Getting better, by inchesThe Texas Rangers are in Surprise, Ariz. getting ready for the 2011 season. I'm here in my mom's basement blogging. This is an installment of posts about those Texas Rangers and what they'll need to do to win. Keys: Tinkering, Neftali Feliz and Mark Lowe.
My sports religion is based around the idea that vast team improvements bank more on the smallest of incremental gains rather than wide, far-reaching career years from individuals.
The Toronto Blue Jays can not wait for Jose Bautista to launch another 50 home runs and compete in the AL East. They need anywhere from eight to 12 guys to simply be better. Same goes for any team.
If you want to pinpoint any one player on the 2010 Texas Rangers as they reason they made it to the World Series, feel free. It was Colby Lewis -- not Cliff Lee -- that beat the New York Yankees twice in the ALCS. It was significant impact from C.J. Wilson. It was Tommy Hunter getting a little better. It was Darren O'Day and Neftali Feliz being better.
It was Ian Kinsler, David Murphy, Elvis Andrus, Mike YOung, Nellie Cruz and, certainly, Josh Hamilton, getting better.
No, Murphy didn't have a career year. Instead, he took a more patient approach to the plate. Drew a lot more walks. Start getting choosy and bad pitchers (and most pitchers are either ordinary or bad) throw you something to hit. Kinsler also took a new approach. A lot more picky. He also quit upper cutting. Power numbers dropped, but he was a better hitter. Kinsler has had better seasons, statistically. He's not had a better season as a Major League hitter.
That's what the Rangers need. They need fielders to catch and throw better. They need hitters to do all the little things. They add up and it makes a huge difference between pulling out close games and losing 5-4.
Consider C.J. Wilson. Put up a very good 2010 winning 15 games and notching an ERA under 3.35. However, he walked 93 hitters. I believe that's the most in the American League. Thus, his WHIP skyrocketed to 1.25 despite allowing just a .217 BAA.
What does Wilson need to do? Walk less batters. I'm not assuming he'll walk just 50. But why not shoot for 75 or 65? Doesn't seem like much and those numbers are still high. But that puts less runners on base and if Wilson can just maintain the number of hits he gives up, he'll be significantly better. It's the small changes that can add up and make a huge difference. Or its the small change that dominoes, affecting other parts of a game.
I think this little sports religion applies mostly to baseball. Baseball's got a ton of moving parts. Games within games. Moments that turn games. Moments that turn three-game winning streaks to four-game losing streaks. A game where a run is a run, and if Wilson can keep another 20 baserunners off the bags, how does that turn two or three games?
What if Kinsler can swap 30 dumb flyball outs for 20 groundballs? And if 5-10 of those find a hole in the infield?
It's all what-ifs and bullshit. Luck is a huge part of the game. Maybe unlike other sports, baseball players have the opportunity to increase their opportunites for good luck or mitigate the damage to bad luck.
It's the small things.
