By Martin Iheke
After missing the first five months of the season, starting pitcher Derek Holland is set to make his season debut on Tuesday in Kansas City against the Royals. Holland had knee surgery in the offseason forcing him to miss most of this season and had been in the minors rehabbing. With the roster expanding to 40 and Holland done with his rehab assignment, the Texas Rangers decided to put him on the roster to finish out the season. “It’s kind of like being called up again,’’ Holland said according to dallasnews.com. “I’ll probably be excited getting out there, but I know how to calm myself down,’’ as he continued. The Rangers are hoping that Holland gets at least a few starts under his belt just to get a feel of where he is at in getting ready for next season.
In other news, the Rangers designated first baseman/designated hitter Mike Carp for assignment before last Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros. Carp has not worked at as well as the Rangers had hoped. Hitting .125 and with four RBIs does not scream productive at all. “It’s unfortunate, because he’s a pro,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said according to dallasnews.com. “He never got it going, but that part of it didn’t come into play. We didn’t do this because he didn’t get it going,” as he continued. I do not quite agree with Washington here. Carp had been given every opportunity to produce and he has not. It is better to give these opportunities to some of the younger prospects to see what they can do. One of those prospects is first baseman Ryan Rua who has been tearing it up in Double and Triple-A this season. According to dallasnews.com, he has hit .306 with 18 home runs and 74 RBIs. The Rangers called him up before last Friday night’s game at Astros making him the 59th player used by the team this season which ties an MLB record.
As for on the field, the Rangers are marching towards finishing the season with the worst record in all of baseball. They did take two of three at the Seattle Mariners, who are contending for the second wild card spot in the American League. One of the wins included a 12-4 win last Wednesday afternoon in the rubber match of the three-game series. Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor broke the game open with a grand slam in the third inning. He became the first Ranger to hit a grand slam on the road since Michael Young did it four years ago which happened to be in Seattle. “I’m always trying to do the best I can to help the team win,” Odor said according to mlb.com. “Sometimes you do good, sometimes you struggle. I feel good right now. I don’t look at the numbers, I just go out and play the game,” as he continued. Unfortunately, the Rangers could not follow that performance up with another one as they traveled down to Houston and lost three of four to the Astros. Their record stands at 53-83 which is the worst in the MLB. As of now; they have the inside track on nailing down the #1 pick in next year’s draft. They also will have a losing record for the first time in six years.
The Rangers will travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals in a three-game series starting on Monday night. After that, they will return home to start a four-game series against Mariners on Thursday night.
Upcoming Schedule
9/1 @Royals 7:10 p.m.
9/2 @Royals 7:10 p.m.
9/3 @Royals 7:10 p.m.
9/4 vs Mariners 7:05 p.m.
9/5 vs Mariners 7:05 p.m.
9/6 vs Mariners 7:05 p.m.
9/7 vs Mariners 2:05 p.m.
