Series Thread: Rangers Host the Astros For Three Games July 10-12

[saddles]

The Rangers have reached the final series before the All Star break. It is a series that concludes a 9 game homestand. So far on this homestand the Rangers have managed to go 3-3. They seem to be the most mediocre team in the history of the sport.

The Rangers will send Quantrill and Rocker to tje mound in the first two games of the Astros series. The third game is anybody guess. Jacob deGrom had some kind of hip ailment that bothered him in his last start so it isn't known whether he will make his next start or not.

It is looking more and more like the weakness af the American League will set the Rangers up to be buyers in about three weeks. I guess that is when our system goes from ranking near the bottom to ranking at the bottom. Oh well, it gives the impression that the team is destined for postseason play and I guess some are satisfied with that. One of these days in the not to distant future we are going to bottom out and not have anybody worth trading, even if we wanted to be sellers. Then we can go through a very prolonged, painful rebuilding period where we have nothing to rebuild with, and have to hope that after 5 or 6 years of great drafting we can begin to be respectable again.

This 2026 MLB Draft will take place this weekend as well. The first four rounds begin on Saturday, followed by the remaining 16 rounds on Sunday. There are a lot of players who have been placed in the top 30 on prognosticators' draft boards recently, who I would be fine with the Rangers selecting. There are also some very good choices available in the second round.

 

[saddles]

The part of the consensus draft board that I published earlier, that the Rangers first round pick could come from, is given below. Only a very few of these guys will be gone when the Rangers pick at #16. Many of these guys would make a great pick.

Of these 21 players, there are 7 that I would rather the Rangers did not take in the first round of the 2026 MLB Draft. Their names are shown struck through in the list below.

10. Chris Hacopian, 2B, Texas A&M
11. Gio Rojas, LHP, Stoneman Douglas (FL)
12. Derek Curiel, OF, LSU
13. Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina
14. Jared Grindlinger, LHF/OF, Huntington Beach, CA
15. Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama
16. Sawyer Strosnider, OF, TCU
17. A J Gracia, OF, Virginia
18. Trevor Condon, OF, Etowah, Georgia
19. Ace Reese, 3B, Mississippi State
20. Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida
21. Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State
22. Hunter Dietz, LHP, Arkansas
23. Carson Boleman, LHP, Southside Christian, (SC)
24. Daniel Jackson, C, Georgia
25. Bo Lowrance, 3B, Christ Church Episcopal (SC)
26. Mason Edwards, LHP, USC
27. Zion Rose, OF, Louisville
28. Aiden Robbins, OF, Texas
29. Eric Becker, SS, Virginia
30. Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Tennessee

 

[WastinSomeTime]

The Rangers have reached the final series before the All Star break. It is a series that concludes a 9 game homestand. So far on this homestand the Rangers have managed to go 3-3. They seem to be the most mediocre team in the history of the sport.

The Rangers will send Quantrill and Rocker to tje mound in the first two games of the Astros series. The third game is anybody guess. Jacob deGrom had some kind of hip ailment that bothered him in his last start so it isn't known whether he will make his next start or not.

It is looking more and more like the weakness af the American League will set the Rangers up to be buyers in about three weeks. I guess that is when our system goes from ranking near the bottom to ranking at the bottom. Oh well, it gives the impression that the team is destined for postseason play and I guess some are satisfied with that. One of these days in the not to distant future we are going to bottom out and not have anybody worth trading, even if we wanted to be sellers. Then we can go through a very prolonged, painful rebuilding period where we have nothing to rebuild with, and have to hope that after 5 or 6 years of great drafting we can begin to be respectable again.

This 2026 MLB Draft will take place this weekend as well. The first four rounds begin on Saturday, followed by the remaining 16 rounds on Sunday. There are a lot of players who have been placed in the top 30 on prognosticators' draft boards recently, who I would be fine with the Rangers selecting. There are also some very good choices available in the second round.

I'm hoping we can win at least 1 game. I'm concerned about our pitching and their offense. We need some kind of miracle.

 

[DTLUNA]

I'm hoping we can win at least 1 game. I'm concerned about our pitching and their offense. We need some kind of miracle.

Depends on which team shows up. Who knows?

 

[saddles]

From Joe Doyle:

I’ve been covering the Draft for upwards of a decade and I have never seen this many names being bandied about as potential first rounders with 24 hours to go.

Feels as though this draft is ripe for surprises.

 

[Duane1952]

Tonight’s game is on KDAF 33

 

[saddles]

Matt Powers has released his latest draft consensus list. He used five different boards as well as his own to compile his consensus board. He uses a point total to rank the players where the top pick on a draft board gets 500 points and the 500th player on a list gets 1 point.

My consensus list uses five of the same lists that Matt Powers uses plus 5 more lists. The only one of his lists that I didn't use was his own personal list.

Here is his consensus list:

Tier 1​

1.Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA - 2996 points
2.Grady Emerson, SS, Texas HS - 2995
3.Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech - 2991

Tier 2​

4.Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara - 2978
5.Eric Booth Jr., OF, Mississippi HS - 2974
6.Jacob Lombard, SS, Florida HS - 2972

Tier 3​

7.Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech - 2957
8.Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky - 2949
9.Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas - 2948
10.Chris Hacopian, SS, Texas A&M - 2941
11.Derek Curiel, OF, LSU - 2931

​

Tier 4​

12.Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, California HS - 2922
13.Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama - 2917
14.Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina - 2916
15.Gio Rojas, LHP, Florida HS - 2915
16.AJ Gracia, OF, Virginia - 2909
17.Trevor Condon, OF, Georgia HS - 2897
18.Ace Reese, 3B, Mississippi State - 2894
19.Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida - 2883
20.Sawyer Strosnider, OF, TCU - 2876

Tier 5​

21.Hunter Dietz, LHP, Arkansas - 2853
22.Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State - 2850
23.Daniel Jackson, C, Georgia - 2840
24.Mason Edwards, LHP, USC - 2840
25.Zion Rose, OF, Louisville - 2839
26.Cade Townsend, RHP, Mississippi - 2830
27.Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Tennessee - 2827
28.Coleman Borthwick, RHP, Florida HS - 2817
29.Bo Lowrance, 3B, South Carolina HS - 2812
30.Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech - 2811

 

[saddles]

 

[Duane1952]

Matt Powers has released his latest draft consensus list. He used five different boards as well as his own to compile his consensus board. He uses a point total to rank the players where the top pick on a draft board gets 500 points and the 500th player on a list gets 1 point.

My consensus list uses five of the same lists that Matt Powers uses plus 5 more lists. The only one of his lists that I didn't use was his own personal list.

Here is his consensus list:

Tier 1​

1.Roch Cholowsky, SS, UCLA - 2996 points
2.Grady Emerson, SS, Texas HS - 2995
3.Vahn Lackey, C, Georgia Tech - 2991

Tier 2​

4.Jackson Flora, RHP, UC Santa Barbara - 2978
5.Eric Booth Jr., OF, Mississippi HS - 2974
6.Jacob Lombard, SS, Florida HS - 2972

Tier 3​

7.Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech - 2957
8.Tyler Bell, SS, Kentucky - 2949
9.Ryder Helfrick, C, Arkansas - 2948
10.Chris Hacopian, SS, Texas A&M - 2941
11.Derek Curiel, OF, LSU - 2931

​

Tier 4​

12.Jared Grindlinger, LHP/OF, California HS - 2922
13.Justin Lebron, SS, Alabama - 2917
14.Cameron Flukey, RHP, Coastal Carolina - 2916
15.Gio Rojas, LHP, Florida HS - 2915
16.AJ Gracia, OF, Virginia - 2909
17.Trevor Condon, OF, Georgia HS - 2897
18.Ace Reese, 3B, Mississippi State - 2894
19.Liam Peterson, RHP, Florida - 2883
20.Sawyer Strosnider, OF, TCU - 2876

Tier 5​

21.Hunter Dietz, LHP, Arkansas - 2853
22.Cole Carlon, LHP, Arizona State - 2850
23.Daniel Jackson, C, Georgia - 2840
24.Mason Edwards, LHP, USC - 2840
25.Zion Rose, OF, Louisville - 2839
26.Cade Townsend, RHP, Mississippi - 2830
27.Tegan Kuhns, RHP, Tennessee - 2827
28.Coleman Borthwick, RHP, Florida HS - 2817
29.Bo Lowrance, 3B, South Carolina HS - 2812
30.Logan Hughes, OF, Texas Tech - 2811

Wonder why MLB doesn’t allow teams to move up or down in the draft.

 

[saddles]

In this article I gave some names as possibilities for the Rangers to select in the first four rounds of the 2026 MLB draft.

First Day Draft Possibilities for the Texas Rangers

Who will the Texas Rangers select in the first four rounds of what could be a very surprising 2026 MLB draft?

theprospecttimes.com

 

[saddles]

Wonder why MLB doesn’t allow teams to move up or down in the draft.

A lot of folks would like to see that happen.

 

[Duane1952]

In this article I gave some names as possibilities for the Rangers to select in the first four rounds of the 2026 MLB draft.

First Day Draft Possibilities for the Texas Rangers

Who will the Texas Rangers select in the first four rounds of what could be a very surprising 2026 MLB draft?

theprospecttimes.com

How are you going to keep up with the draft. I know the first 12 picks will be on nbc.

 

[jaar01]

I'm hoping we can win at least 1 game. I'm concerned about our pitching and their offense. We need some kind of miracle.

Still going with my prediction a week ago that we’d hit the break right at .500
48-48
That means we win 1 out of 3 this weekend.

 

[saddles]

How are you going to keep up with the draft. I know the first 12 picks will be on nbc.

MLB.com will stream it.

 

[saddles]

From Shawn McFarland:

Jacob deGrom won't make his scheduled Sunday start. It remains to be seen whether or not he'll need to go on the injured list.

 

[saddles]

Here is Joe Doyle's first 40 on his draft board.

1

Vahn Lackey​

CGeorgia Tech
Height:6-2Weight:200
Position Player4-Year CollegeC
2

Roch Cholowsky​

SSUCLA
Height:6-2Weight:203
Position Player4-Year CollegeSS
3

Grady Emerson​

SSFort Worth Christian HS, Argyle TX
Height:6-2Weight:181
Position PlayerHigh SchoolSSCommittedTexas
4

Drew Burress​

OFGeorgia Tech
Height:5-9Weight:182
Position Player4-Year CollegeOF
5

Eric "EJ" Booth Jr.​

OFOak Grove HS, Hattiesburg MS
Height:6-0Weight:205
Position PlayerHigh SchoolOFCommittedVanderbilt
6

Jackson Flora​

RHPUC Santa Barbara
Height:6-5Weight:206
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP
7

Jacob Lombard​

SSGulliver Preparatory School HS, Pinecrest FL
Height:6-3Weight:185
Position PlayerHigh SchoolSSCommittedMiami
8

Chris Hacopian​

SSTexas A&M
Height:6-1Weight:205
Position Player4-Year CollegeSS
9

Tyler Bell​

SSKentucky
Height:6-1Weight:200
Position Player4-Year CollegeSS
10

Derek Curiel​

OFLSU
Height:6-3Weight:185
Position Player4-Year CollegeOF

11

Ryder Helfrick​

CArkansas
Height:6-1Weight:205
Position Player4-Year CollegeC
12

Jared Grindlinger​

OF/LHPHuntington Beach HS, Huntington Beach CA
Height:6-3Weight:185
Position PlayerHigh SchoolOF/LHPCommittedTennessee
13

Justin Lebron​

SSAlabama
Height:6-2Weight:194
Position Player4-Year CollegeSS
14

Logan Hughes​

OFTexas Tech
Height:5-11Weight:202
Position Player4-Year CollegeOF
15

Zion Rose​

OFLouisville
Height:6-1Weight:210
Position Player4-Year CollegeOF
16

AJ Gracia​

OFVirginia
Height:6-3Weight:218
Position Player4-Year CollegeOF
17

Cameron Flukey​

RHPCoastal Carolina
Height:6-6Weight:200
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP
18

Trevor Condon​

OFEtowah HS, Woodstock GA
Height:5-11Weight:187
Position PlayerHigh SchoolOFCommittedTennessee
19

Carson Bolemon​

LHPSouthside Christian HS, Greenville SC
Height:6-4Weight:221
PitcherHigh SchoolLHPCommittedWake Forest
20

Taylor Rabe​

RHPOle Miss
Height:6-5Weight:200
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP

21

Daniel Jackson​

CGeorgia
Height:6-2Weight:200
Position Player4-Year CollegeC
22

Gio Rojas​

LHPMarjory Stoneman Douglas HS, Parkland FL
Height:6-4Weight:193
PitcherHigh SchoolLHPCommittedMiami
23

Cade Townsend​

RHPOle Miss
Height:6-1Weight:185
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP
24

Cole Carlon​

LHPArizona State
Height:6-5Weight:230
Pitcher4-Year CollegeLHP
25

Mason Edwards​

LHPSouthern California
Height:6-2Weight:192
Pitcher4-Year CollegeLHP
26

Hunter Dietz​

LHPArkansas
Height:6-6Weight:230
Pitcher4-Year CollegeLHP
27

Sawyer Strosnider​

OFTCU
Height:6-2Weight:200
Position Player4-Year CollegeOF
28

Liam Peterson​

RHPFlorida
Height:6-5Weight:220
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP
29

Chase Brunson​

OFTCU
Height:6-3Weight:210
Position Player4-Year CollegeOF
30

Archer Horn​

SS/RHPSt. Ignatius Prep HS, San Francisco CA
Height:6-2Weight:197
Position PlayerHigh SchoolSS/RHPCommittedStanford

31

Ace Reese​

3BMississippi State
Height:6-3Weight:205
Position Player4-Year College3B
32

Bo Lowrance​

3BChrist Church Episcopal HS, Greenville SC
Height:6-5Weight:205
Position PlayerHigh School3BCommittedVirginia
33

Taj Marchand​

SSJames Island HS, Charleston SC
Height:6-2Weight:190
Position PlayerHigh SchoolSSCommittedOle Miss
34

Logan Reddemann​

RHPUCLA
Height:6-2Weight:190
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP
35

Ben Blair​

RHPLiberty
Height:6-3Weight:200
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP
36

Coleman Borthwick​

3B/RHPSouth Walton HS, Freeport FL
Height:6-6Weight:257
Position PlayerHigh School3B/RHPCommittedAuburn
37

Tegan Kuhns​

RHPTennessee
Height:6-3Weight:189
Pitcher4-Year CollegeRHP
38

Rocco Maniscalco​

SSOxford HS, Oxford AL
Height:6-2Weight:190
Position PlayerHigh SchoolSSCommittedMississippi State
39

Eric Becker​

SSVirginia
Height:6-3Weight:190
Position Player4-Year CollegeSS
40

Ethan Wachsmann​

RHPGrandview HS, Aurora CO
Height:6-4Weight:212
PitcherHigh SchoolRHPCommittedWake Forest

 

[saddles]

From Shawn McFarland:

Rangers left-handed pitcher Cody Bradford is expected to make a minor league rehab start with Double-A Frisco at Corpus Christi Sunday afternoon as he works his way back from elbow surgery. Bradford, who is scheduled to pitch one inning, made his first rehab start at Triple-A Round Rock more than three months ago but was shut down soon after when his elbow didn’t respond well.
He’s thrown a number of bullpens since, including a live session before Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels at Globe Life Field, and has felt “really good.” The 28-year-old hasn’t pitched in a big league game since Sept. 25, 2024, and will likely need a decent amount of minor league starts under his belt before he’s completely built up.

“He’s recovering good and that’s good news,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “I just think him getting on the mound, multiple times, with multiple innings under his belt, is real. He hasn’t pitched in a long time, so getting him back to where we can see the four and five innings multiple times, back-to-back, and we can assess after that.”

 

[saddles]

 

[Duane1952]

Good start

 

[DTLUNA]

Cantrill has been quite a surprise for the team. Has baled the pitching out on several occasions.