As of today, the leader has to be Leonys Martin, who has eight hits in 19 at-bats this spring while driving in two runs and stealing two bases. Craig Gentry and Julio Borbon are close behind Martin, as both have seen a significant amount of big league playing time in their careers. Gentry has a .429 batting average during Cactus League play this year, while Borbon is hitting .333 with six hits in 18 at-bats. But is there room for one more experienced player in the race for a big league job?
Aaron Cunningham hopes that there is room. Cunningham has 452 major league at-bats, with the majority of them coming while he was with the San Diego Padres in 2010-2011. Cunningham also appeared in 72 games for the Cleveland Indians in 2012. But this spring Cunningham has been on fire, with five hits in 13 at-bats, including three doubles and a home run. Cunningham is a long shot to make the big league team, but if other teams around the league have interest in trading for Gentry or Borbon, there could be a fifth outfielder spot that Cunningham could have a chance to steal.
Cunningham was one of the big hitters in the Rangers 7-6 loss to Seattle on Sunday, going 2-2 with a solo home run and a double. Cunningham was one of the guys in the lineup that almost helped Texas come back from an early 6-1 deficit.
That deficit was too much to overcome, and it was there because of a poor performance from the Rangers starting pitcher, Jason Grimm. Grimm went just 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs on six hits and two walks. While he did strike out four hitters, Grimm gave up a pair of two run homers (to Kendry Morales and Jesus Montero) and gave up three doubles as well. Grimm was hit hard, and may have taken himself out of the race for the final spot in the starting rotation.
The bullpen was phenomenal in relief of Grimm, as the final seven guys out of the bullpen only allowed one run on four hits. Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless fourth inning for Texas, but give up one hit and a walk. Josh Lindblom, who the Rangers acquired in the trade with Philadelphia sending Michael Young to the Phillies, pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out one hitter.
The sad news out of Sunday's game was the injury to pitcher Martin Perez, who was hit by a line drive during the sixth inning just above his left wrist. The reports are that Perez suffered a fracture of the ulna bone in his left forearm. Perez will miss about two months, which would go about a month into the season. Perez was ahead of Grimm for the final rotation spot, but now the Rangers will have to consider other options.
Offensively for the Rangers, things were fairly balanced. No player drove in more than one run in the game, as the Rangers got RBI from six different players. Lance Berkman was one of the Rangers who drove in a run, as he once again was the designated hitter in the lead-off spot in the lineup.
David Murphy went 2-2 for the Rangers while batting third, but did not drive in a run with his pair of singles. Engel Beltre, who got the start in right field went 1-3 at the plate, but his one hit was a run scoring triple. Jurickson Profar added a double as his one hit in three plate appearances.
Ian Kinsler, Geovany Soto and Mike Olt each started for Texas as well, and each of them went without a hit in three at-bats. Craig Gentry went 1-3 and scored a run while starting in center field, and his replacement Julio Borbon went 2-2 at the plate with a run scored and an RBI.
Joey Butler went 1-2 with an RBI and a walk after replacing Lance Berkman in the lineup. Brandon Allen started at first base for Texas, going 1-2 with a walk. Jeff Baker replaced Allen in the game, then went 0-2 with a strikeout. Jim Adduci went 0-2 for Texas with an RBI to round out the box score.
Once again, a bad performance by a pitcher cost the Rangers a chance to win the game, as Texas outhit Seattle in the game 12-10, while Seattle also committed four errors compared to one for Texas (Profar). Texas got two runs in the 7th inning and two in the 9th, but could not complete the comeback after Seattle scored two runs in each of the first three innings.
Next Up: The Rangers will be back at home in Surprise for a tilt with the 6-5 Padres. San Diego has won three spring games in a row, including a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Pitchers have not been announced for the game as of the release of this entry.
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