Call-Ups: Texas Rangers, Derek Holland and Max Ramirez
By Wally Fish
Once again it is collaborative post time here on Call to the Pen. This month’s topic is September call-ups. To get the ball rolling, I posed the following question to each of our Lead Writers, “Which player do you want your team to call-up in September and why?” It is a simple question but I think you will find the responses to be very diverse.
Taking the path less traveled this month, I decided to post each team’s write-up individually instead of grouping them by league or division as we have done in the past.
Representing the Texas Rangers and Nolan Writin’ is the site’s Lead Writer, Brandon Wolfe. Check out what he has to say after the jump.
Brandon’s Take*:
*Brandon wrote the following on August 26th. On August 28th, Holland was called up and entered the game that day in the 5th inning. He went 4.2 innings while allowing 3 H, 3 BB and 1 ER while notching 2 SO.
The Minor League season is about over and the Major League rosters will expand to 40 players tomorrow. Out of all of the players the Rangers could call up, I have two I would like to see, plus I feel it would be beneficial for the players and the Rangers. I figure I will start with the player whom is most deserving of a September call up.
Derek Holland spent time with the Major League team in May and one start on August 18th. In the Majors he is 2-2 with a 5.32ERA in 23.2 innings. In the minors he is 6-2 with a 1.78 ERA in 12 starts. Granted his numbers in the majors are not that great, but he has had a pretty good year in the minors and probably just needs some seasoning in the majors. Further he is a candidate to break into the rotation next year. If promoted I am not sure either way if the Rangers will keep him on the roster for the playoffs. Regardless, he deserves September to show what he can do.
The second player I would like to see called up is Max Ramirez. His numbers in the minors are decent. In 50 games he is batting 0.291with 50 hits and 3 home runs. I do not believe his call up is based mainly on the fact that he deserves it, but rather the Rangers need to give him some seasoning in the majors. When they started the year they had Jarrod Saltamacchia and Taylor Teagarden. Saltlamacchia returned to Arlington after his opening day start, but his return came as a visitor wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform.
Teagarden has struggled and is now at Triple-A, at one point he was dropped down to Double-A. On the 25 man roster the Rangers have Bengie Molina and Matt Treanor, both are on one year deals and both may not return next year. The list of catchers on the market next year is slim and the Rangers need to be prepared, so giving Ramirez time in September would help.
This will be the first September in quite some time that the Rangers will be in contention. They have such a sizable lead that they can rest their regulars and give some other players an opportunity to get some playing time. September should be fun, but I can guarantee October will be better, so lets look forward to the playoffs.