What will arrive first: Fall or Jung? The Rangers travel to Beantown for some Dunkins and baseball

[DT LUNA]

His manager didn't, and should have pulled him.

Was refering to the relievers but I agree about the mgr not pulling him.

 

[Kelleyman]

Was refering to the relievers but I agree about the mgr not pulling him.

Always good to have a plan B

 

[saddles]

 

[DT LUNA]

Always good to have a plan B

HA we needed plan c d e

 

[Duane1952]

I dont think this organization knows what F'ing direction it's going in, more than half the time.

I totally agree. There is no reason that Jung is not here.

 

[saddles]

Jeff Wilson had a great article today about Aaron Zavala. Here is one excerpt.

The Rangers’ second-round pick in 2021 (38th overall) has been Frisco’s best hitter since he was promoted from High A Hickory on July 30. He even stayed hot after a short stint on the injured list with a sore knee.

Zavala reached base in all but two of his first 17 Double A games and finished Thursday batting .365 after his rare O-fer. He has pushed his way to the top of the conversation for Rangers Minor League Player of the Year.

All of this comes from a player who opened the season 5 for 43 (.116) in his first 13 games and finished April batting .177.

There’s a lesson here, and every young player could use a refresher.

“A lot of it just comes down to trusting myself, knowing that over the course of the season that we’re going to figure things out,” Zavala said. “That was only like, what, 20-30 games in? It’s just kind of realizing that it’s a long year. It can be a swing of a week or two weeks that things can change, positive or negative. So just kind of realizing that we have a long time left led to that.

“I just kept working through it.”

The secret sauce was that Zavala had a .378 on-base percentage at the end of April. He was seeing pitches, recognizing how he was being pitched and hitting balls hard that were turned into outs.

He didn’t make any swing changes. His approach never wavered. There was no panic in his first full professional season

 

[saddles]

More from Jeff Wilson on Aaron Zavala.

“I would say there were definitely some balls that I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a hit,’ and then all of the sudden a guy makes a diving play or something,” Zavala said. “But it came around at one point. Hits started falling, I started stringing at-bats together, then stringing games together and then just building them from there.”

Everything came together in July, when he posted a .306/.425./.597 slash line at Hickory to earn his promotion.

He hit six home runs in July and is sitting on 14 with just over two weeks left in the season.

“He surprised me and he’s surprised some of us a little bit with some of the extra-base power that he’s shown at Double A,” said vice president Ross Fenstermaker, who oversees player development. “But I shouldn’t be surprised with guys that have that good of an approach and they make great swing decisions.”

One reason for Zavala’s success at Frisco might be the strike zone. It’s not different than anywhere else in baseball, but it’s pitchers are around it more at Double A and umpires judge it more accurately.

Some might scoff at that, but the theory is holding true and has been proven true with other hitters with the same stingy approach that Zavala has.

“I’ve definitely enjoyed this zone here more,” he said. “The biggest difference that I’ve noticed is just being able to command more pitches that are competitive. There were some times at High A where the guy would come in and he would only have like one pitch that he’d be able to throw for a strike, whereas here it’s usually at least two.”

 

[saddles]

One more excerpt from Jeff Wilson on Aaron Zavala.

Zavala’s .899 OPS is one of the best in the organization. Hickory outfielder Evan Carter and Frisco infielders Justin Foscue and Luisangel Acuna have also put together solid seasons that have them in the running to be the Rangers’ top minor-leaguer.

No matter who wins it, the Rangers are seeing what their amateur scouts projected in Zavala leading up to the 2021 draft. Frisco manager Jared Goedert sees the makeup component, too, as the way Zavala plays makes the players around him better.

But it all comes back to Zavala having an unwavering faith that what he does will work out.

“The foundation of great hitters is typically a good approach. I think he’s got that in spades,” Fenstermaker said. “He doesn’t chase outside the strike zone, he’s pretty aware of balls that he can drive, understands how to navigate through counts, and is getting into his body and his legs a little bit more in his swing and some of his power. And I think he understands the fundamental aspect of being a good baseball player, which is ‘Know thyself.’ He knows what he does well.”

 

[True Rangers Fan]

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[armadillooutlaw]

Yeah, hitting has been pretty solid overall. The last couple months it has noticably improved thanks to Lowe's explosion, Seager and Semien coming around and Leody's massive improvement. And of course Adolis being Adolis.
I agree that pitching needs to be the focus. Pretty much exclusively the focus, short an opportunity to nab a guy like Trea Turner (the IDEAL leadoff guy).

 

[Kelleyman]

Great thoughts

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[DT LUNA]

Only Kole today. Not bad. Could be better.

 

[saddles]

Michael Young is going to be a coach for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. This way, Young can step right in for DeRosa when Mark steps down to take the Rangers job.

 

[saddles]

 

[Kelleyman]

But of course

 

[Kelleyman]

This guy obviously thinks IKF is not Yankee caliber. He has some good videos though

 

[scotsman1948]

Yeah, hitting has been pretty solid overall. The last couple months it has noticably improved thanks to Lowe's explosion, Seager and Semien coming around and Leody's massive improvement. And of course Adolis being Adolis.
I agree that pitching needs to be the focus. Pretty much exclusively the focus, short an opportunity to nab a guy like Trea Turner (the IDEAL leadoff guy).

exactly we probably need to sign Perez and another starter like Syndergaard and a quality closer like Edwin Diaz plus 2 or 3 quality relievers

 

[scotsman1948]

But of course

remember Bregman has Houston Astros after his name and Lowe has Texas Rangers