Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers led the AL West by 1.5 games going into action on Friday, May 28th. It is clear that this team has plenty of all-star caliber players, but which ones really deserve to play in the 2010 summer classic?

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Vladimir Guerrero is back after an injury-riddled 2009 season in which he played in only 100 games.

Last night he took over the RBI lead for the majors when he homered twice and drove in five runs in an 8-7 defeat of the Royals.

His .347 batting average is second in the AL behind Justin Morneau, who is hitting .383.

1.(↑1) Tampa Bay Rays (32-12)

The Rays are an impressive 19-5 on the road, and have won 8 of their last 10. The most impressive thing about the Rays this year however, is their pitching.

This week they scored a ridiculous 140 points while only falling out of the top four in strikeouts. They have a 2.87 team ERA and a 1.17 team WHIP—mix that with the fact that they lead the league in stolen bases (51) and they have to be the favorites to win it all right now.

Miss any of Wednesday night’s action? Don’t fret. Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight is here to recap all things fantasy relevant, starting with game No. 23 on our summer-long journey.

Game No. 23 – New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers

With Matt Harrison heading to the DL, Derek Holland will be recalled to start against the A’s this week, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (click here for the article).

C.J. Wilson’s transition to the starting rotation has gone better than anyone could have imagined.  Who could have expected the following line through five starts:

2 Wins
32.2 Innings
1.65 ERA
1.19 WHIP
25 Strikeouts (6.9 K/9)
13 Walks (3.6 B/99)
.279 BABIP

We’ll notice right away that the BABIP is not an unrealistic number.  It is above average so a falloff is possible, but it’s not a guarantee either.  That’s something that you have to like seeing.

What I’m Reading

• The Rangers are sticking with Neftali Feliz, Frank Francisco, and their two-closer system for the time being. Good. Because these situations alway pan out favorably.

In one of the most anticipated roster moves of 2010, the Texas Rangers promoted highly-touted prospect Justin Smoak last Friday. In six games since being called up, the switch-hitting first baseman is 1-for-15 with two runs and one RBI. He does, however, have seven walks.

Despite Smoak’s rough start, fantasy owners should take notice of the 23-year-old’s promotion.

I know it is still early in the season, but this team is feeling more and more like teams of the past; keeping a record right around .500, and never knowing how to put other teams away. I hope they can get it figured out soon.

Game Recaps

4-20 at Boston Red Sox L, 6-7

Colby Lewis had a decent start going five innings and giving up 3 runs on 5 hits. He had to feel pretty good leaving the game with the score at 6-3, but it turned out not to be enough.

The Rangers are in an absolute free fall, the Texas sky is falling and somewhere in the Dallas/Ft Worth Metroplex, Chicken Little is running around screaming about it.

Well, ok, it's not really that bad just yet but Chicken Little may as well be Ranger fans because they certainly believe the sky is falling down on top of The Ballpark at Arlington.

They want Ron Washington fired as quickly as possible, the bullpen needs a drastic makeover and no I'm not talking about hair and nails, and the team needs to stop this slide their on after losing six of their last seven.

There are already some c