An update from MLB.com came in yesterday on my phone. It was an important push notification about the Texas Rangers. “Corey Kluber looked really sharp in his latest throwing session.” Playoff tickets have been ordered. Kluber is back. That important February 18 hurdle had been conquered. Every year, the stories […]
The Rangers number one priority this season is to protect Joey Gallo. Smother him in bubble wrap so he doesn’t get hurt. Because the offense is Gallo, first. Nobody second. Nobody third. Nobody fourth. After that, it’s a tie for Distant Fifth. After four seasons of futility, Joey Gallo turned […]
Finally, it’s here. February 17. Today is full squad report day. Sixty-seven players wearing Texas Rangers uniforms will convene in Surprise, Arizona to determine the twenty-six who will move on to Arlington. Starting Friday there will be baseball games from now until the end of October. Or, in the Rangers […]
What do the Rangers do with Nick Solak? That seems to be the major decision this spring. Since acquiring Solak from Tampa Bay last year, he has shown considerable skills with the bat, skills the Rangers desperately need. Unfortunately, they have no place to play him. Second is taken. Super […]
Spring training generally has few real stories or surprises. It’s not like most players haven’t already made the squad and no their positions. “Oh, I hope Joey Gallo does well enough in spring that he gets called up to the majors” won’t happen. But this year is a little unusual. […]
Ronald Guzman is showing up to Rangers camp a new man: himself. Like Odor, Ronald Guzman is coming to spring training with a new approach to his hitting. Every Rangers fan is desperately hoping this approach is the right one. If he could ever get his offensive game anywhere in […]
Baseball Prospectus released its highly respected PECOTA predictions for 2020. You can see them here. PECOTA stands for Player Empirical Comparison and Optimization Test Algorithm, which means it’s a lot of statistics crunched into a very big computer brain. It is generally regarded as the most accurate indication of the […]
Rougned Odor is showing up to camp with a new hitting philosophy. That’s good. His old hitting philosophy was broken. He spent all offseason with former catcher Victor Martinez soaking up his knowledge on hitting. Martinez was a five-time All-Star who finished second in MVP voting in 2014 when he […]
Sometimes you wonder if baseball commissioner Rob Manfred has ever watched a baseball game. Yesterday, his office floated out changes they are considering for the playoffs, starting in 2022. (For Rangers fans, the playoffs are the games good teams get to play after the season ends to determine the champion.) […]
So, who is the best closer in the game? And, who is lucky to still have a job? MLB.com’s Will Leitch asked that question. His top 30 closers list came out yesterday. Jose Leclerc came in twenty-seventh. Out of thirty. “He fell off the table right after signing a contract […]