It’s the first day of the spring exhibition schedule, what has lately been come to be called the Cactus League. Players in Texas Rangers uniforms go up against players in Kansas City Royals uniforms. For many, it’s the only time they will ever get to wear a major league uniform. […]
When the other catcher on your team is Yadier Molina, you have to resign yourself to knowing you will be the backup catcher. That was Andrew Knizner’s fate as a catcher coming up in the Saint Louis Cardinals minor league system. And when Molina retired after the 2022 season, he […]
The Rangers have three catchers on their forty-man roster. Jonah Heim, Andrew Knizner, and Sam Huff. They will probably carry only two. That probably leaves Sam Huff back in the minor leagues. Poor Sam Huff. Always the odd man out. Forever stuck in Triple-A, the perennial prospect. At twenty-six, he’s certainly […]
MLB is trying a new thing this preseason called Spring Breakout. It’s like the Futures Game but concentrated to an organization’s best players, where the Futures games is league versus league. According to MLB.com, each team will put together a roster of its best prospects to play a seven-inning game […]
Let’s get the bad news out of the way in spring when it doesn’t matter as much. First Corey Seager will miss the spring training and the exhibition season because of hernia surgery. Now, Josh Jung, who is injured once a season, has a calf strain that is going to […]
Here’s an interesting trend that Rangers fans would like to see end. Bruce Bochy won the World Series in 2010. In 2011, his team failed to make the playoffs. Bruce Bochy won the World Series in 2012. In 2013, his team failed to make the playoffs. Bruce Bochy won the […]
This spring, the spotlight is on Jack Leiter. Could the baseball gods finally smile on the Rangers and have at least one Jon Daniels pitching draft pick succeed. Just one. Please? Leiter was so good in college (2.08 ERA) and has been so disappointing as a pro (5.37). He started […]
Starting his second full season on the job and already Chris Young has mastered advanced-level general manager speak. In his first spring press conference, Young told Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News that any notable acquisitions are unlikely at this point. Notable. Unlikely. Always good to use gray words. Before diving […]
The equipment trucks are loaded and heading to Surprise, Arizona. Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow. The rest of the team reports Monday. The first exhibition game is in ten days, Friday, February 23. With the start of spring training, the most successful season in Rangers’ history will officially be in […]
Probably the most overused adage in baseball is you can never have enough pitching. As pitchers and catchers report on Wednesday, the Rangers have a total of five healthy starting pitchers on their entire forty-man roster. Five. Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, and Cody Bradford. And nobody […]
