OFFICIAL OFF SEASON THREAD ( 2017 )

[Duane1952]

The Rangers game tomorrow will be on MLB Network.

 

[saddles]

Who's hurt?

I don't count Hamilton, he was/is never healthy

Off the top of my head, Beltre, Cashner, and Dyson. Of course Diekman and Ross were out before camp even started. Seems like I am forgetting one more pitcher, but I can't think of who it is right now. Oh, and Elvis is still not full strength.

 

[saddles]

The debate continues: Who knows what to make of Connor Sadzeck, who has the best arm in the system, but also struggles with command. Friday's outing was a perfect example of that. Facing the middle of Seattle's lineup, he danced around trouble in the third inning.


He walked Robinson Cano on five pitches, three of which were 95 mph or higher. Nelson Cruz followed with a scalding liner on a 96 mph fastball, on which Hanser Alberto made a sprawling catch. He finished the inning off by getting ahead of Kyle Seager 0-2, then missing badly with three consecutive pitches at 96-98 mph before going to a hard slider that Seager chased.

"A plus-plus breaking ball," manager Jeff Banister said.

In his second inning, though, Sadzeck's velocity dropped into the 92-93 mph range, a significant drop for a reliever.

 

[saddles]

Gallo's homer: See, that's like "Gallows humor," only it's not. Anyway, Joey Gallo hit a majestic home run to center field for his first of spring. He hit a straight 90 mph fastball. Gallo can crush those. Earlier, he almost hit another one, but it couldn't make it beyond the center-field fence; it was a magnificently well-struck ball, but was in a poor location.

Viva Las Vegas: In addition to Gallo, fellow Las Vegas-native Drew Robinson homered Friday. Robinson's homer might be more noteworthy. Robinson, who is almost two years older than Gallo, is competing for the final spot on the roster. His defensive versatility and his left-handed swing could give him an advantage over other contenders. Robinson has started at second base and played center field Friday. Robinson also doubled inside the first-base line for a double in the eighth.

Bouncing back: It has been a rough first week in the field for Hanser Alberto, who made a pair over the first six games. On Friday, Alberto, considered an above-average fielder made a good diving reaction to Nelson Cruz's scorched liner up the middle to grab the second out of the inning.

Keep an eye on this guy: Isiah Kiner-Falefa won't play in the majors this year, but he's going to put himself on the map as a utility guy eventually. He's super versatile (can play catcher and both middle infield positions). On Friday, filling in at second base, he went far to his right to smother a grounder, then sprung to his feet to make a nice throw to first.

 

[saddles]

He has the support of the Rangers, now it's about trusting the process for Joey Gallo | SportsDay

On Thursday afternoon against the Oakland A's, Joey Gallo, who has become an everyday exhibition game player, continued a spring training chock full of everything but contact.

He walked once and struck out twice, and 10 of his first 12 spring training plate appearances have resulted in one or the other.

And yet, according to manager Jeff Banister, Gallo is having an impressive training camp.

"The things that really matter are what happens from 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. before we play," Banister said. "Not what happens after 1 p.m. We're challenging guys with a lot of things all day long. The games are important, but not the most important.

"Joey has been great at that. He's been engaged in the right things, working and learning. You see that expressed in his face."


As he was saying this Thursday morning, Gallo, 23, was taking batting practice. The manager pointed out how easily Gallo was swinging, rather than trying to force the kind of batting-practice homers that make teammates holler expletives.

When Gallo came out of the cage, he was not flexing his bat or shaking his head or grimacing in frustration, all looks he has regularly displayed in his brief major league career that is full of strikeouts (76), walks (20), home runs (seven) and not much else.

In other words, he wasn't consumed by his swing, nor trying to fix something in the two or three minutes between rounds of swings. He was simply doing the work and, to borrow from Jason Garrett, trusting the process.

For Gallo, that is always going to be the challenge.

 

[saddles]

He has enormous power but also is 6-5, which gives pitchers a huge strike zone to work with, and he has a long swing. Strikeouts will pile up. In parts of two major league seasons, he is averaging a strikeout every 2.01 plate appearances. Consider that for any player with at least 2,000 major league at-bats over the last 100 years, the worst rate is a strikeout every 3.04 plate appearances by Russell Branyan. The numbers could be ugly.

The Rangers are confident, though, the homers could pile up, too.

It's up to Gallo to believe that.

It is an area in which he has failed badly during parts of two major league seasons. Much of that can be blamed on youth. The Rangers rushed him to the majors in desperation after an Adrian Beltre injury in 2015.


He made but a token appearance last year, going 1 for 25 with 19 strikeouts. The one hit, of course, was a homer.

After every strikeout, though, he seemed to come back to the dugout grinding his teeth to powder and twisting his face into a real-life version of Edvard Munch's meme-ified to death work of art, The Scream.

"When things aren't going right, I've always assumed something was wrong," Gallo said. "I've always said I need to do something. I was always fixing something. Sometimes it's just the result that is bad. It's really about being strong and staying with the approach and the routine. That's very important. There have been times in the past where I've just gotten into modes where it is just like I'm trying not to strike out. That only makes it worse.

"You go up there and you strike out a couple of times and you say, 'Stop swinging so hard.' You are young and listening to everybody and trying to do what everybody suggests and then, before you know it, you don't even know your swing anymore.

"I think I've learned not to veer off, to stay the course. I think I've grown."

The early exhibition returns will test that. Gallo is 1 for 11 through his first five games. On Thursday, he took a called third strike to end the first inning, then drew a four-pitch walk his second time up. He struck out again looking in his third at-bat and asked umpire Dan Bellino about the pitch location.

 

[saddles]

He's going to get lots more at-bats this spring, and he's going to strike out a bunch more, too. When the spring is over, he's all but certain to head to Triple-A Round Rock, because there aren't enough at-bats available to him in the majors.

There will come a time, though. Perhaps sometime this year. Perhaps at the start of 2018.

To succeed long term whenever the time comes, Gallo must continue to buy into the process rather than simply the short-term results. This is where the Rangers are certain they've seen growth in Joey Gallo.

"It's not about what he's done, but how he's gone about it," said hitting instructor Anthony Iapoce. "The look in his eye, the way he is acting, it tells me he's all in. There is no doubt."

To be the guy he's always been projected to be, the doubt can't creep in, no matter what the box score says.

 

[Bmurph]

Off the top of my head, Beltre, Cashner, and Dyson. Of course Diekman and Ross were out before camp even started. Seems like I am forgetting one more pitcher, but I can't think of who it is right now. Oh, and Elvis is still not full strength.

I pretty much posted them all yesterday I think

 

[donaldson79]

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN has an article up re: if Darvish goes on the DL it will be his 7th time. I thought he'd already been on the DL 8 times.

Anyone know the exact number?

 

[DT LUNA]

Joey you just got robbed of a well hit ball.

 

[DT LUNA]

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN has an article up re: if Darvish goes on the DL it will be his 7th time. I thought he'd already been on the DL 8 times.

Anyone know the exact number?

No help here. Sorry.

 

[Duane1952]

Joey you just got robbed of a well hit ball.

Sure did. Home run yesterday and hitting the ball hard today. Hope he starts making more contact.

 

[DT LUNA]

Sure did. Home run yesterday and hitting the ball hard today. Hope he starts making more contact.

It's there alright. He just has to find it and execute.

 

[DT LUNA]

Joey robbed again. Can't complain today the way he's swinging the bat.

 

[Duane1952]

Chi Chi with 3.0 innings pitched. 3 hits 3 strikeouts and 1 run.

 

[donaldson79]

Chi Chi with 3.0 innings pitched. 3 hits 3 strikeouts and 1 run.

A great outing for him.

It sure would be nice if he somehow morph into the pitcher we thought he was going to be a few years ago. At this point, if he could be a serviceable #5 that would be considered a great success.

 

[DT LUNA]

Surprised at such a low turnout on the board today.

 

[DT LUNA]

Mendez got hit pretty hard.

 

[Duane1952]

Surprised at such a low turnout on the board today.

Maybe better tomorrow. Game is on FSSW.

 

[Duane1952]

Mendez got hit pretty hard.

Don't think he is ready for prime time yet.