2/25 Rangers Recap: Colorado 9, Texas 1

Ok, I'm sick of the losing.  I don't care if it is only Spring Training, I'm tired of the Rangers getting beat.

I'm greedy, what can I say.

This is a team that went to two consecutive World Series in 2010 and 2011, and underachieved late in 2012, or they might have gotten back again.

So excuse me if I have changed my way of thinking to be that the Rangers should win any game on any day against any opponent regardless of whether it's Spring Training or a three game series in the middle of August.

And for the most part, the Rangers have not been horrible, but a few bad pitching performances this spring have really gotten me concerned.  Derek Holland did not look good in his first start, and neither did Matt Harrison.  And with a fifth spot in the rotation basically up for grabs, someone needs to step it up.

And Martin Perez may have helped his case on Monday.  He pitched two perfect innings against Colorado while striking out two Rockies.  One of main competitors for that spot is Justin Grimm, and he did not do much to impress Ron Washington and Mike Maddux today.  He allowed four hits and three runs in his two innings on Monday.  When you get a chance to follow a guy you are competing against, you probably shouldn't lay an egg.

Offensively the Rangers struggled against a weak lineup of Rockies pitching, mustering all of five hits and a lone run in the sixth inning.

Ian Kinsler drove in the only run in the contest for Texas on a sacrifice fly that scored Leonys Martin.

Texas is at least putting the ball in play as they only struck out three times in the contest, while walking three times as well.  They stranded eleven runners on base, which has been a problem during the first week of the spring.

The outfield competition is heating up as well, and I love it.  We know Murphy and Cruz are going to have the corner spots, but who will be in center?

I'm personally rooting for Craig Gentry, but Leonys Martin has been very good this spring.  He went 2-3 as the designated hitter on Monday, and is hitting .556 in four games.

Jurickson Profar walked in his lone plate appearance on Monday, and Elvis Andrus is off to a slow start this spring batting just .167 after a 1-2 day.

David Murphy and Nelson Cruz combined to go 0-6, and Mitch Moreland was 1-3.

Just to give you an idea of how the offense has struggled this spring, only two Rangers with more than three plate appearances have an average above .300; Leonys Martin (.556) and Craig Gentry (.375).

Texas falls to 0-3-1 on the spring, while Colorado improved to 2-1.

Next Up: Texas will be back at home in Surprise facing the Chicago White Sox who have gotten off to an equally slow start with a 0-1-2 record entering Tuesday.  Yu Darvish will make his first start of the spring for Texas, while Nestor Molina will be on the rubber to get things started for Chicago.