C.J. Wilson has been nothing short of an epiphany for the Rangers and their rotation. He got a no-decision yesterday, but went 7 strong innings, giving up only 1 run and striking out 5. Back when it was announced that Wilson would be competing for a spot in the rotation, I figured that this would go alright for a bit of spring training, and then he would fade off and go back to the bullpen where he had been for seasons now. How wrong that was. So far, Wilson has made 7 starts, posted a 3-1 record with a 1.48 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 34 strikeouts in 48 1/3 IP, and 7 quality starts. I will be interested to see if he can continue this as he goes further into the season, and if I were to rerank pitchers at this point he would have to be somewhere in the top 30 for the remainder of the season.
Onto Thursday's Top Performers...
Hitters:
- Lance Berkman (HOU): 3-4, R, RBI
- Hunter Pence (HOU): 1-4, R, HR, 3 RBI
- Ichiro Suzuki (SEA): 3-4, R, HR, 2 RBI
- Corey Patterson (BAL): 2-4, R, HR, RBI
- Luke Scott (BAL): 2-4, R, HR, 4 RBI
- Miguel Cabrera (DET): 2-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI
- Brennan Boesch (DET): 2-3, 2 R, HR, RBI
- Elvis Andrus (TEX): 4-6, RBI
- Asdrubal Cabrera (CLE): 3-5, R, RBI
- Alberto Callaspo (KC): 1-3, R, HR, 3 RBI
- Gaby Sanchez (FLA): 3-3, R
- Ryan Zimmerman (WAS): 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI
- Adam Kennedy (WAS): 2-4, 3 R
- Josh Willingham (WAS): 3-5, R, 2 RBI
- Ian Desmond (WAS): 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI
- Miguel Olivo (COL): 2-3, R, HR, 3 RBI
- Troy Tulowitzki (COL): 2-4, R, RBI
Pitchers:
- Bud Norris (HOU): 8 IP, 8 K, ER, 6 BR, W
- Chris Carpenter (STL): 8 IP, 5 K, 4 ER, 9 BR
- Felix Hernandez (SEA): 7 IP, 7 K, ER, 7 BR
- Justin Verlander (DET): 6 2/3 IP, 4 K, 0 ER, 8 BR, W
- Ben Sheets (OAK): 6 IP, 8 K, ER, 6 BR
- C.J. Wilson (TEX): 7 IP, 5 K, ER, 7 BR
- Zack Greinke (KC): 6 IP, 8 K, 3 ER, 10 BR, W
- Mat Latos (SD): 9 IP, 6 K, 0 ER, BR, W, SHO
- Jonathan Sanchez (SF): 8 IP, 5 K, ER, 4 BR
- Johan Santana (NYM): 7 IP, 5 K, 0 ER, 6 BR
- Josh Johnson (FLA): 7 IP, 7 K, ER, 3 BR