The Case Against Julio Borbon

The Rangers have one of the best outfields in baseball, both offensively and defensively, with or without Julio Borbon. Manager Ron Washington's plan for the 2011 season is for reigning MVP Josh Hamilton to play left field, Nelson Cruz to play right, and the relatively unproven newcomer Julio Borbon to take center field.

"Julio is my center-fielder," said Washington after a spring training game earlier this season.

And my complaint is exactly that. Julio is Wash's center-fielder, and that's it. Part of the reason for starting Borbon in center this season is to keep Josh Hamilton out of center field in the hopes he won't be running into anymore walls. My argument is this: Are there no walls in left field? Isn't Josh Hamilton just exactly as likely to get injured playing left field as he is playing center field? Granted, Hamilton's injuries in the past have occurred while he was playing center field but MAYBE that's because Hamilton has only played center field!

The second argument for Julio is that he's a defensive upgrade. But think about that: a defensive upgrade over Josh Hamilton, the prototypical five-tool player. Hamilton isn't quite as fast, but he's very nearly as fast as Borbon, and anyone would agree that Hamilton is more athletic. How many balls do you really think Julio Borbon is going to get to in center field that Hamilton couldn't? And besides that, the difference in throwing ability between Hamilton and Borbon is laughable at best, and keep in mind we're talking about the outfield position that has the longest throw to make. All this makes the case without even mentioning that Borbon has 5 errors already this spring in just 18 games, and he isn't even playing a full 9 innings per game!

The third reason, and the one that seems to be the greatest injustice is that in starting Borbon in the outfield, be it center field or a corner position, leaves David Murphy on the bench. Let's compare stats from the 2010 campaign and see how Borbon stacks up against the Ranger's fourth outfielder: Julio, in his second big league season hit .276 in 438 at bats, with 3 home runs and 42 RBIs. He's a 9 hole hitter on this club at best, while Murphy, a veteran of 5 seasons in the big leagues, hit .291 in a comparable 419 at bats with 12 homers and 65 RBIs. Murphy is a 7-hole hitter on this club, and he's not missing a lot of balls in the outfield that Borbon would otherwise get to, especially if Borbon continues his habit of dropping routine fly balls in the outfield. If you really think that Hamilton is going to be saved from injuring himself by playing his heart out in left field instead of center-field, you at least have to put David Murphy in center field. He's proven himself to be a big league player, he could start on probably 24 or 25 outfields in the big leagues, and he's earned the right to be there while Borbon has been handed the job on a silver platter by Ron Washington.

All this to say that one way or another, I believe Washington's hand will be forced in 2011 to put in the true starting outfielder this season when Borbon's bat proves to be dismal in comparison to Murphy's or his center field ability, (or lack thereof) becomes too obvious to overlook.

Rangers 2011 Rotation - Who's in?

Well with Neftali Feliz flip-flopping on whether or not or whether or .... not he wants to be a starter this season, I feel like it's appropriate to go ahead and give you my predictions for the Rangers starting 5 this year.

Numero uno: CJ Wilson - CJ did exactly what Neffy is trying to do (or is he?) in the 2010 season by making the successful transition from closer to starter. In my opinion CJ is much more successful as a starter because as a closer he always had a way of getting himself into trouble before he finished the game up. That's the kind of thing you can do as a starter when you have several more innings to play with, but every now and then, it blew a game for the Rangers when CJ was closing. I expect CJ to dominate this year going into the season as the team's bona-fide "ace." CJ's conditioning program in the off season is likely second to none among AL pitchers, and I feel like it's going to pay off big time this year. I predict 18 wins for CJ and his hat in the ring for AL CY young winner.


Two: Colby Lewis - The "Cobra" had terrific stuff last season after coming across the pond (the Pacific pond that is) from the Japanese league. He went 12-13 in 2010, but you have to think it was for lack of timely run support as his ERA was 3.72 in just over 200 innings pitched. With those numbers, you can't count Colby out of the Cy Young running either if he gets in a groove here in the states. The stat that really jumps out at you: out of Colby's 13 losses in 2010, the Rangers scored less than 3 runs (that's 0, 1, or 2 runs) ELEVEN times! He could've easily won 6 more games, and I expect him to in 2011. That's 18 wins for Colby in 2011. I'm looking forward to it. (Oh, and let's not forget Colby also went 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA in the playoffs last season.)


Three: Brandon Webb - Webb won't actually be in the rotation until a couple weeks into the season, but once he gets there, I expect him to be everything he was before his 2009 surgery. I can't believe that a guy who's played baseball all his life, and dominated on the mound for several years in a row would just collapse upon coming back from a couple of offseasons. For me, signing Webb was little to no risk at all. I don't know if he'll win 22 games like he did for the D-Backs in 2008, but I expect somewhere around 16 (which would be his lowest win total in seasons he's pitched since 2006. Webb says his velocity is still there, and that combined with the mental aspect of pitching (that isn't something that goes away with surgery), I believe Webb will do just fine in his return season.


Four: Derek Holland - Holland ended the season in 2010 as the club's number 5 starter, so it was his job to lose. If anybody is going to take it from Holland, I would say that Michael Kirkman has the stuff, or possibly Tommy Hunter who's spring is going just dismal, (and for those of you who've seen Tommy when he's bad, he's REALLY bad.) Watching Holland's mechanics is a little like watching Sandy Koufax pitch. Holland isn't sort of rubbery like Koufax or anything like that, and I doubt he'll throw 5 no hitters in his career, but he has this smooth, almost effortless delivery that you like to see in a young pitcher. His problem over the past couple of seasons has been his youth, but everyone knows that youth always goes away with time. Holland is a starter, and he's going to grow into his shoes real soon.


Five: Neftali Feliz - I cannot wait to see Feliz take the hill in the opening frames this regular season. In my opinion, if Neftali wants to be a starter, he's going to be a starter. He's simply got the stuff to win whatever job he wants. When Neftali's on, he's nearly unhittable, and that's not going to change with which inning he's pitching. Neftali has a fastball that can hit triple digits, combined with a changeup that looks 20 miles per hour in comparison, a slider and a newly developed cutter. Not only that, but as a top prospect coming up through the minors, Neftali has been a starter all his life, so it's not like the change will be anything new for him. If anything, closing ballgames was new for Feliz. Neftali's effortless high 90's fastball gives him a chance to be a starter for many, many years to come. If you ask me, Feliz is the next Pedro Martinez.

Chris Davis's Future - With the Rangers?

Let's take a look back at 2008. The Rangers were a searing hot offensive club with basically zero pitching. Kevin Millwood was the "ace" along with now Los Angeles Dodger, Vicente Padilla. Josh Hamilton was without question the comeback player of the year. You'll remember, 2008 was the year Hambone made a complete mockery of the home run derby at Old Yankee Stadium. The captain of the team was the captain of the infield, with Mike Young at short stop.

Ramon Vasquez and Hank Blalock were platooning at first and third with the occasional infield appearance by now Brew Crew utility man Frank Catalanotto. Enter Chris Davis, the big Texas kid out of Longview. Chris quickly became a fan favorite, Crush Davis, as he hit .285 with 17 home runs in just shy of 300 at bats.

Let's say your average everyday starter gets 600 at bats in a season, and a quick calculation tells you right away what Texas fans were so excited about. While Crush did start at 1st base on each of the next two opening days, he never quite lived up to the hype that he developed back in '08, and with Mitch Moreland as Ron Washington's main man in 2011, what will happen to Davis?

As of right now, I'd say the Rangers bench is full, especially with Wash planning on carrying three catchers in Yorvit Torrealba, Matt Treanor, and Mike Napoli. David Murphy is a sure thing off the bench year-in and year-out. Andres Blanco, who exploded last season filling in for Ian Kinsler will likely have a spot.

That leaves exactly zero room for Davis on the bench if the Rangers take a 7 man bullpen. I would think Chris Davis will start this season at Triple A for the first time since that 2008 season and maybe that's exactly what's needed: for Davis to duplicate that monster 2008 season. Surely at some point in the season poor performance or injuries will make room for a Triple A callup, and I'd personally love to see Crush get another chance. He has the talent to be a big league player, and his Hamilton-esque left handed power bat is certainly nothing to glance over, without even mentioning he's one of the best defensive first basemen in the league.

He's still young for the major leagues at 23, and it's great for the Rangers to have so much depth. Here's hoping that Davis finds that stroke again this season, and finds and maintains a spot on the Ranger's bench in 2011.