Texas recalled prize outfield prospect Willie Calhoun from Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday at the end of the minor league season
Dexter Fowler Jersey , but Calhoun’s at-bats will be limited by his limitations defensively to left field and the Rangers‘ glut of young corner
outfielders and veteran designated hitters.Calhoun will be in Arlington on
Tuesday when the Rangers continue a three-game series versus the Los Angeles
Angels at Globe Life Park. The Angels took the first game 3-1 on Monday as Texas
was held to six hits a day after scoring 18 runs in a win over Minnesota.The
Angels will send left-hander Andrew Heaney (8-8, 4.09 ERA) to the mound for the
middle game of the series and Texas will counter with left-hander Mike Minor
(10-7, 4.33).Article continues below ...Calhoun, 23, has hit .275 with a .716
OPS for 69 major league at-bats this year. After a slow start at Round Rock, he
finished the season hitting .294 with a .782 OPS. Nomar Mazara and Joey Gallo
will receive the lion’s share work in the corner outfield spots. The Rangers
have too many bats for the DH spot between Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo for
Calhoun to fill that spot with any regularity.“There won’t be regular at-bats
for Willie as we’re constructed right now,” Texas general manager Jon Daniels
told the Dallas Morning News on Monday. “We want him to come up here and
continue to do the work he’s been doing. He really got after it last
time.”Meanwhile, the Angels are confident that prized two-way player Shohei
Ohtani came out of his first pitching performance in nearly three months in good
stead despite a dip in fastball velocity from 96-97 mph in the first inning to
91-92 mph in the third. A Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament kept
the Japanese phenom off the mound since June 6.The Angels said after Sunday’s
game that Ohtani was dealing with some back stiffness and a sore finger after
attempting to barehand a comebacker, leading to the dip in velocity.“Naturally,
a red flag goes up, especially with what happened last time,” Angels manager
Mike Scioscia told MLB.com. “But Shohei said he felt great. He had no
apprehension about what was happening in his elbow. His delivery was a little
out of whack. He wanted to make sure he could get the ball into decent zones, so
he wasn’t really jumping on it.”Ohtani said his back and finger both feel fine
and that he’ll “hopefully” be able to make his next scheduled start on the mound
on Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.Heaney will head to hill for the 26th
time this year and for his 14th start on the road. Tuesday’s game will be his
second start of the year versus Texas (in which he did not get a decision). In
five career starts against the Rangers
http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-steve-carlton-jersey , Heaney is 1-2 with a 7.88 ERA.Heaney won his most recent start on Thursday at
Houston after tossing six scoreless innings and allowing five hits and one walk
with six strikeouts. He is seeking first his winning decision against Texas
since July 26, 2015. In three starts at Globe Life Park, Heaney is 0-3 with a
10.38 ERA, his highest ERA of any ballpark.Minor will make his 25th start of the
season, and will be working on five days’ rest after suffering the loss
Wednesday in the Rangers’ 3-1 defeat at home against the Dodgers. He has gone
4-1 with a 2.64 ERA in his past five outings.Minor is without a decision with a
5.68 ERA in three career games, one of them starts, against the Angels. He will
make his first start against the Angels this season and has not started against
the Los Angeles since June 15, 2014, when he played for Atlanta. Minor made two
relief appearances versus the Angels last season with he was with Kansas City,
going 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA. A doubleheader Saturday at Camden Yards is not an
ideal scenario for the Houston Astros.The defending World Series champions are
steamrolling their way into the postseason and do not need any injuries or
pitching issues to get in the way in their quest to win the title
again.Nonetheless, Houston and Baltimore will play a single-admission
doubleheader after the game Thursday was postponed because of rain. The nightcap
will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener.Article continues below
...Houston took the opener 2-1 on Friday. The Astros clinched their second
straight AL West title on Tuesday. The Astros open a best-of-five Division
Series matchup against Cleveland at home on Oct. 5.Houston manager AJ Hinch
wants to make sure his players don’t get complacent against the hapless Orioles.
“I have stressed to them not to get sloppy,” Hinch said. “You don’t want to play
like it’s spring training, then have to go back into playoff mode.”As a
result
Paul DeJong Jersey , the series in Baltimore will simply be a tuneup for the postseason. Justin Verlander (16-9, 2.60 ERA) will start the first game
Saturday, looking to boost his chances for the 2018 American League Cy Young
Award.Verlander has a career-high 280 strikeouts and will likely add to the
total against the struggling Orioles. Verlander is 10-5 with a 3.75 ERA in 20
starts against Baltimore. “He’s had some pretty good ones as an Astro,” Hinch
said. “When he comes out and sets that kind of tone and gets those swings and
misses and the strikeouts, it’s a pretty special day for us.”Dallas Keuchel
(12-11, 2.75 ERA) has already set a career high with 272 strikeouts. The
left-hander is 5-0 with a 3.54 ERA with 65 strikeouts in his last seven
starts.In Keuchel’s last outing against Toronto, he picked up his first win
since Sept. 3, (12-11) allowing three runs and seven hits in five innings. He
also amassed more than 200 innings in a season for the third time in his
career.“It means more to me now than it did the first time,” Keuchel said,
alluding to the Astros’ stellar run during the past two years.Keuchel is 3-2
with 2.80 ERA in seven starts against the Orioles. Meanwhile, Baltimore is on
course to endure the worst season in franchise history The biggest question
facing the Orioles during this final weekend of the season is whether manager
Buck Showalter will return to the club in 2019. He was not worried about the
uncertainty or expects anyone from the front office to update his status until
the final pitch Sunday. “I’ve got a contract through the end of October, so
nobody needs to or has to do that,” Showalter said. “There’s a lot of people in
this world like that. Who am I? I mean
lex Reyes Jersey , really? Is it that important? No.”For Baltimore, Dylan Bundy will start the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader and Yefry
Ramírez will start the nightcap. Bundy (8-16, 5.49 ERA) has struggled in the
second half of the season. Ramirez (1-7, 6.07 ERA) is trying to make his case to
be part of the rotation in 2019. Nonetheless, both pitchers will play a part in
the Orioles’ rebuild. “I think in today’s game a lot depends on how quick the
young pitching comes,” Showalter said. “You look at what separates the Houstons.
You talk about all the things they do on the field and the good position
players, but you’ve got three guys throwing 200 innings, it lets you do a lot of
things with your bullpen that other people can’t do.“You try to do it as fast as
you can, but you’ve got to do it with your nose down and grind each day and you
might be surprised where you stand when those days are behind you.”
