The Snake Bite

After his third start it looks like “The Cobra” has shed his skin of the mediocre regular season of 2011. At the end of the 18-3 Boston Red Sox beat down, the Rangers’ opening day starter has an ERA of 1.83.  The Red Sox hitters looked baffled as Colby Lewis was continuously dropping 1-2 sliders for strikes. He mixed his pitches nicely and controlled the tempo of the game. Have to give Yorvit Torrealba credit for  calling up a good game plan for the Red Sox lineup as well. As far as the Texas Rangers lineup goes, the bats are finally starting to click.  This team is definitely looking like the best team in the American League. Don Mattingly has the Dodgers playing like the Dodgers of old for the time being which is why I feel they are the best team in the league and Matt Kemp is “The Machine ” in SoCal right now, sorry Pujols! Don't look now but the Nationals are legitimate contenders in the National League.  The rotation of Ross Detwiler, Stephen Strasburg, Edwin Jackson, Jordan Zimmerman, and Gio Gonzalez has these guys in every game.  They all can bring the heat, according to the Washington Post, the Nationals have formed the first starting five in at least 11 seasons to surpass 93 mph with its collective fastball. If their bats catch up with arms then they could be a force to be reckoned with.  Colby Lewis doesn't have the strongest of arms as we all know but he collects outs which is all fans care about. It’ll be interesting to see if Jon Daniels feels that keeping The Cobra is the best thing to do for the organization since he has an abundance of overwhelming young talent in his back pocket. We could possibly see Robbie Ross taking his spot in the rotation next season or maybe keep him in the bullpen as the consistent lefty that he is and move Martin Perez in Colby’s void.  Lets not forget the 2008 World Series MVP, Cole Hamels, is a free agent at the end of this season and we know that JD loves his lefties.  Lewis is such a great postseason presence who has the second lowest ERA among all-active pitchers with 50 or more innings in the playoffs posting a 2.34, only behind Mr.Mariano Rivera with 0.70. Martin Perez has not yet developed into the starter as well we all hoped for just yet. Signing Colby to a 3 year deal with a team option for a four might not be a bad move.  Hopefully we can get a hometown discount.  As long as his agent isn't Scott Boras we might have a chance.  In my last post I talked a little about Jurickson Profar.  The radio show ,The Ticket, has brought up issues about Ian Kinsler moving to center in the next couple of years and moving Jurickson to either short or second. Kinsler replied to the question of how he would feel about moving to center by stating he’ll do anything in his power to win a championship. With Gary Pettis at his disposal, I'm sure he would do fine defensively. His new profound contract reflects his attributes as a second baseman not an outfielder. I'm sure we will all turn the other way as long as his numbers don't decline. How do you guys feel about Kinsler making a Willie Mays catch in center field, I'm not hating it!