Jean-Jacques Taylor

Archive | Bio | E-mail

ARLINGTON – The Rangers don't deserve your faith. Or your hope. Or your optimism. They've done nothing over the last decade to earn it.

One day, perhaps.

Not now.

And the butt-kicking the raggedy San Diego Padres delivered Saturday night certainly won't make you feel any better about this team, which has lost 10 of its last 14 games, especially since the loss knocked the Rangers out of first place for the first time since May 6.

They trail the Angels by one-half game in the AL West.

That said, we can talk about the Rangers' pitiful offensive performance this month – they delivered another putrid effort against the Padres – but history says the Rangers will eventually hit and score runs.

It won't matter, though, if the starting pitching doesn't get more consistent. The starting rotation has been pretty good the first three months of the season, but injuries and ineffectiveness are starting to affect it.

Right now, Kevin Millwood is the only consistent starting pitcher. He's the only guy you can count on to deliver a quality performance virtually every time he steps on the mound.

That's not good enough.

Vicente Padilla has had four terrific starts since the Rangers tried to embarrass him by putting him on waivers, but would you bet your next house payment on how well he'll pitch? Of course not.

No one in the Rangers' front office or in the clubhouse has any idea when he'll go back to head-hunting and delivering disinterested performances. You certainly can't count on him.

Scott Feldman started 5-0 but has struggled since then. He's a six-inning pitcher, which means the bullpen is usually going to get a workout when he pitches. At least, for the most part, you know what he's going to give you.

Still, the fact he's a key member of the rotation says just about all you need to know about the depth and quality of this staff. There's a reason the Rangers started him in the bullpen.

Matt Harrison has talent, but he's headed to the DL for the second time this season with biceps inflammation. When he's in the rotation, he's still learning his craft.

The last thing most pitchers figure out is how to win without their best stuff. Against the Padres on Friday, Millwood was awful in the first inning, but he tweaked his mechanics and figured out a way to last six innings.

Harrison and Holland haven't figured out how to do that just yet.

When Harrison has his good stuff and he's working quickly, he's good enough to win games because he attacks the plate and let's the defense do the bulk of the work.

When Harrison doesn't have his good stuff, he nibbles on the corners, usually leading to disaster.

Holland, who one day will be the ace of this staff, doesn't mind pitching to contact. Heck, the Padres had 13 hits in 5 2/3 innings Saturday night.

He just doesn't trust his secondary pitches enough, so he tends to rely too much on his fastball. When he doesn't locate it, then you get what happened Saturday night.

Help is not on the way.

The Rangers have made it clear they're not interested in taking on the payroll or giving up the prized prospects it would require to add a quality starter to the rotation.

Unless it's a reliever, you shouldn't really expect much outside pitching help. Neftali Feliz is on the way to help fortify the bullpen, but he'll have to learn in the big leagues just like Holland is doing, so he's probably going to get lit up a few times.

The Rangers are scrappy enough to hang around until September. Without better starting pitching, they'll have to be satisfied with that.