The Texas Rangers weren't really expecting a whole lot from Anthony Ranaudo on Wednesday afternoon as he was called up from Triple-A to start for the injured Derek Holland.
A good five innings of work would've been a major win with the inexperienced, big right-hander on the hill, but as it turned out, they got nothing of the sort. Ranaudo couldn't even get out of the second inning as he allowed six earned runs (I question that, should've only been three) on six hits, two walks and two strikeouts in just 1 2/3 innings. During that time, he threw 62 pitches as he worked slow and just generally labored through his outing.
Some Sherlock Holmes-type investigating led me to find that Ranaudo had a grand total of three times when a batter swung and missed at one of his offerings, and that's never a good sign.
If it's a sign of anything, it's that he just doesn't have great stuff. At least he didn't on Wednesday, and after the game he was sent back down to the minors where the Rangers will likely call on someone else for the next time Holland's spot comes up in the rotation next week.
Ranaudo showed an effective hammer curve with some serious depth, but he didn't show it enough and he left everything up in the zone. The next thing he knew, he had allowed six runs in the second inning and his day was over, as was the Rangers' hopes of winning the game and the series.
