FanNation - The Republic of Sport

In 2007, the Tampa Bay Rays once again finished in the basement of the AL East, winning 66 games, scoring 782 runs and allowing a major league leading total of 944. In 2008, the Rays won 97 games, represented the American League in the World Series, all this coming with fewer runs scored than in ???07. The difference between the outhouse and the penthouse for Tampa was not how many runs they scored, but how many they allowed, a total of 344 to be exact, a difference of 1.93 per game. While the speed of their turnaround may have been surprising to some, it shouldn???t have been completely unexpected. Five consecutive seasons in the top ten of Baseball America???s rankings of the top minor league systems, including a number one finish in 2006 and 2007. A complete change in front office thinking surrounding organizational development, no more trading top prospects for aging veterans just to sell a few hundred extra tickets. Subtle on the surface, the changes were significant as time passed and the new regime of drafted players began to surface on Tampa???s 25 man roster. Make no mistake, the 2008 Rays weren???t the same. Led by AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria, they hit the ball and they caught the ball better than they ever had. But the biggest change was in their pitching. Seventy percent of the total innings thrown by the staff in ???08 were thrown by pitchers who were on the 2007 Rays roster. Certainly the improvements on defense contributed to the turnaround on the runs allowed total, but make no mistake, it was in the individual performances by each member of the staff which was the main factor. Scoring runs for the Texas Rangers has never been a problem. Since moving to the Ballpark in Arlington in 1994, they have broken the franchise record for runs scored in a season no fewer than nine times. Not surprisingly, they???ve set a new standard for runs allowed eight times over the same time period. In the now 16 years since the Rangers have played in Arlington, they have had seventeen pitcher seasons of 200 innings pitched, nine of them belonging to Rick Helling and Kenny Rogers. Discounting Helling???s two seasons, there have been only seven times has a starting pitcher recorded fifteen wins or more. By contrast, Greg Maddux had fifteen and twelve, respectively by himself. While the Rangers pitching will be the ultimate factor in any improvement in the standings, their division opponents are in the same boat, for varying reasons. The consensus among the ???experts??? prior to the season was the Los Angeles Angels would once again run the table in the AL West. What these same experts failed to realize is there is a significant difference in talent between Shane Loux, Matt Palmer and Anthony Ortega than that of Kelvim Escobar, John Lackey and Ervin Santana. Combine all that with the loss of Frankie Rodriguez and an extended DL stay for Vladimir Guerrero and it???s a miracle the Angels are over .500. Those same experts who predicted big things from the Angels are the same ones??? with a lingering case of ???Moneyball on the Brain???, thinking the Oakland A???s are a contender. Despite tightening up both the middle of their infield and the batting order, the A???s have three rookies in the starting rotation and their place in the standings is right where it should be. By contrast, the Seattle Mariners are an improved team. Their record last season wasn???t indicative of talent as circumstance, starting with the early season loss of pitcher Erik Bedard. Tightening up the outfield defense, a healthy Bedard and changes in the front office focusing more on playing the game correctly have the Mariners moving up in the standings. The Rangers, too, have made changes to their on-field personnel; moving Michael Young to third base, installing rookie Elvis Andrus at short and handing the full time catching role to Jarrod Saltalamacchia, to name a few. But make no mistake, any improvement in the Rangers play this season will point directly to the pitching staff. The changes actually began in 2007 with the naming of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan as team president. One of Ryan???s first directives was mandating a conditioning policy for pitchers throughout their minor league system. The changes paid immediate dividends, as the Rangers six minor league franchises combined for a .576 winning percentage, with three first place finishes and one league championship. The across the board improvements within the organization, along with some shrewd draft picks and trades (see: Mark Teixeira) have the Rangers ranked first in Baseball America???s top Minor League Organization ranking for the first time since 1990. The changes focus on specifically on increasing arm strength, with all pitchers required to pitch live batting practice and to incorporate ???long tossing??? into their daily activities. Long toss is an old school method of increasing arm strength and is nothing more than playing catch. Starting with a distance of 15-20 feet and gradually reaching 120 feet, and up to 150 feet, long toss builds both arm strength and a repeatable throwing motion. Throwing live batting practice gives meaning to their pitches, putting them in game situations and with the opportunity to work on specific issues with immediate results, instead of mindlessly throwing in the bullpen with no feedback except from the bullpen catcher and maybe a few fans watching. The Rangers have lost two projected 2009 members of their starting rotation to season ending rotator cuff surgery, (Joaquin Benoit and Eric Hurley). In 2008, every member of the Opening Day rotation spent time on the disabled list with shoulder or arm problems. By blowing up the new era way of thinking by forcing pitchers to the mound and to throw more often, the plan is to increase starter innings and reduce the workload on an overworked bullpen and an overall reduction in injuries. ???Everybody has been on a pitch count since they were in Little League, and as long as teams??? continue to enforce them they won???t receive the full benefits of their investments???, said Ryan. ???I think organizations starting erring on the side of caution, and maybe that???s worked against them as they are unable to get their pitchers properly prepared.??? Ryan went on to say that, ???It???s not a coincidence that when pitchers began throwing less, the number of injuries increased.??? Over the past ten seasons the Rangers have finished at or near the bottom in all of ML baseball in starter innings pitched, ERA and strikeouts. So far in 2009, none of the opening day rotation has missed a start, the staff ERA is 4.25 and the starters are averaging almost six and a half innings per start. Thirty seven games is a small sample for sure, but maybe the other twenty nine teams will take notice.