The Rangers were hoping to have a rock solid platoon in CF in 2013 with 25-year old lefty swinging Leonys Martin and 29-year old righty swinging Craig Gentry…..but it just hasn’t happened so far in 2013.  Martin has been better so far in 2013 with the bat.  He has played in 56 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 35 of 139 (.252 avg, .700 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 3 homers, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  Gentry has played in 49 games so far this year for the Rangers and he is 25 of 114 (.219 avg, .626 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 1 homer, 9 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.  The Rangers need more than just speed out of this duo…..they need them to start getting base more often….period.

31-year old righty swinging infielder Jeff Baker is getting his big shot to play due to the injury to 1B Mitch Moreland.  Baker has played in 8 games so far in June for the Rangers and he is 7 for 27 (.259 avg, 1.051 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 4 homers and 7 RBIs.  Baker has now played in 36 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 26 of 78 (.333 avg, 1.140 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 9 homers and 16 RBIs.  Baker has been sharing P.T. with 25-year old lefty swinging 1B Chris McGuiness, who was called up to replace Mitch Moreland on the active roster.  McGuiness has played in 3 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 2 for 8 (.250 avg, .625 OPS) with 1 RBI.  He has also played in 55 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 53 of 193 (.275 avg, .858 OPS) with 26 runs scored, 6 homers and 34 RBIs.  The Rangers hope that Baker and McGuiness can keep up the good work while Mitch Moreland is out of action.

The Rangers have placed 29-year old righty starting pitcher Alexi Ogando on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 6th, due to right shoulder inflammation.  Ogando has pitched in 10 games (all starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 4-2 with a 2.93 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.  The Rangers have called up 25-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Lindblom to replace Ogando in the starting rotation.  Lindblom started 1 game earlier this year for the Rangers and he is 0-1 with a 7.71 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP.  Lindblom has also pitched in 10 games (9 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers so far this year and he is 6-0 with a 2.04 ER and a 0.92 WHIP.

The Rangers have placed 26-year old lefty reliever Michael Kirkman on the 15-day disabled list, due to cutaneous lymphoma in his right triceps.  This is something that can be controlled by treatment, so it won’t likely endanger Kirkman’s career by any means.  He has pitched in 25 games (0 starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 0-2 with 1 save, a 8.18 ERA and a 2.32 WHIP.  Kirkman has now pitched in 82 games (0 starts) in his first four years with the Rangers and he is 2-5 with 1 save, a 5.17 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP.

23-year old righty reliever Randy Henry came into this season as the Rangers’ #29 prospect according to Baseball America.  He has pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in AA-ball for the Rangers so far this year and he is 1-0 with a 0.74 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP.  Henry has given up only 15 hits and 4 walks while whiffing 24 batters in his first 24 1/3 innings, which is impressive.  Henry has now pitched in 77 games (11 starts) in his first four years in the minors and he is 11-14 with 9 saves, a 2.99 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  Henry could get his first shot at the show at some point in 2013, if he keeps rocking in the minors.

The Rangers have lost 27-year old righty reliever/starter Collin Balester for the rest of the 2013 season due to Tommy John Surgery.  Balester pitched in 6 games (5 starts) in AAA-ball for the Rangers this year and he was 1-4 with a 7.33 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP.  Balester has pitched in 73 games (22 starts) in his first five years in the majors and he is 7-16 with a 5.30 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP.  This isn’t much of a loss moving forward for the Rangers.

The Rangers have placed 27-year old lefty swinging 1B Mitch Moreland on the 15-day disabled list due to a strained right hamstring.  Moreland has played in 58 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 57 for 198 (.288 avg, .899 OPS) with 27 runs scored, 12 homers and 29 RBIs.  This is a bad break for Moreland as he was finally getting to be a full-time starter.  He is 20 for 72 (.278 avg, .779 OPS) with 1 homer and 7 RBIs against lefty pitchers so far in 2013.

24-year old righty starting pitchers Nick Tepesch and Justin Grimm have been lifesavers for the Rangers this year.  They have suffered a lot of injuries to the rotation and Tepesch and Grimm have helped them cushion the blow.  Tepesch has pitched in 10 games (all starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 3-4 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP.  He has given up 56 hits and 14 walks while whiffing 39 batters in his first 55 innings pitched this year.  Grimm has pitched in 9 games (all starts) for the Rangers so far this year and he is 5-3 with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP.  Grimm has given up 62 hits and 14 walks while whiffing 44 batters in his first 52 2/3 innings so far this year.  Tepesch and Grimm have the potential to keep up the good work and the Rangers hope that they do exactly that.

The Rangers have lost 22-year old righty reliever/starter Roman Mendez to a stress fracture in his right elbow.  Mendez pitched in 16 games (0 starts) in AA-ball for the Rangers this year and he was 2-0 with 2 saves, a 1.82 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP.  He has now pitched in 108 games (73 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 25-18 with 5 saves, a 3.59 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.  This is a bad break for Mendez, as he was pitching really well in the minors.

27-year old lefty swinging 1B Mitch Moreland is ripping the ball so far in May.  He has played in 24 games for the Rangers so far in May and he is 28 of 87 (.322 avg, 1.035 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 7 homers and 14 RBIs.  Moreland has now played in 50 games for the Rangers so far this year and he is 51 for 173 (.295 avg, .901 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 10 homers and 24 RBIs.  In his first three years, Moreland had career highs of 60 runs scored, 16 homers and 51 RBIs.  He looks like he’s going to smash those numbers now that he is a full-time player for the Rangers.