Last year, the thought of sending hitters to the mound took on a whole new connotation when guys like Mitch Moreland and Chris Gimenez both made pitching appearances in blowout losses. But just a few weeks into the 2015 season, the term has a slightly different meaning.
With the Rangers set to play their first games in an NL park this year under new manager Jeff Banister, who comes with a lifelong NL background, the team will send arguably its two best hitting pitchers to the mound in the quick two-game series, with apologies to Colby Lewis.
Nick Martinez will start Tuesday's series opener, and while he's yet to have a big-league hit in a whopping three career at-bats, he's an accomplished hitter dating back to his college days as a position player at Fordham University.
Then, there's Yovani Gallardo, who will start Wednesday's game in Arizona. In his 416 career at-bats, Gallardo has 12 home runs and 42 RBIs, so he's definitely shown an ability to do damage with the bat in his hands.
You never go into a game counting on your pitcher to produce at the plate, but with the Rangers' offensive ineptitude so far, they could be hoping for some big things over the next two days from Martinez and Gallardo.
