Series Thread: Rangers Play Three Games in San Francisco August 11-13

[WastinSomeTime]

Man, I can’t believe how far both Duran and Taveras have fallen. They both were hitting over their heads for a while there, but the drop-off shouldn’t have been this steep. We’re lucky if we get 1 hit per night between the 2 of them.

I am hoping Duran is starting to come out of it. He was popping out or striking out the majority of the time. He put the ball in play in all 4 of his at bats. So hoping that is a good sign.

 

[scotsman1948]

I am hoping Duran is starting to come out of it. He was popping out or striking out the majority of the time. He put the ball in play in all 4 of his at bats. So hoping that is a good sign.

Time is short

 

[saddles]

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Time is short

Impatience isn't a virtue. Sorry, couldn't help but throw that out there.

 

[Kelleyman]

Very competitive race not only for the division but for the WC. Can’t really afford to slump or have an extended losing streak.


So I think 93-94 wins gets WC and 98-100 wins division

 

[saddles]

Impatience isn't a virtue. Sorry, couldn't help but throw that out there.

Lol. Once, when my youngest son was fairly young, a friend of ours kidded him about not being patient, telling him to be patient, that patience was a virtue . My son replied, "patience can wait."

 

[Kelleyman]

Lol. Once, when my youngest son was fairly young, a friend of ours kidded him about not being patient, telling him to be patient, that patience was a virtue . My son replied, "patience can wait."

Chip off the old block. #wink. lol

 

[jta4437]

Our starters are 49-25 this year, with a 3.74 ERA, and a 1.22 WHIP

Bullpen; 20-22, 4.59, and also 1.22

 

[saddles]

Lol

 

[Kelleyman]

Here ya go Eph

 

[Nightcrawler]

looks like Banny might have been running the team lately.

 

[saddles]

looks like Banny might have been running the team lately.

"Never, ever quit!"

 

[saddles]

I wonder what is going on with Leiter?

I guess Evan heard me ask. He had this to say in a column today:

“We are not worried about him as a competitor,” the Rangers GM told the Dallas Morning News in San Francisco. “It’s a matter of fixing mechanics. His heart, drive and work ethic are off the charts. But if you’ve got mechanical limitations, there is only so much you can do at that moment. He is all in on this and totally committed, physically and mentally.”

About the project, Young isn’t terribly detailed. There is no reason for him to do so. What is clear is that timelines have changed. When the Rangers drafted Leiter second overall in 2021 out of Vanderbilt with an overpowering fastball that had unique “vertical rise,” and a knee-buckling breaking ball, it was not unrealistic to think he might be able to help this team if it was in contention in late 2023.

It is deep into 2023. The Rangers are in contention. Leiter is now a long-term project.

The Rangers placed him on the “development list” at Double-A Frisco on July 14. It was his second trip to the list, which is essentially a place for clubs to stash minor leaguers when they either needed extended rest not due to injury or when they need a significant overhauling.

He had been on the list from June 22-30, ostensibly for the former. He returned to pitch 4.2 innings against San Antonio on the 30th, allowing 10 baserunners and eight runs. A week later, he didn’t make it out of the first against Midland, a team he’d held to three hits in six shutout innings in May in perhaps his best start as a pro. The start raised his season ERA to 5.51, remarkably close to his two-year professional mark of 5.53 in 153 innings, all at Double-A.

It was clear he wasn’t gaining ground. In some ways, things were getting worse: Leiter averaged 5.4 walks per nine innings in 2022; it is 5.9 in 2023.

The Rangers had already tried some minor fixes. Earlier in the season, they mandated Leiter throw only fastballs until he got ahead in the count, believing he’d relied too much on his breaking balls and did not place enough trust in the exceptional fastball they’d seen at Vanderbilt.

For a time, it got results. Leiter rolled off a 1.67 ERA in five May starts that included 33 strikeouts in 27 innings. But things went backward again in June. Then came a week of rest and no significant changes. The Rangers had tried a change in philosophy and a bit of rest. Young determined it was necessary to take more time, however long that might be, to get to the root of the matter. Young likened the issues to a golfer’s problem.

“If your swing gets off on timing and direction, you aren’t going to hit the ball as far as you can or as straight as you can,” he said. “That’s the best comparison I can make. His body wasn’t moving the way it needs to for him to pitch the way he needs to pitch. The [philosophy element] is correlated, but they are different buckets. You can fix one, but it’s hard to improve the other if you body isn’t working right.

“You have to let it play out to an extent, but it got to a point where we said we need to address it.”

Leiter spent a brief amount of time at the Rangers’ spring training facility in Arizona where he could throw in the team’s biomechanics lab but has mostly been working with minor league pitching coordinator Jordan Tiegs on the mechanical changes. Young spent time on Thursday’s off day watching video of the bullpen and was heartened.

What he’s not ready to do: Announce a date or plan for Leiter’s return to the mound. There is only a month left in the Texas League regular season. Time is running out for Leiter to pitch again in 2023. The Rangers are no longer concerned about 2023. They have a much longer-term vision.

“There is no timeline,” Young said. “When we did this, we said we didn’t care how long it took, whether it was three weeks or three months. We did not want to put him in a position where he took two steps forward and then went backwards again. We want to put him in a position to succeed.”

 

[saddles]

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Lol

As much as I could not stand Bautista, Donaldson and their idiot manager I thoroughly enjoyed it. And that is an understatement. When this happened to Bautista he wasn't near the tough guy after that, that he portrayed,

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Clase comes in to pitch in the 9th with a 2 run lead and loses the game. Cleveland's bullpen has blown it 2 nights in a row.

 

[scotsman1948]

Angels get beaten again by Astros 7-1

 

[DT LUNA]

Last night Lowe homered. Who hit the other?