disabled list. During the interview he was really awesome to speak with and seems like a great guy.  Since this is his third hamstring issue this season, he should really spend his off season in Arizona working on conditioning.

One good thing to now is that Josh Hamilton is still putting up MVP numbers and there is a very good chance he could net the honors once the season is complete.  He is hitting .356 with 26 home runs and 81 RBI’s.  He is absolutely killing right handed pitching with .403 with 20 of his 26 home runs coming from right handed pitching.

In his 452 at-bat’s he has a 2 to 1 ratio for right handed to left handed pitching.  Also out of his 81 RBI’s 63 of them have come from right handed pitching.  Hamilton also has been amazing on defense making some pretty impressive plays in the field over the past few days.

The Rangers just finished a three game series at Tampa Bay who is tied atop the American League East with the Yankees. In three games they were swept and they were outscored a total of 24-13. I am sure the Rangers are glad that they are heading out of Tampa Bay and up to Baltimore for a four game series against the Orioles.

The Orioles have new Manager/ former ESPN Analyst in Buck Showalter and have played exceptional better since he took over the helm of the team.  They are still at the bottom of the American League West witha 42-79 record.  The Rangers will spend the weekend in Baltimore before heading home to Arlington to play a four game series against the Twins who are also leading their division.