Jonah Heim seeks to recreate some magic against the M's: TEX in Seattle for 3, Aug 10-12

[jta4437]

Why did Howard only pitch 3 innings?

 

[Duane1952]

Why did Howard only pitch 3 innings?

Sounds like they're trying to build his confidence. His history his that he's been good for 3 innings, not good from the 4th inning on.

 

[scotsman1948]

Why did Howard only pitch 3 innings?

they have set his pitch count at 45 in an attempt to build his confidence something Philly didn't do

 

[True Rangers Fan]

I hope it's more of a stamina thing than a confidence thing.

 

[DT LUNA]

I hope it's more of a stamina thing than a confidence thing.

Both will work

 

[saddles]

Evan Grant's latest Q & A column is out today. I will post a few items from the column.

#EvanHelpUs If the Rangers do sign a FA shortstop this offseason, what happens with IKF? Does he move to 2B?

— Hiker Jones (@HikerJones) August 10, 2021

Me: A lot still to be determined there, but that’s certainly one possibility. I think second base is going to be wide open going to camp next year. As might several positions. I think Nick Solak will get another shot there. Andy Ibáñez is playing his way into the picture. Eli White might also. And can we even count out pesky Yonny Hernandez at this point? No, I think we can’t.

It was going to take Kiner-Falefa putting up at least league average offensive numbers at shortstop to make a case for him as a long-term shortstop. After a solid start, he’s really tailed off. I think it makes it more imperative for Rangers to really target one of those franchise-caliber shortstops. There is still a role for Kiner-Falefa, I believe. That’s not to say he couldn’t end up shortstop in 2022. It’s just that if he does, I think it’s because the Rangers did not land Trevor Story, Corey Seager or Carlos Correa.

 

[saddles]

#evanhelpus Who is the next minor league position player and pitcher to be called up?

— Bill Schultz (@billschultz72) August 10, 2021

Me: I feel pretty secure that right-handed reliever Nick Snyder will be the next pitching call up. He’s on his third level of the season after starting at Class A Hickory. Snyder had a rough outing against Sugarland over the weekend, allowing three runs in an inning. It’s still left him with a 2.56 composite ERA for 31.2 innings this year. He’s got a 9-to-1 strikeout to walk rate (46 to 5). He’s blowing gas at 98-100 mph past hitters. He will be here by Sept. 1, if not earlier.

For a position player, let’s go with catcher Yohel Pozo. First, he’s made a big jump offensively, with a .337/.351/.611/.963 slash line and 19 homers going into Wednesday. That he’s taken only six walks is a bit disconcerting. On the other hand, it’s not like he’s swinging and missing a ton. His strikeout rate is only 11.6%. Now, I expect that will rise in the big leagues, so he’s going to have to make some adjustments. He’s Rule 5 eligible this winter, which means he must be protected on the roster, another reason to go ahead and add him before the end of the season.

And the Rangers need to look at some other catching options. They’ve given Jose Trevino more opportunity this year and he’s not been able to seize the job. If anything, he’s lost ground to Jonah Heim. Trevino has a .552 OPS, the seventh lowest among 277 players currently on active rosters with at least 150 plate appearances this year. He’s not thrown well either. He has, however, been a really good receiver at stealing strikes for pitchers. Good as he’s been at that, a sub .600 OPS just isn’t acceptable. Trevino could rebound next year, but the Rangers owe it to themselves to also make some contingency plans, even if its just in the short term until Sam Huff is ready. Pozo may not be the receiver that Trevino is, but his offense is intriguing and this team needs more offense. I suspect he gets a look over the last month of the season.

 

[saddles]

Evan had a very good article on Zac Kent and some other Hickory pitchers earlier this week. Here is an excerpt.

With his flowing blond locks bobbing behind him, Aaron Shackleford shuffled out of the home clubhouse and found Hickory’s Zak Kent in the common workout the teams share beneath First National Bank Field.

“Dude, that was awesome,” Shackleford said. “Nasty stuff. All sliders?”

Kent nodded.

“Awesome man,” Shackleford added. “Struck me out three times.”

And then he walked away with a little bit of a fan boy smile on his face. It was high praise coming from an opponent, especially one who is among the High A East’s home run leaders. Even if he does have a bit of a swing-and-miss issue.

But he was hardly the only one. Up in the stands, one evaluator watched Kent attack with hard sliders away from lefties and a sharp curve to right-handers. He supplemented it with fastballs in the 92-96 mph range about a third of the time. When Kent was done, he’d pitched seven shutout innings and struck out 13. He allowed two hits and a walk.

“It was like the best stuff I’ve seen this year,” the evaluator said.

By the end of the weekend, Kent had company. Over three consecutive nights, the advanced Class A Crawdads might have strung together the three best starts in the Rangers’ system this season against a Greensboro team that began this six-game series 20 games above .500

 

[saddles]

 

[Duane1952]

It's time to send Terry back to AAA. He's overmatched right now.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

It's time to send Terry back to AAA. He's overmatched right now.

I think they're waiting until Calhoun returns maybe?

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Afternoon game today

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[saddles]

More notes from the Evan Grant story mentioned above.

Kent is a lanky right-hander who was the Rangers’ ninth-round selection in 2019. He was followed by two guys acquired in the last year as part of retooling trades: lefty Avery Weems, who came from the Chicago White Sox in the Lance Lynn trade, and right-hander Kevin Gowdy, added last week in a six-pitcher exchange with Philadelphia. The duo’s combined line: 122/3 innings, five hits, a run, two walks and 11 strikeouts. It’s the first time in the organization this season — minors or majors — the Rangers have had three consecutive games in which the starter went at least six innings and allowed one or no runs.

Of particular note: the strikeout-to-walk rate. It is here that the Rangers have made perhaps their biggest adjustments in the minors. The Rangers minor league system began Sunday with the fourth-best strikeout-to-walk rate (2.76) among all organizations. It’s an improvement of more than 10% since the last full minor league season. And if you take the top dozen or so starting pitching prospects, the rate ratchets up to 3.83. The strength of the organization for the first three months of the season was the minor league pitching.

“The messaging has been get-ahead and finish guys off,” Rangers pitching coordinator Jono Armold said. “We’re not selling out for strikeouts completely. But we’re trying to race to two strikes and put guys away. If it’s a strikeout, great. But we’re not willing to tolerate a strikeout for a walk. That’s something we’ve stressed systemically.”

While guys have gotten the group messaging, there is no “Rangers way” to go about it. The Rangers have stressed individualization in their pitching development.

Kent, for example, has an elite slider. When the Rangers moved him from the bullpen to the rotation early in the season, he tried to pitch like he felt a starter should, rather than using the slider to his advantage. The Rangers’ response: Do you. He’s now throwing sliders about 40-45% of the time, fastballs about 30-35% and the rest are curveballs and splitters. After giving up seven runs in 12/3 innings in his first start against this same Greensboro lineup, he’s posted a 1.00 WHIP and 2.70 ERA over his last eight outings.

The last pitch he threw Thursday was a slider to get Greensboro’s Lolo Sanchez swinging to end the seventh. It is likely his last pitch for Hickory, too. A promotion to Double-A Frisco could be next.

“I just know myself more as a pitcher,” Kent said. “I use my fastball almost as a changeup.”

For Weems, the idea was to expand his pitch usage. He arrived from the White Sox organization as a fastball/curveball pitcher to right-handers and fastball/slider pitcher to lefties. The Rangers have urged him to use all of his pitches to both sides of the plate. Weems has taken to it. He’s given up some homers but has a 3.04 ERA over the last five outings, during which he has a 0.94 WHIP.

And then there is Gowdy. He arrived from Philadelphia only a week ago relying heavily on a sinker. The Rangers are starting to talk to him about being willing to use the upper part of the zone a little bit more.

“Zak Kent is a different pitcher than Avery Weems,” said Hickory pitching instructor Jordan Tiegs. “We are trying to help them understand who they are individually. We have a similar mind-set when it comes to messaging, but it’s basically that we don’t care what it looks like, so long as the player is getting better. It’s about what each player needs and how can we reach that end goal more than an organizational philosophy on how to do it.”

The Rangers just want results. At Hickory, they are starting to see them.

 

[scotsman1948]

I think they're waiting until Calhoun returns maybe?

Calhoun was moved to the 60 day IL and won't be eligible to return until late September

 

[Kelleyman]

Father Time wins again

 

[scotsman1948]

man the Orioles owe him next year's full salary plus a couple of Million a year until 2037

 

[Kelleyman]

More notes from the Evan Grant story mentioned above.

Kent is a lanky right-hander who was the Rangers’ ninth-round selection in 2019. He was followed by two guys acquired in the last year as part of retooling trades: lefty Avery Weems, who came from the Chicago White Sox in the Lance Lynn trade, and right-hander Kevin Gowdy, added last week in a six-pitcher exchange with Philadelphia. The duo’s combined line: 122/3 innings, five hits, a run, two walks and 11 strikeouts. It’s the first time in the organization this season — minors or majors — the Rangers have had three consecutive games in which the starter went at least six innings and allowed one or no runs.

Of particular note: the strikeout-to-walk rate. It is here that the Rangers have made perhaps their biggest adjustments in the minors. The Rangers minor league system began Sunday with the fourth-best strikeout-to-walk rate (2.76) among all organizations. It’s an improvement of more than 10% since the last full minor league season. And if you take the top dozen or so starting pitching prospects, the rate ratchets up to 3.83. The strength of the organization for the first three months of the season was the minor league pitching.

“The messaging has been get-ahead and finish guys off,” Rangers pitching coordinator Jono Armold said. “We’re not selling out for strikeouts completely. But we’re trying to race to two strikes and put guys away. If it’s a strikeout, great. But we’re not willing to tolerate a strikeout for a walk. That’s something we’ve stressed systemically.”

While guys have gotten the group messaging, there is no “Rangers way” to go about it. The Rangers have stressed individualization in their pitching development.

Kent, for example, has an elite slider. When the Rangers moved him from the bullpen to the rotation early in the season, he tried to pitch like he felt a starter should, rather than using the slider to his advantage. The Rangers’ response: Do you. He’s now throwing sliders about 40-45% of the time, fastballs about 30-35% and the rest are curveballs and splitters. After giving up seven runs in 12/3 innings in his first start against this same Greensboro lineup, he’s posted a 1.00 WHIP and 2.70 ERA over his last eight outings.

The last pitch he threw Thursday was a slider to get Greensboro’s Lolo Sanchez swinging to end the seventh. It is likely his last pitch for Hickory, too. A promotion to Double-A Frisco could be next.

“I just know myself more as a pitcher,” Kent said. “I use my fastball almost as a changeup.”

For Weems, the idea was to expand his pitch usage. He arrived from the White Sox organization as a fastball/curveball pitcher to right-handers and fastball/slider pitcher to lefties. The Rangers have urged him to use all of his pitches to both sides of the plate. Weems has taken to it. He’s given up some homers but has a 3.04 ERA over the last five outings, during which he has a 0.94 WHIP.

And then there is Gowdy. He arrived from Philadelphia only a week ago relying heavily on a sinker. The Rangers are starting to talk to him about being willing to use the upper part of the zone a little bit more.

“Zak Kent is a different pitcher than Avery Weems,” said Hickory pitching instructor Jordan Tiegs. “We are trying to help them understand who they are individually. We have a similar mind-set when it comes to messaging, but it’s basically that we don’t care what it looks like, so long as the player is getting better. It’s about what each player needs and how can we reach that end goal more than an organizational philosophy on how to do it.”

The Rangers just want results. At Hickory, they are starting to see them.

This is great insight and encouraging. It looks life a different pitching culture that historically has not seen slot of success since Dutch and CJ days

 

[saddles]

From Evan's article, it seems the Rangers may have turned a corner in developing pitchers.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

Calhoun was moved to the 60 day IL and won't be eligible to return until late September

Well then they should definitely not wait that long