Former Rangers Pick Has Been Difficult to Solve

Way back in the day, the Texas Rangers took a pitcher by the name of Jesse Chavez with the 1,252nd selection in the 2002 draft.

Jesse Chavez never pitched for the Rangers, but he'll take the hill against them on Tuesday night for the Oakland A's as the teams open a three-game series in Arlington. In 2006, the Rangers sent him to Pittsburgh, and now the veteran righty is pitching for his seventh organization, and he's pitching pretty well.

Perhaps no team has allowed him to pitch as well against them as the Rangers have, as just about everyone in the Rangers lineup has struggled horribly against Chavez, despite the team's superior amount of success against right-handed pitching.

Take away Prince Fielder, who is 4-for-7 with a homer in his career against Chavez, and the Rangers' projected lineup might as well be facing Cy Young himself.

Chavez (3-6, 2.52 ERA) worked seven scoreless innings and fanned eight in his only career start against the Rangers last year, and several current Rangers have struggled against him. Mitch Moreland has one hit in eight at-bats. Elvis Andrus has one in nine, and Shin-Soo Choo is 0-for-7 lifetime against him.

Go ahead and hope for a long ball and a couple of other big hits from Fielder tonight, along with another sterling outing from Chi Chi Gonzalez, as that might be the Rangers' only chance of toppling Chavez.

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