(Originally posted on Monday, March 7th, 2011)
Well, I did tell you guys that spring picks mean essentially nothing, because of the unpredictable strategy that managers employ. And I think that part of the Rangers' loss tonight falls squarely on that. As I predicted, Alexi Ogando baffled Giants hitters through three innings, and Jonathan Sanchez, though still very good, caved first against the Rangers' offense.
And after both of these starters were pulled, things changed dramatically. Tommy Hunter allowed four runs to hand the win to the Giants (curiously enough, he also got the blown save despite pitching the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. This craziness with the save stat isn't new for the Rangers - see Wes Littleton). Meanwhile, the Giants bullpen stayed strong, using a solid inning from Casey Daigle (more importantly known as Mr. Jenny Finch) and a couple of goose eggs from Jeremy Affeldt. Once this game entered Spring Training mode, the score shifted quickly from the one I expected, which is not too surprising.
As a Spring Training pick, this matchup means very little. But despite not getting the final score, I managed to predict the outcome for the first half of the game, the time in Spring Training when managers play a game more or less like a real game.
And on a final note, I will start posting rough predictions by division for the National League standings at the end of the year. Head over here to get your fix of American League picks.
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