Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker found an offensive spark when he asked Brandon Nimmo to move out of the leadoff spot.
Schumaker said he expects the move to continue to pay dividends on Friday night when the Rangers open a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians in Arlington, Texas.
“I told Brandon we needed to mix things up and asked what he thought,” Schumaker said on the K&C Masterpiece radio show on 105.3 The Fan. “When you have a superstar player who is all-in on whatever it takes to win … that frees me up. Especially as a rookie manager in the Texas organization with a guy that was just traded over.”
After taking the first two games of a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Rangers managed just six hits in a 5-3 road loss in the finale on Wednesday.
Joc Pederson hit a two-run triple in the seventh inning for Texas, which had its five-game winning streak snapped. Pederson moved into the leadoff spot on May 12, and Texas has gone 11-10 with the veteran at the top of the order. Pederson has raised his batting average to .252 with a .364 OBP.
“Joc hitting a home run or a double has been incredible since the early part of May,” Schumaker said. “The start at the top of the lineup is always the key.”
Kumar Rocker (2-5, 3.54 ERA) will look to post consecutive strong outings when he makes his first career start against the Guardians on Friday. The right-hander is coming off a stellar outing in which he threw six shutout innings, allowed three hits, walked three and struck out two in a 7-6 home win against the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Cleveland will counter in the series opener with Parker Messick (6-1, 2.21 ERA), who will make his first career appearance against the Rangers.
Messick gave up one run on five hits in five innings in a no-decision Saturday in his team’s 9-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox, who ran away with the game after Messick was removed.
The Guardians’ left-hander made his debut last August and received seven starts down the stretch. He’s welcomed a different focus when he takes the mound in the big leagues.
“Going from the minor leagues to the major leagues, the coolest thing for me is that everything is centered around winning,” said Messick, 25. “It doesn’t matter how good your heater is or the profile of your curveball. It’s all about, how can I help the team win that day with what I have?”
Cleveland won its first two games against the New York Yankees in the teams’ just-completed series but mustered just two hits in a 2-1 setback to close the set on Thursday.
Even though they have a young roster, the Guardians hold a two-game lead in the American League Central, and Slade Cecconi said they are headed in the right direction.
“We have a lot of really, really high-quality young players that are just getting better and better and learning and growing in this game,” said Cecconi, 26. “That’s dangerous, especially when you look at where we’re at right now in June.
“If this team, for the next four months just continues to learn, grow, and build on the experiences that we go through, it’s going to be a dangerous team down the stretch. That’s our goal, is to play our best baseball when it matters the most.”
–Field Level Media
