Surprise Six: Yu Darvish arrives
1. Darvish arrived and threw a bullpen session. Catcher Luis Martinez was impressed by the 30-pitch session, saying he was particularly pleased with Darvish's cutter, two-seam fastball and splitter. Read more here.
2. Darvish is expected to talk to the media Thursday, but he did chat with some of his new teammates, including starting pitcher Derek Holland. Darvish asked Holland to teach him English.
"He's practicing it," Holland said. "He said, 'Please teach me English.' I told him I'm not the best guy to be teaching English. We were joking. He was getting a feel for it.
"He wants to learn it. That's a pretty neat thing. He's interacting with us. He's not standoffish. He's coming right with us. He's a normal person. It won't be hard for him to fit right in chemistry-wise."
Holland said Darvish kept apologizing when a pitch -- even off flat ground -- didn't hit its desired location.
3. Catcher Mike Napoli figures his ankle is at 80 percent, but quickly added that he'll be fine and ready for Opening Day. The ankle feels better every day and hasn't hindered him from running or working out. He wants to see how it responds to more baseball-oriented drills.
"It will be ready to go by Opening Day for sure," Napoli said. "It will be at 100 percent by then. I just have to keep working on it and get used to baseball stuff."
4. Mike Adams threw his first bullpen session of the offseason and said he's "one or two weeks" behind the other pitchers. But Adams, who had hernia surgery in early January, said he felt good. He threw 30 pitches -- all fastballs and changeups.
5. GM Jon Daniels said no moves are imminent and he's content to go into camp with the 59 he has on the roster, including Koji Uehara.
6a. The Rangers acquired another left-handed reliever on Tuesday, hoping to add him to the mix as a possible option in the bullpen. Kelvin De La Cruz was obtained from Cleveland for cash considerations. He's on the 40-man roster but has not pitched above Double-A. Still, in 23 games (16 of those starts), he held lefties to a .143 batting average. So they'll see what he's got this spring.
6b. Manager Ron Washington got his first look at Darvish and was impressed, saying he's got a power arm with finesse stuff.
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103.3 FM ESPN PODCASTS
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Play Podcast Ron Washington breaks down Matt Harrison's consistency, has no regrets about resting his players and says he isn't concerned over Yu Darvish's rough start.
Play Podcast Rangers outfielder David Murphy talks about his inside-the-park home run, Yu Darvish's last start and more.
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Play Podcast Ben and Skin discuss the three most important figures for the Rangers, Mavs, and Cowboys. Who is the most vital to the ultimate success of each organization?
TEAM LEADERS
| WINS LEADER | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Yu Darvish
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| BA | J. Hamilton | .379 | ||||||||||
| HR | J. Hamilton | 18 | ||||||||||
| RBI | J. Hamilton | 49 | ||||||||||
| R | I. Kinsler | 36 | ||||||||||
| OPS | J. Hamilton | 1.187 | ||||||||||
| ERA | Y. Darvish | 3.05 | ||||||||||
| SO | Y. Darvish | 63 | ||||||||||







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