- The bullpen pitched 9 innings in this series. The Rangers relief corps allowed 1 run, on one home run. 6 batters reached base, 5 via hit and 1 via (a questionable) walk. They struck out 9 White Sox batters. The bullpen seems pretty ok, you guys.
- David Murphy really isn't helping his supporters with his glove. Each game had something questionable to downright bad with Murphy in left field.
- David Murphy is really doing something to help his supporters with the bat, though. Yes, what he's doing is unsustainable, but a good start is always a good thing. I'm pretty sure a 1.711 OPS is a good thing, at least.
- Speaking of good starts, the Rangers are three out of three in quality starts this year. Quality starts are a dubious stat (they contain a lot of noise and not a lot of signal, statistically speaking) but I like when they happen for my team, generally.
- The loss on Saturday was disappointing, but if the team were to maintain the current pace, they would win 106 games. Would you take that? Yes, yes you would, I can see you nodding your head from here.
- The White Sox aren't likely to be competitive this year, and could possibly stand to be sellers at the trade deadline. If so, they have a couple players who could certainly be of interest to the Rangers; Paul Konerko (although the relationship he has with the White Sox franchise is like the one Michael Young has with the Rangers, only without the semi-annual trade fits), Matt Thornton, maybe even AJ Pierzynski (who the Rangers have been connected to via rumor in several instances).
- Most interesting, though, is Alex Rios; as a right-handed batter who can play all three outfield spots, he would fill a definite need. There are questions about performance (his WRC+, a statistical index that compares total offensive output to the league average, was only 59 last year- where 100 is average.) and value of contract (due 26.5 million dollars over the next two years if traded), but if the Sox were willing to eat a significant portion of the deal to move the player, save on some cash, and get more talent back, he could absolutely be a fit here.
Joseph Ursery loves minutiae. It makes up a substantial portion of his Twitter feed, which you should follow. His handle on that site is @thejoeursery.
