Rangers won't face Drese

ARLINGTON -- At least the Rangers won't have to face former teammate Ryan Drese this weekend when the Washington Nationals visit Ameriquest Field.
Drese was a 14-game winner for the Rangers last season, but was designated for assignment by Texas last week before being claimed by the Nationals. Drese got his first start for Washington on Wednesday night against the Rangers' American League West rivals, the Los Angeles Angels.

That meant a fired-up Drese wouldn't get the call against his former team over the weekend.

"You just played with a guy a week ago, and then he pitches against you a week later. That would have been weird," said Rangers catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. "Ryan's a good guy. Hopefully, he can turn it around. I know I wouldn't have wanted to go against him so soon after he pitched for us."

Said first baseman Mark Teixeira, "He's a good pitcher. I didn't want him to come in here and beat us."

All-Star watch: The Rangers have some solid All-Star candidates in Teixeira, Kenny Rogers, Alfonso Soriano, and Michael Young.

Rogers is among the league leaders in ERA and wins. Teixeira and Soriano are second in fan voting at their positions. And Young remains among the league's top shortstops at the plate and in the field.

Flying under the radar is right-hander Chris Young, who has given the rotation a major lift with a 5-2 record and 1.81 ERA over his last 10 starts.

Catcher Rod Barajas said Young is deserving of consideration.

"I see no reason why he shouldn't make the team," Barajas said.

Chris Young, who threw seven shutout innings in his last start, is also a solid Rookie of the Year candidate, but neither that honor nor an All-Star berth are high on his priority list right now.

"You guys are getting way ahead of me," said Young of any All-Star talk.

Teixeira and Soriano aren't politicking for an All-Star berth either.

"It'd be fun, but I'm not going out to play for the All-Star Game," Teixeira said. "We're here to win a championship."

Getting a breather: David Dellucci, the league leader in walks, struck out four times on Tuesday night, an uncharacteristic performance that earned him the day off on Wednesday.

Dellucci has a nagging calf problem that's affecting his play, sitting out Wednesday along with the off-day on Thursday can't hurt.

"He's the type of guy that's not going to say anything," manager Buck Showalter said. "So we're trying to get him ... a couple of days off."

Barajas was also out of Wednesday's lineup, replaced by Alomar, as Showalter took the opportunity to give his starting catcher two straight days off.

Rotation shuffle in the works? Pedro Astacio's stretch of ineffective starts has placed his rotation spot in jeopardy, but Showalter wasn't ready to announce any changes on Wednesday.

"Not yet," Showalter said. "We're going to sit down on our off-day and see what our options are."

Showalter said Astacio is still "the leader of the pack" to start on Monday night in Anaheim. The Rangers open a key three-game series against the Angels, so Showalter is considering alternatives.

"We're trying to respect a man who's done a lot of great things, but at the same time he also understands where he is," Showalter said. "He knows."

Astacio allowed six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, suffering his eighth loss of the season, on Tuesday night against Atlanta. He has dropped seven of his last eight decisions.

"I have a job to do, and I'm not doing it," Astacio said. "I'm not making pitches when I need to."

Astacio might be safe for at least one more start simply because Drese had been dropped so recently. Another early change in the rotation could be too much of a jolt to a team that's in postseason contention.

Around the horn: If Astacio is replaced in the rotation, one potential replacement is left-hander Wilfredo Rodriguez, who pitched six sharp innings in his first start for Triple-A Oklahoma.

Source: http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/