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Saturday, March 28, 1998

Clark, Gonzalez healthy but Rangers' pitchers hurting

By MICHAEL A. LUTZ / AP Sports Writer

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) -- The Texas Rangers finally got Juan Gonzalez and Will Clark off the disabled list.

This spring, the Rangers have different problems.

The injury concern has shifted to the pitching staff, where relievers Danny Patterson and Xavier Hernandez will open the season on the sidelines.

"We're hoping Danny Patterson will be ready in a couple of weeks, and we knew that Xavier wouldn't be with us at the start," general manager Doug Melvin said.

The Rangers' rotation starts with a better-conditioned John Burkett and Aaron Sele, acquired from the Boston Red Sox. After that, manager Johnny Oates isn't sure how he'll align his pitchers.

Darren Oliver has the fourth spot, but Oates hasn't decided on Nos. 3 and 5.

He's got three starters to fit into two positions, Bobby Witt, Rick Helling and Roger Pavlik, with one going to the bullpen.

"We've got guys coming back and hopefully remaining healthy so we're going to give the opportunity now to the guys we have," Melvin said.

The bullpen is anchored by closer John Wetteland but the other spots are a bit unsettled.

"Scott Bailes, Wetteland and Eric Gunderson have pitched well," Melvin said, "and although (Tim) Crabtree hasn't been real effective, he's got a good arm and we hope he'll come around."

The Rangers have a solid lineup with Ivan Rodriguez aiming for his seventh catching Gold Glove, Clark at first, Mark McLemore at second, Fernando Tatis at third and Kevin Elster at shortstop.

Rusty Greer will be in left field, Tom Goodwin in center and Gonzalez in right. Texas will be able to atone for its mistake in allowing Elster to get away to the Pittsburgh Pirates after he had a career year with the Rangers in 1996. Elster is back after spending most of last season injured.

Melvin also worked hard to give the Rangers a strong and flexible bench by signing catcher Bill Haselman to back up Rodriguez, second baseman Luis Alicea and outfielder Roberto Kelly.

"The bench has performed well this spring," Melvin said. "A guy like Alicea helps a lot. It means McLemore doesn't have to play every day and he will probably get 25, 30 starts for Tatis at third and he can play the outfield."

Oates likely will give Clark more DH duty to keep him healthy the full season. Regular DH Lee Stevens was a capable defensive replacement for Clark last season.

"The big thing for me is I've been having pretty solid years here lately but I haven't been able to finish them off," Clark said. "I need to stay healthy and stay on the field."

Goodwin has stolen more bases (166) than anyone in the major leagues over the past three seasons and Gonzalez got in 133 games last season and still hit 42 homers, third in the AL, and drove in 131 runs.

"If we stay healthy, we're going to score a hell of a lot of runs and we have a good defense," Elster said. "I know we can run. Goodwin can more than Darrell (Hamilton) and Rusty may be running more so we can manufacture runs that way too."

The Rangers want Goodwin to lead off and use his speed, but he'll have to increase his on-base percentage, which was .314 last season.

"Right now, we're planning on starting the season and giving him every chance," Melvin said. "Some others get on more often than Tom but he gets around the bases more than most and scores run. You have to weigh that in deciding where to hit him."