Texas Rangers’ outfielder Josh Hamilton, who has been slowed due to a shoulder injury, finally made his 2015 season debut last night. He went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, a walk, and a run scored. Even though he didn’t exactly come in with a splash, this is big for both Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers.
Hamilton was the Most Valuable Player in Texas in 2010 when he hit .359/.411/.633 with 32 home runs and drove in 100 runs. In 2012, his contract year, he hit 43 home runs and drove in 128 runs. It is no secret that when he left for Los Angeles to join Albert Pujols and the Angels, he was not the same player, hitting just .255 with 31 home runs and 123 RBI in two seasons. Then after a drug and alcohol relapse in this past offseason, the Angels cut ties with the outfielder, and the Rangers resigned him.
This Rangers team dropped off big time last season, going from a 90 win or more per year team, to 67-95 last season. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from the 2015 Rangers thus far with Prince Fielder hitting .365 with 9 home runs and 35 RBI, Adrian Beltre still producing like he can, Mitch Moreland hitting over .300, Elvis Andrus starting to play like Elvis Andrus again.
Yes, they’ve lost their ace, Yu Darvish, for the season with an elbow injury and needing Tommy John surgery, but they have had other starting pitchers step up. They picked up Yovani Gallardo, who’s battle-tested and has been an ace before. The veteran Colby Lewis has picked it up and has been impressive so far. 24 year old Nick Martinez has been extremely impressive, posting an ERA below 2 in his 9 starts this season. Then the left handed veteran Wandy Rodriguez has done his job, posting a winning record, having an ERA around 3 and striking out almost a hitter per inning.
The bullpen has struggled, but the Rangers have hung in there this season for the first couple months, and now they’re at 22-23, which is third in the division. When you win less than 70 games and then you lose your ace in Darvish, you don’t expect much going into that season, but honestly, this division has a chance to wind up being a free-for-all with the Houston Astros currently atop and the Angels struggling to take over.
If Josh Hamilton can even remotely regain his form at 34 years old, the Texas Rangers have a chance to make a run in my opinion. There are holes on this team, but the American League West outside of the Astros have not impressed me.
