The Baltimore Orioles will travel to Arlington to face the Texas Rangers Friday night in the American League’s first ever Wild Card Showdown.
Both teams finished the year with 93-69 records, and 2nd place finishes in the American League Eastern and Western Divisions respectively. The two-time defending AL Champion Rangers won the season series against the O’s 5-2, outscoring Baltimore 56-24.
Baltimore finished the 2012 season with a 46-35 road record, while the Rangers were 50-31 at home.
Texas will start Yu Darvish.
Darvish 2012: 16-9, 3.90 era, 191.1 ip, 156 hits, 14 hr’s, 89 bb’s, 221 k’s, .659 OPS against, 0.91 G/F
Vs. Left: 464 Total Batters Faced, .231 baa, 35 xbh’s, 54 bb’s, 120 k’s, .674 OPS against
Vs. Right: 352 Total Batter Faced, .207 baa, 22 xbh’s, 35 bb’s, 101 k’s, .640 OPS against
Texas Reading:
Dallas Morning News: http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/
ESPN Dallas: http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-rangers
Baseball Time In Arlington: http://www.bbtia.com/
Lone Star Blog: http://www.lonestarball.com/
The Newberg Report: http://www.newbergreport.com/
Rangers:
Runs 1st
Batting Average 3rd
On Base % 4th
Slugging % 2nd
ERA 16th
Quality Starts 14th
WHIP 9th
BAA 12th
Depth Chart:
C: Napoli .812 OPS
1st: Moreland .789 OPS
2nd: Kinsler .749 OPS
SS: Andrus .727 OPS
3rd: Beltre .921 OPS
LF: Murphy .859 OPS
CF: Hamilton .930 OPS
RF: Cruz .779 OPS
DH: Young .682 OPS
Bench: Soto, Gentry, Olt, Profar, Snyder
Bullpen: Nathan, Adams, Uehara, Ogando, Ross, Kirkman, Lowe
I expect the Orioles to start Steve Johnson.
Johnson 2012: 4-0, 2.11 era, 12 games, 4 starts, 38.1 ip, 23 hits, 4 hr’s, 18 bb’s, 46 k’s, .561 OPS against, 3.79 xFIP.
Johnson’s k rate has been a real surprise to me, and the hits per ip give indication that hitters are not having a lot of good ab’s against him. The only negative number that jumps out to me is the 0.36 G/F ratio. Looking forward with Johnson, I still think he projects best as a swing starter / bullpen type arm; but he has performed well in the opportunities he has be given this year, and might have a chance to be a back of rotation arm. As far as Friday night goes, I would be hoping to get 4-5 innings out of him before going to the bullpen.
My bullpen would be: Johnson, Strop, O’Day, Ayala, Patton, Matusz, Arrieta, Hunter, Bundy, and Britton (I think it is reasonable to believe Saunders will make the roster over Bundy or Britton, but that would not be my choice.)
Wieters
Reynolds, Flaherty, Hardy, Machado
Jones, McLouth, Davis
Thome
Teagarden, Chavez, Ford, Avery, Andino
Ideally I would have started Hammel Friday, if he had not pitched the simulated game earlier this week. Showalter has indicated that Hammel will not be available prior to Saturday.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.