Series Thread: Rangers Host the Angels For Four Games September 5-8

[saddles]

He might have a 9 game hitting streak but his overall average is 242 with just 11 HRs. Overall he hasn't had a good year.

No he hasn't, but what I said still stands. He will be on a big league roster. Over the last 2 or 3 years it hasn't mattered how he has hit in the minors, anyway.

 

[saddles]

Walcott is being promoted to AA, at the age of 18.

 

[scotsman#1948]

Plz explain

after scoring 2 runs on 3 hits in the 2nd with no outs, the Rangers went hitless until the 8th inning

 

[DT LUNA]

after scoring 2 runs on 3 hits in the 2nd with no outs, the Rangers went hitless until the 8th inning

thanks

 

[saddles]

Another great outing for Kohl Drake.

 

[saddles]

How Davalillo only gave up 1 run is incredible. 14 baserunners in 6 innings, but only 1 run allowed. Lol

 

[WastinSomeTime]

View attachment 373417

How Davalillo only gave up 1 run is incredible. 14 baserunners in 6 innings, but only 1 run allowed. Lol

That line score is pretty crazy. Not sure how he managed that myself.

 

[saddles]

From Evan Grant:

Heim was out of the starting lineup for Friday’s 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. His pinch-hit fly out ended the game in the ninth inning, Heim now mired in a 1-for-21 stretch. The slump has led to a .605 OPS for the season, lowest in the majors among all players with at least 400 plate appearances. It is a staggering drop-off of 150 points from a year ago. But the decline doesn’t end there. Catchers aren’t expected to be offensive forces, but Heim’s pitch-framing, considered elite, has fallen badly. He was third in the majors last year at +10 in framing runs saved. This year: 37th of 57 at -2. In the FanGraphs defensive formula, he has fallen from No. 5 in the majors to No. 24 of 30.

Put it together and you get a guy whose WAR has fallen from 4.0, considered All-Star caliber on FanGraphs chart, to -0.5. For context, the website lists 0-1 WAR players as “scrubs.”

 

[saddles]

I mentioned earlier in the season that I was starting to worry about Heim, offensively. To me the framing stats are not that big of a deal. I think the whole reason framing is even a consideration is because umpiring has become so lazy and awful. I have always wondered if umpires could see who was best at framing and then just start being more careful when those catchers catch in front of them.

At this point, I do believe Jonah makes a much better backup catcher on a good team. He has had one good season, offensively, and that was last year. Last year was mainly good for him because he had great months at the plate in April, June and July.

His career OPS as a big leaguer is .666. His career OPS as a minor leaguer was only .687.

To contrast that, Sam Huff is having one of his worst hitting seasons as a minor leaguer this year and his OPS is .706. For his minor league career, Huff's OPS is .811 and it is .768 as a major leaguer. Huff never spent most of the season hitting in the very hitter's friendly park in Las Vegas like Heim did either.

Next season this team needs a new starting catcher - one who can hit well above what Heim has done for most of his time here. They need one who can do what Huff has done offensively in the big leagues. Whether that is Huff or not will be up to the front office. They can trust Huff or they can trade away several good prospects for someone they do trust. Or they can spend a lot of money on a catcher in free agency.

To me the decision is a very easy one when looking at what has happened with our own catchers and looking at how much money needs to be spent on the bullpen.

I think if both CY and Bochy are back, then Huff will be gone. Then we can look back over the next 5 to 8 years and wonder why Huff is succeeding elsewhere and not here.

 

[Senator_fan]

Rangers finished home stand going 7-3.
Rumor has it that Tim Bogar was managing the Rangers remotely through a zoom meeting connection fed into the clubhouse while Bochy was in the dugout only acting as a prop.

 

[saddles]

I am glad to see Josh Smith have a little rebound of late. His last 9 games has seen him hit .312 with an OPS over .800.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

Jumping ahead to next year, I think I'd like to see the team roll with a starting pitching rotation of:
deGrom, Bradford, Rocker, Leiter, Mahle, with guys like Gray and Dunning + one budget FA as SP depth.
As well as an offensive lineup of: Seager, Semien, Jung, Lowe(?), Smith, Langford, Carter, Foscue and Huff.
Might swap Duran for Lowe. Not sure. But something like that would be my regular 9 hitters. Where you fit them positionally is another question.
I've mentioned that I would love to add Vladdy Jr, but didn't realize he isn't a free agent until after next season, so not relevant to the upcoming offseason.
Beyond this, spend, spend, spend on bullpen and some offensive depth. Fire the hitting coach and try to get what is a pretty talented offense
back to performing well next year. Hope for health from Carter and Jung.

 

[saddles]

From Scott Lucas:

Per local reports, infielder Sebastian Walcott will head to AA Frisco to finish the year. Even in an organization with a history of hyper-aggressive assignments (less so lately), Walcott stands out. I don't know if he'll play Tuesday, but let's assume he does for the following:

Youngest AA Debuts by a Texas hitter, 2003-present:
Sebastian Walcott, 2024, 18 years / 180 days
Jurickson Profar, 2012, 19 / 45
Nomar Mazara, 2014, 19 / 101
Rougned Odor, 2013, 19 / 179
Elvis Andrus, 2009, 19 / 221
Evan Carter, 2022, 20 / 15

 

[fanman8825]

View attachment 373417

How Davalillo only gave up 1 run is incredible. 14 baserunners in 6 innings, but only 1 run allowed. Lol

Love it great report

 

[saddles]

Rocker to make his Rangers' debut Thursday.

 

[saddles]

It appears the Rangers are very strongly considering having both Leiter and Rocker in the 2025 rotation. Those two along with Jacob deGrom amd Cody Bradford make a great foursome. Tyler Mahle will most likely be the 5th starter.

That leaves John Gray and Dane Dunning to serve as long men in the pen as well as starting pitching depth.

Unless the Rangers feel they need one more guy like Urena to put in the pen, they really have no reason to pursue a rotation pitcher.

They can fill out the bullpen with:

Gray
Dunning
Sborz
And 4 or 5 free agent relievers.

They need 3 very capable late innings guys like Robertson and Yates have been this year. They also need a couple of guys to be depended on to get outs in the 6th and 7th innings with spot duty in the 8th and 9th.

If they think Church or Hales can be one of those middle inning guys, I can live with that.

 

[saddles]

 

[scotsman#1948]

It appears the Rangers are very strongly considering having both Leiter and Rocker in the 2025 rotation. Those two along with Jacob deGrom amd Cody Bradford make a great foursome. Tyler Mahle will most likely be the 5th starter.

That leaves John Gray and Dane Dunning to serve as long men in the pen as well as starting pitching depth.

Unless the Rangers feel they need one more guy like Urena to put in the pen, they really have no reason to pursue a rotation pitcher.

They can fill out the bullpen with:

Gray
Dunning
Sborz
And 4 or 5 free agent relievers.

They need 3 very capable late innings guys like Robertson and Yates have been this year. They also need a couple of guys to be depended on to get outs in the 6th and 7th innings with spot duty in the 8th and 9th.

If they think Church or Hales can be one of those middle inning guys, I can live with that.

i will be up watching on Thursday but i sure hope we're not going to relive the David Clyde debacle by rushing Kumar.

what about Carson Coleman in the pen next year?

 

[jaar01]

Rocker to make his Rangers' debut Thursday.

I'm excited to see his debut....but I think it also does not bode well for us trying to bring back Eovaldi if he doesn't exercise his option. I guess we'll see.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

It appears the Rangers are very strongly considering having both Leiter and Rocker in the 2025 rotation. Those two along with Jacob deGrom amd Cody Bradford make a great foursome. Tyler Mahle will most likely be the 5th starter.

That leaves John Gray and Dane Dunning to serve as long men in the pen as well as starting pitching depth.

Unless the Rangers feel they need one more guy like Urena to put in the pen, they really have no reason to pursue a rotation pitcher.

They can fill out the bullpen with:

Gray
Dunning
Sborz
And 4 or 5 free agent relievers.

They need 3 very capable late innings guys like Robertson and Yates have been this year. They also need a couple of guys to be depended on to get outs in the 6th and 7th innings with spot duty in the 8th and 9th.

If they think Church or Hales can be one of those middle inning guys, I can live with that.

This is exciting to see regarding Leiter and Rocker. If they do move Gray and Dunning to the pen like it seems, how about giving Gray a shot as a late inning reliever? His stuff can be electric at times, and it might play up out of the pen.