SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Rangers' pitching philosophy under Jeff Banister has been as tough and persistent as the manager himself.
It goes like this: Pound the ball inside to buy "real estate" outside.
The idea is to get the ball in on hitters, perhaps far enough to make them move their feet back an inch or two away from the plate, then come back with something outside later in the count that either induces weak contact or a swing and a miss.
It's a philosophy baseball men have preached for decades, but taken literally it suggests throwing two balls outside the strike zone to set up an out.