You know how classic car guys will find a rare and exotic car and rarely drive it? They keep it in a garage, under a protective tarp, or in an airport hangar—somewhere far away where it’s protected from the elements. It’s called protecting their investment. It’s not a car you own […]
After nine spring training games, a few players are earning notice. The question is, will it matter? Coming into spring, the thirteen position players on the opening day roster were already set: two catchers (Higashioka and Heim), six infielders (Seager, Semien, Burger, Jung, Smith, Duran), a DH (Pederson) and four […]
That’s two starts, two poundings. After two spring training starts, Kumar Rocker’s ERA sits at a whopping 36.00. Players in Brewers uniforms jumped all over him for four runs in the first. He didn’t come out for a second inning. That’s two games now where he has given up four […]
I had the game on the background yesterday while driving around with a friend who’s a casual baseball fan. When the Cubs scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie it, he turned to me and said, “Oh, I’m really sorry. I thought the Rangers had this […]
Evan Carter went 0-for-3 yesterday. Cactus League stats don’t matter, of course. But what does matter is his first two at-bats were against two different left-handed pitchers. He struck out against Jhonathan Diaz in the first, then grounded out against Danny Wirchansky in the third. His last at-bat was against […]
Centerfield isn’t the only position where there seems to be a battle on this 2025 Rangers roster (although in center, it’s mostly the backup role, assuming Carter’s back holds up). The Rangers also have a battle of sorts going on at catcher. What was Jonah Heim’s position since they traded […]
Kumar Rocker had a rough start in his first spring outing. Of note: it was a spring outing. Also of note, today’s starter is Nathan Eovaldi, who is making his second spring start. So far the Rangers have used Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle, Cody Bradford, Jon Gray, and Kumar Rocker. One […]
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 […]
Not so fast there on those outfield plans. It seems Leody Taveras might not be the backup centerfielder for the Rangers in 2025. The plan coming into this spring training seemed to be Evan Carter would be the Rangers centerfielder, assuming his back holds up, and Leody Taveras would back […]
You’ve got to feel for Josh Smith. He went into last season a man without a position, trying to find his place on the team. All he did was make the All-Star team and win a Silver Slugger award after filling in for Corey Seager when he went down then […]
