30-year old righty Frank Francisco has been so bad so far this season that the Rangers are going to replace him as the closer with Neftali Feliz. Francisco has pitched in 3 games for the Rangers this season and he is 1-2 with a 27.00 ERA and a 5.00 WHIP! He has given up 8 hits in only 2 innings pitched so far this season! Neftali Feliz pops the ball into triple digits quite a lot so he has the stuff to dominate in the 9th inning. He has pitched in 3 games for the Rangers this season and he is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. He has whiffed 5 batters in only 2 1/3 innings this season for the Rangers. Feliz has good enough stuff to close as long as he keeps his head on straight.

Tommy Hunter certainly looks the part of a major league pitcher as he is a big guy that throws a really good fastball but major league batters are teeing off on him. Hunter has started 3 games for the Rangers this season and he is 0-2 with a 16.36 ERA and a 2.36 WHIP. Hunter has been bombarded for 23 hits and 4 homers in only 11 innings this season and the Rangers really should consider sending him back to AAA before he loses all of his confidence.

The Rangers need Franklyn German and Joaquin Benoit to start throwing strikes. Both of these guys have great stuff but it won’t matter if they continue to walk batters as often as they currently are. German has pitched in 9 games this season for the Rangers and he is 0-0 with a 0.82 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. German has only allowed 6 hits in 11 innings this season but he has walked an amazing 10. His ERA will rise very soon if he can’t get the ball over the plate. Joaquin Benoit has not been near as lucky as German has. He has pitched in 9 games this season for the Rangers and he is 1-1 with a 7.56 ERA and a 2.04 WHIP. Benoit has only allowed 7 hits in 8.1 innings this season but he has also walked 10 batters. The Rangers can’t afford to let Benoit pitch late in games if he can’t get the ball over the plate.

The Rangers are currently in last place in the American League West with a 7-12 record which has them 4.5 games behind both the Angels & A’s. Part of the reason for that record is the awful performance they have gotten out of Jason Jennings and Luis Mendoza. Jennings seems to have lost a lot of velocity off his fastball which has been topping out at about 87 miles per hour. He has started 4 games this season and he is 0-3 with a 7.08 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Rookie righty Luis Mendoza has been even worse than Jennings so far this season. Mendoza has started 2 games this season and he is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA and a 2.38 WHIP. The Rangers might consider putting Jamey Wright into one of the rotation spots in question, but he’s been really good out of the bullpen so far this season. In 8 games out of the pen this season, Wright is 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.

Kevin Millwood, Vicente Padilla, Brandon McCarthy, Kameron Loe and Jamey Wright have all been awful so far this season.  The Rangers will not get any better as a team unless these 5 guys get their act together and soon.  Kevin Millwood is making a lot of money for the Rangers and he’s not giving them much of a return for their investment.  He is 6-7 with a 6.16 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP so far this season.  Millwood has allowed 103 hits and 13 homers in only 80.1 innings this season.  Vicente Padilla has been horrible this season too as he is 3-8 with a 6.69 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP.  Padilla is currently on the DL and that could be the reason for his poor pitching this season.  Padilla has allowed 111 hits in 80.2 innings this season and that needs to change.  Brandon McCarthy is 4-6 with a 5.70 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP this season.  His pitches have been getting up too high in the strike zone and batters have be ripping the ball off of him.  If McCarthy can get the ball down in the strike zone and stay healthy he could rebound with a strong 2nd half to the season.  Kameron Loe has pitched better lately but he still is only 5-6 with a 5.36 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP so far this season.  Jamey Wright has missed most of the season as he has been injured.  He is 2-2 with a 5.55 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP so far this season.  He will need to improve on that performance to keep his starting job.