24-year old righty starting pitcher Tommy Hunter has come off the D.L. excelling for the Rangers. He has started 9 games for the Rangers this year and he is 7-0 with a 2.09 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Hunter has been attacking the strike zone with his solid array of stuff. With the Rangers’ pen and offense behind him I don’t see Hunter losing any time soon. Hunter has now started 31 games in his three years with the Rangers and he is 16-8 with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He has only walked 50 batters in 179 innings for the Rangers and that is pretty outstanding control. The sky is the limit for Tommy Hunter as long as he can stay healthy.

The Rangers will be sending four position players and a pitcher to the All-Star Game in L.A. Lefty swinging outfielder Josh Hamilton and righty swinging DH Vladimir Guerrero were both voted in by the fans and they were good picks. Hamilton has played in 78 games for the Rangers this year and he is 106 of 313 (.339 avg, 1.001 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 20 homers, 61 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. This will be Hamilton’s 3rd appearance in the All-Star Game. Vladimir Guerrero has played in 77 games this year for the Rangers and he is 98 of 297 (.330 avg, .940 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 18 homers, 70 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. This is Guerrero’s 9th All-Star Game appearance in his outstanding career. 21-year old shortsop Elvis Andrus will be Derek Jeter’s backup in the All-Star Game. Andrus has played in 78 games for the Rangers this season and he is 88 of 305 (.289 avg, .699 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 0 homers, 25 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. This will be Andrus’ first All-Star Game. Ian Kinsler was added to the All-Star Team to replace the injured Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox. Kinsler has played in 58 games for the Rangers this season and he is 64 of 214 (.299 avg, .815 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 3 homers, 26 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. This is the second time Kinsler has made the All-Star Team. Fireballing reliever Neftali Feliz has made his first All-Star Team. He has pitched in 37 games (0 starts) for the Rangers this season and he is 1-2 with 22 saves, a 3.00 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Feliz has only given up 24 hits while whiffing 40 batters in only 36 innings. This is a pretty good contingent of Rangers heading to the All-Star Game.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Tommy Hunter started this season on the D.L. as he injured himself in spring training. He then had a long rehab process. But he’s back with the vengeance for the Rangers. He has started 5 games this season for the Rangers and he is 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. In his last two years with the Rangers, Hunter has pitched in 24 games (all starts) in which he is 13-6 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. The sky is the limit for Hunter if he can just stay healthy.

39-year old lefty reliever Darren Oliver and 27-year old righty reliever Darren O’Day have been putting a lot of zeroes on the scoreboard for the Rangers this season. Oliver has pitched in 32 games (0 starts) for the Rangers this season and he is 0-1 with 1 save, a 1.27 ERA and a 0.79 WHIP. He has only given up 21 hits in 35 1/3 innings while whiffing 40 batters and only walking 7! Those are amazing numbers and the Rangers think he can keep up the good work. O’Day has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the Rangers this season and he is 3-2 with a 1.84 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. He has only given up 21 hits and walked 5 batters in 29 1/3 innings for the Rangers this season. Oliver and O’Day have been dominating usually working in the 6th and 7th innings to set things up for Frank Francisco and Neftali Feliz at the end of games.

24-year old lefty starting pitcher Matt Harrison is looking really sharp so far this season. In his first two starts of the season for the Rangers he is 0-1 with a 1.38 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Harrison has only given up 11 hits in 13 innings but more importantly he has only walked 2 batters. He has good enough stuff that if he just throws a lot of strikes he will have a good year.