Minor Threat

When your team's in last, and you're still pitching 4.20 with a 12-7 record...you could be doing a lot worse.

And that's how Mike Minor's return to the rotation has been going- he's been the sole constant of the preseason's proposed Hamels-Martin-Minor-Fister-Colon rotation, with Martin and Fister getting injured, Hamels leaving for Chicago, and Colon...finally pitching like he's 45. Several of the other pitching options haven't worked well either, like Matt Moore and Yovani Gallardo. And some of the kids they're brought up into the rotation just...haven't really made an impact.

It doesn't help that, on the whole, this has been a pretty unspectacular Rangers team, with usual standouts Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre just...doing alright. And there's the usual emphasis on home runs over average, especially with Joey Gallo, who SERIOUSLY needs to improve his technique, because if he's thinking the league revolves around guys who hit 40 home runs and strike out 200 times, he's dead wrong.

And while the farm system has pointed to people like Willie Calhoun and Ronald Guzman succeeding the old guard...they haven't done a great deal yet. A lot of this farm system has suffered since the last wave of prospects have come up, and at this point we're sort of waiting on better rookies to come up, which is kind of sad, but...it's how things work in the leagues sometimes.

Coming Tonight: Someone who's doing alright for the Padres.