Needing some relief.

They were rotation-mates at both Bakersfield and Frisco in 2005, one coming off Tommy John surgery and the other a year and a half short of his own elbow ligament reconstruction. Four years later, they're probably the Rangers' most important stories in relief at two levels, one in Texas and the other in Oklahoma City. It might not be exactly what the Rangers envisioned for C.J .Wilson and Thomas Diamond when they were Blaze and RoughRider teammates, but it reinforces a reality worth pointing out, particularly with this franchise committed to building from within, and in better shape in that effort than any team in baseball, according to most: with prospects, even the best ones, and especially those on the mound, past is not always prologue. After his catastrophic third of an inning on Sunday, Wilson was seen getting loose in the sixth inning last night and was summoned to pitch the seventh, a statement move considering he'd been this team's ninth-inning man late in 2007 and in 2008 until his injury, and was its primary eighth-inning weapon going into camp and coming out of it. Until Sunday's disastrous eighth. Wilson breezed through the seventh, retiring Baltimore's eight, nine, and one hitters like he's supposed to, needing only 14 pitches (eight strikes) to keep the game tied and get the offense back to the bat rack. The eighth was once again cruel to Wilson, as he walked Adam Jones after getting ahead 0-2 and, after inducing a nifty 3U-6 double play ground ball off Nick Markakis's bat, issued another free pass, putting Aubrey Huff on base on five pitches and surrendering the ball to Frankie Francisco. But there's a huge difference between Sunday's results and last night's, in that Wilson didn't break the second time around, even if he bent a bit in his second inning of work. This bullpen has been unbelievably bad as a whole – sporting a collective 8.17 ERA this season (the starters sit at 5.64) – but Wilson has as much of a chance as anyone outside of Francisco to get big outs, as long as he gets right, and not just every other time out. As for Diamond, who hasn't been a regular bullpen pitcher since his sophomore year at the University of New Orleans, his first two Oklahoma City relief appearances have been sensational. He gave up one hit (a solo home run) in 2.2 innings in his RedHawks debut on Friday, fanning three, and then fired a perfect eighth last night, striking out Nashville's four and five hitters (including momentary Ranger Joe Koshansky swinging) and coaxing a flyout to right field to finish the quiet frame. Eleven of his 15 pitches were strikes. In his two outings, Diamond has allowed one hit and no walks in 3.2 innings, getting five of his 11 outs on strikes. Yes, Willie Eyre and Dustin Nippert will probably get opportunities to help in Arlington before Diamond does, but the 26-year-old is on the 40-man roster, is on his second of three options, and is dealing. If he keeps anything close to this up, he's going to be in Texas soon, as long as the big league bullpen remains the club's biggest issue. How about this for a staggering statistic: while the Rangers' bullpen has been absolutely terrible, Texas hitters are doing almost no damage against opposing relievers. The Rangers are hitting .311/.387/.649 against starting pitchers; an anemic .219/.273/.375 against relievers. Stated another way, through eight games this lineup is Alex Rodriguez against starters, Pablo Ozuna against relievers. Oklahoma City reliever Beau Vaughan, off to just as strong a start as Diamond (one hit [a single] and no walks in three scoreless innings, six strikeouts), is off to an equally outstanding start with the blog he's writing for MLB. Check out his first entry, which includes an unconventional interview of his roommate Derek Holland, at http://rangersprospect.mlblogs.com/. In his first two appearances of the season, Frisco reliever Guillermo Moscoso, like Diamond on the 40-man roster, has allowed one hit (a double) and one walk in 4.1 scoreless innings, fanning five. Don't rule out the idea that he could be on a very important watch list right now. RedHawks reliever Pedro Strop has allowed a run on one hit and two walks in two innings, fanning two. He's thrown 22 strikes and 19 balls, and that, as much as his non-roster status, puts him behind Diamond and Moscoso (not to mention Eyre and Nippert) for now if you're thinking about candidates to reshape the big league bullpen. Throw Brian Gordon (one run on two hits and no walks in four innings, four strikeouts, 70 percent strikes) in the mix as well. Not so much, at the moment, for Derrick Turnbow (three runs on four hits and four walks in two-thirds of an inning) or Kason Gabbard (one hit and three walks in 1.1 innings, 40 percent strikes). Frisco righthander John Bannister, who is on the roster, has permitted one run on three hits and no walks in 2.2 innings, fanning two. And while it's not time yet, don't forget Nolan Ryan's comment a week ago that he'd like to see Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz eased into their big league careers as relief pitchers. Few minor league clubs can boast the pitching prospect power that Hickory does, featuring a staff that includes Martin Perez, Wilmer Font, Wilfredo Boscan, Fabio Castillo, Carlos Pimentel, and Jake Brigham (and, before long, Joe Wieland and perhaps Neil Ramirez), and then a guy like lefthander Cliff Springston, who posted a 5.09 ERA last summer after signing as the Rangers' 11th-round pick, goes out there last night and does this to Greenville in his 2009 debut (though the Crawdads ultimately fell to the Drive in 15 innings, 2-1): seven innings, two singles, an unearned run, no walks, three strikeouts, 11 groundouts/six flyouts. He maintained a no-hitter until there were two outs in the fifth. According to ESPN, "[s]everal sources expect the Texas Rangers to be major players in the [Latin American] signing market this summer." The one name mentioned in the note as a Rangers target was left-handed masher Guillermo Pimentel, considered one of the best pure hitters on the market. When Elvis Andrus homered on Opening Day, he became the fourth-youngest Ranger to go deep. The three younger hitters? Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, and Sammy Sosa. Einar Diaz will manage Baltimore's Appalachian League entry at Bluefield. He coached for the Orioles' Gulf Coast League squad in 2008. The Washington Wild Things of the independent Frontier League signed lefthander Eric Evans. The Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks of the independent Northern League signed righthander Josh Giles. The Lincoln SaltDogs of the independent American Association signed first baseman Phillip Hawke. The Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League signed righthander Dan Miceli. Want a shot at writing something that shows up in the Rangers game program for the entire month of May? Go to http://forum.newbergreport.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7893. Typically, a 3-5 stretch wouldn't be cause for alarm or urgency, but when it includes five straight losses and, maybe more importantly, comes at the beginning of a month and a season in which the club knew it had to get off to a better start than the last two years – with a schedule stacked to better that opportunity – a sense of urgency seems like a good thing, and the Rangers reportedly had a postgame meeting after last night's loss. The bullpen is not solely to blame for this current skid, but it's certainly the part of the team most susceptible to a change in roles, if not personnel. Barring a dramatic reversal of fortune, almost immediately, the relief crew is going to look different the next time all hands gather in the clubhouse to meet after the game. =========================================================== To join the free Newberg Report mailing list so you can get e-mail deliveries of every edition of the newsletter, daily minor league game recaps, and frequent Newberg Report News Flashes, go to www.newbergreport.com and click the "Mailing List" link on the top menu bar. (c) Jamey Newberg http://www.newbergreport.com If you want to be removed from this list, please e-mail me at newbergreport@sbcglobal.net