In a Friday staple, we'll discuss who's in a groove and who's in a rut for the Texas Rangers.
Who's On?
Leonys Martin — We've been championing this guy for a while here now, but Martin has earned his praise. Since a pretty awful start to the season, it was clear the Cuban rookie just needed some time to acclimate himself to the majors. Martin has a seven-game hitting streak working and has five stolen bases in his past seven games, a huge development considering his base-running skills were questioned. The speed is obviously there, but he's showing the tact is too. Oh, and none of this even mentions his arm, which has to be one of the best in the game for a centerfielder.
David Murphy — Since taking over in the No. 2 spot in the Rangers' lineup when Ian Kinsler went on the DL and Elvis Andrus moved to the leadoff spot, Murphy has been on fire at the plate. He's hitting some big home runs too, like Wednesday's which got the Rangers' offense going on a day when they scored all their runs in the first inning to help avoid a three-game sweep.
Adrian Beltre — This is the Beltre we all expected to see. After a terrible first month of the season, Beltre is now hitting more than .300 over his last 27 games and is hitting .391 over his last six games.
Who's Not?
Nelson Cruz — We knew what we would eventually get from Cruz, who started the season on an absolute tear — an eventual ice-cold streak. That's exactly what Cruz has done recently, as he's hitting just .143 over his last six games. He's also become a GIDP machine lately, hitting into three double plays in that same span.
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Derek Holland — In his last two starts, Holland has fallen dramatically from his hot start to the season. He worked a total of 10 1/3 innings in those two starts with an ERA of 6.97 and has given up two home runs, something that's plagued him over the course of his career but not early in the year. Then again, both of those home runs were off the bat of Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, so who's counting?
