Vlad headlines Rangers renaissance
Posted on | July 22, 2010 | 1 Comment
Among the impressive performances in the first half of the Major League Baseball season, the one that has caught my eye is Vladimir Guerrero’s apparent rebirth as a member of the Texas Rangers.
Big Vlad appeared ready for the scrapheap at the age of 35 but, on Sunday, he was rewarded for his 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 76 games so far this season by being named to the American League All-Star team.
It seems that the Rangers were correct in their risk of signing the oft-injured former Angel at the start of the season, despite many (myself included) thinking that all of his knee problems had taken the speed away from his swing which had done so much over 10 seasons from 1998.
In that spell, MLB betting pundits report how the Dominican Republic slugger had never failed to reach the 25 home run mark, but last year with the Angels it looked like Old Father Time had caught up with him as he managed only 15 in a season that was derailed by yet more injury trouble.
But now with the Rangers, where he was offered the chance to become a full-time Designated Hitter, he is back to the hitting machine he was as recently as 2007, with a .331 mark to go with the outstanding power numbers, which are among the top 10 in the whole of baseball – no player has more RBI than Vlad.
His renaissance has worked in perfectly with that of Josh Hamilton, who finally seems to be over the problems with his own swing which stemmed from his record breaking performance in the Home Run Derby at the 2008 All-Star festivities.
Hamilton, who has 19 home runs and is batting at a .340 clip, was also selected to the American League line-up and one of them would seem to have every chance of becoming the league’s MVP should things continue as they are.
For the Rangers are 4.5 games ahead of the Angels in the AL West race, and only one win off the best record in the league, thanks in the main to an incredible 29-13 home record and some surprisingly good pitching, including another fine comeback story.
The third of the MVPs has only been back with the club for a month, but starter Tommy Hunter has managed a 5-0 record in just six starts since coming off the disabled list with a minuscule 1.98 ERA which could soon see him anointed as the club’s clear ace.
This is a team with plenty of promise, and one that should really be eyeing up a lengthy post-season to influence the 2010 baseball betting predictions.
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November 5th, 2010 @ 2:36 PM
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