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This is a different time and place for the Texas Rangers. The American League West is wide-open, there for the Mariners or Athletics or Angels or Rangers to take, so the Rangers' approach has shifted to some degree. They have a great core of young talent, but performance is being weighted differently than it was in 2008 or '09, when a prospect might have been given months to show something in the big leagues.

Getty ImagesJustin Smoak's destruction of the minors is just one more reason the Rangers can tell current starters to perform or step aside.

Chris Davis had all of 2009 to hit, but with his history of struggles last season, he had about three weeks in 2010 before he was replaced by Justin Smoak. The Rangers' catching tandem of Taylor Teagarden and Jarrod Saltalamacchia never entrenched themselves, despite months of opportunity, so they were sent to Triple-A on Tuesday, before the baseball calendar turned to May.

And there will be more changes to come.

If Texas can get its catching situation settled -- Matt Treanor had a good first night as the primary catcher on Tuesday -- and can stabilize the bullpen, it has a lot of room for growth. Other teams don't have a lot of alternatives in the minors, but the Rangers are teeming with them, beyond Smoak.

If Rangers GM Jon Daniels wants to try different pitchers, he has starter Derek Holland, who has dominated Triple-A so far, posting an 0.67 ERA in 27 innings, walking three and striking out 21. Alexi Ogando has dominated in Triple-A in 9 2/3 innings, striking out 14 and allowing one run.

Keep this name in mind, too: Tanner Scheppers, whose talent has never been in question, has pitched 10 innings in Double-A, allowing one run, without allowing a walk -- and he has struck out 18.

If Treanor doesn't hit, or if backup catcher Max Ramirez doesn't get the job done, Daniels will probably continue mixing and matching, trying different combinations. If other pitchers struggle, the Rangers will make changes there, too.

Smoak's promotion was a strong signal that the Rangers are trying to win -- right now, in a division that they can win this year.

---

In other team news, the Rangers had to place Nelson Cruz on the disabled list.
[h3]Strasburg domination[/h3]
• The Nationals' approach with Stephen Strasburg has been properly conservative, to ease his transition into professional baseball, and they wanted to give him a chance to deal with failure in the minors before climbing into the pressure cooker that will be his big league career. But failure does not come easily for Strasburg, who threw five no-hit, no-walk innings at Double-A Reading on Tuesday night, striking out six; the only batter who reached against him came on a missed third strike.

Very soon, Strasburg will be given his Double-A diploma and move on to Triple-A. His numbers for the Harrisburg Senators:

Innings: 17.1
Hits: 7
Walks: 3
Earned runs: 1
Strikeouts: 23

The most significant adjustment the Nationals wanted to see from Strasburg early this season has been to slow down his delivery a tad with runners on base, to improve the angle on his fastball -- and Strasburg has been so overpowering in Double-A that he has rarely pitched with runners on base.

Oh, and Harrisburg won 1-0 on Tuesday -- and Strasburg drove in the only run.

Strasburg versus Double-A hitters has not been a fair fight, writes Dave Sheinin.

• Strasburg came by the "Baseball Tonight" studio last week, and we asked him what was the best advice he has received in coping with the pressure and scrutiny he is receiving -- and he talked about how Tony Gwynn asked him rhetorically whether he would rather be a player that nobody really cares about, or a great player that people came to see. And quite simply, the scrutiny comes with being great, Gwynn explained.

Strasburg could not have gotten better advice, nor from a better source, because Gwynn always handled his time in the spotlight deftly.

• Best pitching sequence of the night: Justin Verlander in the second inning against Justin Morneau. First pitch: a perfectly placed changeup, at 87 mph, for strike one. Second pitch: A curveball at 80-81 mph, strike two. Third pitch: a nasty slider at 84-85 mph, and Morneau swung weakly over the top of it for strike three.

The night did not end well for either Justin: Morneau left the game after just three at-bats with back stiffness, and Verlander lasted only five innings before he was forced out by his pitch count. And you have to wonder if his early-game emphasis on establishing his secondary pitches early in the game worked against him, because he never really got into a rhythm of throwing his fastballs for strikes and he was constantly deep into counts.

Errors hurt the Tigers, writes Shawn Windsor.

• There was some media debate over whether the Red Sox should have removed Tim Wakefield from their rotation, rather than Clay Buchholz, and Buchholz showed why Tuesday night. When he's right he can beat good hitters with his stuff, and his outing against the Jays was outstanding. Watched a lot of his last innings and he was excellent in mixing his pitches.

Why he won, from the dudes at ESPN Stats & Information:
[*]He kept his fastball down (46 of 57 fastballs were in the lower two-thirds of the zone); hitters went 1-for-9 on low fastballs, 2-15 on all fastballs. [*]He had a season-high 70 percent strikes on off-speed pitches (MLB average: 61); got hitters to chase 42 percent of off-speed pitches out of the strike zone, 46 percent over past two starts (MLB average: 31). [*]He threw 70 percent first-pitch strikes, 72 percent over past two starts (47 percent in first two starts of the season); went to a 2-0 count to just one of 33 batters faced. [h3]Beckett's struggles[/h3]
About Josh Beckett: The feeling among some talent evaluators who have seen him recently is that Beckett has been responding to trouble by becoming one-dimensional, and merely trying to overpower hitters with his fastball. "He doesn't have the same power curveball right now," said one evaluator. Said another: "He just doesn't have the command you usually see [with his secondary pitches]."

Here's a number that reflects what the evaluators are seeing: with runners on base, opponents are hitting .346 against Beckett, with an OPS of 1.016. Beckett continues to have good velocity, throwing in the low-to-mid 90s.
[h3]Dings and dents[/h3]
1. Brett Anderson's injury does not involve his ligament; it's in his forearm, and he's expected to be out 4 to 6 weeks. The Athletics, as you can imagine, will be very cautious with a pitcher who is regarded as a franchise cornerstone. It was the biggest news of the day for the Athletics.

2. Rafael Furcal has a tight hamstring.

3. Jorge De La Rosa is going to be out for a while, as Jim Armstrong writes.
[h3]Moves, deals and decisions[/h3]
1. Ken Griffey Jr. is struggling, but Larry Stone believes he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

2. Scott Ostler thinks the Giants should promote Buster Posey to the majors.

3. Steve Pearce is likely to be called up to the big leagues when the Pirates alter the makeup of their pitching staff.

4. Gregg Zaun was given a day off.
[h3]Tuesday's games[/h3]
1. The Braves' losing streak continues: That's seven straight and counting -- and of course, they'd be in worse shape if not for the late-inning exploits of Jason Heyward a couple of weeks ago. They've had a lot of different problems, but the heart of the matter could be this: If they don't get run production out of Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus, the lineup looks very different. So far this year, Jones is hitting .259 with two homers (and yes, a .420 on-base percentage); Glaus, .200 with two homers and nine RBIs. The Mets basically pitched him to the outside corner in the recently concluded series because it seemed that Chipper could not get to the pitches the way he always has, because of his recent hip trouble.

2. Ryan Doumit had a good night for the Pirates, who needed a good night, as Dejan Kovacevic writes.

3. Francisco Liriano of last night was the Francisco Liriano of 2006: a mid-90s fastball and nasty slider, and he hasn't allowed a run in his past three starts. Why Twins starter Francisco Liriano dominated, from ESPN Stats & Information:

Liriano threw his slider 40 times, the most since coming off Tommy John surgery in 2008. Tigers hitters were 1-for-11 off the pitch and chased it out of the zone 63.2 percent of the time, also a best since Liriano came off surgery. Six of his 10 strikeouts were on sliders Tuesday night. Looking at Liriano's numbers from his dominant 2006 rookie season to now, it looks as if his once-unhittable slider is back. He's approaching -- and in some categories surpassing -- his pre-surgery numbers in both command and effectiveness.

[h4]Liriano's slider returns[/h4]
Pitchers who have Tommy John surgery often see their command come back long after velocity. Particularly with secondary pitches. Liriano seems to be a classic example. His slider is returning.
[table][tr][th=""][/th][th=""]2006[/th][th=""]2008-09[/th][th=""]2010[/th][/tr][tr][td]Pitch Pct.[/td][td]33.5[/td][td]26.0[/td][td]31.1[/td][/tr][tr][td]Strike Pct.[/td][td]74.3[/td][td]60.9[/td][td]78.4[/td][/tr][tr][td]Miss Pct.[/td][td]47.9[/td][td]42.9[/td][td]45.6[/td][/tr][tr][td]Chase Pct.[/td][td]49.8[/td][td]37.6[/td][td]54.2[/td][/tr][/table]

4. The Orioles have a winning streak in progress; a rookie was thrown into action.

5. Zack Greinke is not throwing quite as well as he was at the outset of last season, but he certainly has pitched well enough to win. From ESPN Stats & Information:

Greinke has an excellent 2.56 ERA this season with nearly a 4-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but has no wins to show for it. A big reason is that the Royals bullpen has blown three of his potential wins. Last season Greinke won his first five starts with an ERA of 0.50 on his way to the Cy Young Award. Last season at the same juncture, Greinke also had a little better K-BB ratio of 44-8. Currently he sits at 27-7 in 2010.

6. As of today, Ubaldo Jimenez might be the best pitcher in the majors, the way Greinke was at the start of last season; Jimenez's ERA is down to 0.79, in the aftermath of his most recent outing. Why Jimenez won:
[*]Dominant fastball: Jimenez's heater averaged 97.1 mph, a season high. He didn't command it particularly well, with only 48.9 percent of the pitches in the strike zone (MLB average is 55.6 percent), but hitters helped him out with a 41.7 chase percentage, Jimenez's best on his fastball since May 16, 2008. The Diamondbacks were 1-11 against Jimenez's heater, with three of his six strikeouts coming on the pitch. [*]He didn't fall behind: went to only one 2-0 count and one 3-1 count. [*]He got every leadoff batter out (MLB average is 68 percent).
Other Jimenez notes: With his league-leading fifth victory Tuesday, Jimenez is now 13-3 with a 2.24 ERA since Aug. 1. No pitcher in baseball has more wins in that span. Jimenez also extended his scoreless streak to 22.1 innings, the second-longest streak in baseball this year behind Mike Pelfrey's active streak of 24. Jimenez also pitched at least six innings for the 33rd time in his past 34 starts.

7. Livan Hernandez continues to baffle hitters, as Mark Viera writes.

8. The Mets rolled into first place with some more great pitching during a doubleheader sweep of the Dodgers, from Johan Santana and a bunch of relievers. Jerry Manuel managed aggressively -- and smartly -- in Game 2. David Wright delivered, as Andy Martino writes.

9. The Yankees' bullpen was a problem Tuesday, as Ben Shpigel writes.

10. The Mariners scraped together a win with a late rally, as Geoff Baker writes.

11. The stories emanating from the Dodgers' clubhouse are growing more and more ugly, and L.A. got swept Tuesday. It'll be interesting to see whether Manny Ramirez finishes the year on the Dodgers' roster.

12. Joe Saunders got blasted, as Mike DiGiovanna writes.

13. The Giants continue to play great at home, writes Henry Schulman.

14. Jon Garland was the man for the Padres.

15. The D-backs' Edwin Jackson threw out a stinker.

16. Yadier Molina was a difference-maker, as Derrick Goold writes.

17. Austin Kearns had a big day for the Indians, as Paul Hoynes writes.

18. Playing against the Rays must feel a lot like being a defensive lineman facing a great running team in football: Tampa Bay just keeps coming at you with wave after wave of talent, in its lineup and rotation. Ben Sheets got steamrolled Tuesday night, and was done in by the bottom of the Tampa Bay batting order.

19. Tom Gorzelanny was good, but the Cubs' offense … not so much, as Paul Sullivan writes.

20. For the third time this year, Trevor Hoffman blew a save, leaving Tom Haudricourt to ask: What has happened with his changeup?

21. The White Sox struggled to get any big hits, again.
[h3]The Patience Index[/h3]
[h4]I've Been Waitin' For a Pitch Like You[/h4]
These hitters faced the most pitches per plate appearance Tuesday:
[table][tr][th=""]Hitter[/th][th=""]PA[/th][th=""]Pitches[/th][th=""]P/PA[/th][/tr][tr][td]John Baker[/td][td]4[/td][td]28[/td][td]7.0[/td][/tr][tr][td]Carlos Ruiz[/td][td]3[/td][td]21[/td][td]7.0[/td][/tr][tr][td]Gabe Gross[/td][td]3 [/td][td]20[/td][td]6.7[/td][/tr][tr][td]Chris Coghlan[/td][td]4[/td][td]25[/td][td]6.3[/td][/tr][tr][td]Jason Heyward[/td][td]4[/td][td]25[/td][td]6.3[/td][/tr][tr][td]Melvin Mora[/td][td]2[/td][td]12[/td][td]6.0[/td][/tr][tr][td]Luke Scott[/td][td]4[/td][td]24[/td][td]6.0[/td][/tr][tr][td]Troy Glaus[/td][td]5[/td][td]29[/td][td]5.8[/td][/tr][tr][td]Eric Chavez[/td][td]5[/td][td]29[/td][td]5.8[/td][/tr][/table]
[h3]Other stuff[/h3]
• Roy Oswalt has a lot of concerns, as he rejoins the Astros.

• The Rockies made a move, sending Chris Iannetta to the minors; Iannetta tells The Denver Post he was stunned by the decision.

• The Tigers are not tinkering with Austin Jackson's swing, writes Tom Gage.

• A Vanderbilt guy landed with the Steelers. Nice.

And today will be better than yesterday.