Most baseball fans recognize the significance of the number 56. That’s the number of consecutive games Joe DiMaggio got a hit in. And every time some player starts to inch close to that, all eyes are on him. Pete Rose got the closest, with 44 games, in 1978. There’s another […]
Evan Carter didn’t make the opening day roster. Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker did. Ezekiel Duran made the opening day roster. The bullpen is Chris Martin, Robert Garcia, Luke Jackson, Jacob Webb, Shawn Armstrong, Hoby Milner, Marc Church, and Gerson Garabito. The rotation appears to be Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom, […]
Jack Leiter pitched six innings yesterday, giving up three runs. That is officially a quality start: six innings or more, three earned runs or fewer. This should be enough of a good spring training to earn Leiter a slot in the Rangers rotation, even if temporarily until Cody Bradford comes […]
Today is the final game in Surprise, Arizona. Then, the Rangers load up the bats and balls and helmets and all the equipment and drive it all back to Arlington for two games against the Royals Monday and Tuesday. Then an off day. Then, opening day on Thursday. Most publications […]
For two teams, the season started today. Los Angeles and Chicago—the relevant franchises from each market, the Dodgers and Cubs—play this morning and tomorrow morning in the Tokyo Series in Japan. Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Roki Sasaki play for the Dodgers. The Cubs have Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga. […]
Midway through spring training and your mind starts playing tricks. You just want it to be over and the season to start, so you start thinking about things. Things like, what if Evan Carter doesn’t make the opening day roster and Alejandro Osuna does? Yes, it’s said often and emphatically […]
Rain delayed the spring debut of Jacob deGrom and the return of Wyatt Langford. The Rangers announced Langford will play today but, strangely, they have not announced anything about deGrom. Today’s pitcher is listed as TBD. But, when you think about it, TBD is probably the best description of deGrom. […]
The Swiss Army knife of players started a game yesterday in centerfield. It seems Josh Smith is going to play all over the field. Literally. His first start in spring was at third. Yesterday, in center, just a day after the Rangers acquired Kevin Pillar to play center. You can […]
It starts today. Guys in Rangers uniforms face off against guys in Royals uniforms at 2:05 in Surprise, Arizona. Most of the players in the lineup this early in spring games will never be seen on a major league roster. So, for a few games, this is the highlight of […]
And the award for The First Injury of the Spring goes to… Robert Garcia, with “minor nerve irritation” to his left forearm. The Rangers stressed that it’s not considered serious and he should miss only a couple days. Rangers fans have seen this movie before. Like “It’s A Wonderful Life” […]
