Thursday, August 4, 2011

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors: Ian Kinsler

Kinsler's struggles (Fort Worth Star Telegram)
Ron Washington is sticking with Ian Kinsler. Kinsler is in a 1 for 30 slump, but has shown signs of eventually breaking through. “I’m seeing a guy wants to get it done so bad,” Washington said. “When he squares the ball up, he hits it to somebody. He’s just going through that period. … I think people are tired of seeing him popup and it’s frustrating, but I don’t think anyone is more frustrated than Ian is. And the way the game of baseball works, if Ian starts to put it together in the last month-and-a-half, everybody will forget about what they’re seeing now.”
As Kinsler goes, so go the Rangers (nbcdfw.com)
Kinsler has been a part of 57 Rangers wins this season. He is hitting .282 with a 941 OPS in those games and 13 of his 16 home runs have come during victories. He's walked more than he's struck out in Rangers wins, scored 48 runs and generally performed like an All-Star.

He's also played in 47 losses and his numbers in those games resemble those of a completely different player. Kinsler has a .186 batting average, a 1:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and just 13 RBIs when the Rangers lose. His slugging percentage is a pitcher-esque .282, down from .551 when the Rangers post in the win column.

Ian Kinsler still searching for stroke (espn.com)
The second baseman is clearly frustrated, going 1-for-30 in his last seven games. His average has gone from .255 to .239 in that span. He's 1-for-17 on this road trip and can't seem to get anything going at the plate. It hasn't carried over to his defense, which has been solid all season.

"There's nothing really to say about my offense," Kinsler said. "There's nothing. The more important thing is our team getting back on track. That's it, really. On offense, there's nothing for me to talk about. I'm just going to continue to try to play my game and hopefully when I get back on track the team will be back on track."

Ian Kinsler, love him or hate him: a fan's view (yahoo.com)
When you walk into Rangers Ballpark in Arlington there will instantly be two numbers you will see throughout the stands. You will obviously see countless people wearing #32, which is the number of reigning American League MVP Josh Hamilton(notes), but the number you will see rivaling that is the #5 of Ian Kinsler. Kinsler shirts and jerseys are everywhere in North Texas and most often they are on the backs of young girls who love Kinsler to death. They show up at games in droves and get fake tattoos of #5 painted on their face. They make signs and scream at the top of their lungs when he comes to the plate.

This year Kinsler has hit fly balls 48.3 percent of the time, which is the second most of his career. He hit fly balls 51.6 percent of the time in 2009, but had dropped that number to 41.6 percent in 2010. After those girls scream at the top of their lungs, if the result is one of those fly balls or as they are often referred to "pop ups," you will hear many fans complaining and cussing, because once again Kinsler flew out.

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