Series Thread: Rangers Travel to Cincinnati For Three Games March 31 - April 2

[saddles]

After a very successful opening series the Rangers have a very brief road trip. Rocker, Eovakdi and Leiter will face the Reds. Let's see if Rocker can continue the good starting pitching that we have seen in three of our four games so far.

Hopefully, Josh Smith is healed up enough to take the field. Maybe we can stay relatively healthy for a while.

 

[saddles]

Here is Baseball America’s first round 2025 mock draft.​

​

BA Staff Draft 1.0 Results​

Pick	Round	Team	Writer	Player	Pos	School	Rank
1	1	Nationals	Carlos	Seth Hernandez	RHP	Corona (Calif.) HS	4
2	1	Angels	Peter	Jamie Arnold	LHP	Florida State	1
3	1	Mariners	Jacob	Aiva Arquette	SS	Oregon State	5
4	1	Rockies	JJ	Ethan Holliday	SS	Stillwater (Okla.)HS	2
5	1	Cardinals	Ben	Jace LaViolette	OF	Texas A&M	9
6	1	Pirates	Carlos	Tyler Bremner	RHP	UC Santa Barbara	3
7	1	Marlins	Peter	Marek Houston	SS	Wake Forest	6
8	1	Blue Jays	Jacob	Kruz Schoolcraft	LHP/1B	Sunset HS, Portland, Ore.	8
9	1	Reds	JJ	Dean Curley	SS	Tennessee	7
10	1	White Sox	Ben	Billy Carlson	SS	Corona (Calif.) HS	10
11	1	Athletics	Carlos	Eli Willits	SS	Fort Cobb-Broxton (Okla.) HS	12
12	1	Rangers	Peter	Kayson Cunningham	SS	Johnson HS, San Antonio	13
13	1	Giants	Jacob	Kyson Witherspoon	RHP	Oklahoma	17
14	1	Rays	JJ	Liam Doyle	LHP	Tennessee	16
15	1	Red Sox	Ben	Xavier Neyens	3B	Mount Vernon (Wash.) HS	11
16	1	Twins	Carlos	Luke Stevenson	C	North Carolina	14
17	1	Cubs	Peter	Brandon Compton	OF	Arizona State	15
18	1	D-backs	Jacob	Patrick Forbes	RHP	Louisville	18
19	1	Orioles	JJ	Brendan Summerhill	OF	Arizona	19
20	1	Brewers	Ben	Gavin Kilen	2B	Tennessee	28
21	1	Astros	Carlos	Slater de Brun	OF	Summit HS, Bend, Ore.	32
22	1	Braves	Peter	Steele Hall	SS	Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) HS	23
23	1	Royals	Jacob	Ethan Conrad	OF	Wake Forest	22
24	1	Tigers	JJ	Wehiwa Aloy	SS	Arkansas	25
25	1	Padres	Ben	Kade Anderson	LHP	LSU	40
26	1	Phillies	Carlos	Riley Quick	RHP	Alabama	29
27	1	Guardians	Peter	Briggs McKenzie	LHP	Corinth Holders HS, Wendell, N.C.	36
28	PPI	Royals	Jacob	Cam Cannarella	OF	Clemson	20
29	1-C	D-backs	JJ	Ike Irish	C	Auburn	24
30	1-C	Orioles	Ben	Brady Ebel	SS	Corona (Calif.) HS	26
31	1-C	Orioles	Carlos	Josh Hammond	SS/RHP	Wesleyan Christian Academy, High Point, N.C.	39
32	1-C	Brewers	Peter	Caden Bodine	C	Coastal Carolina	21
33	1-S	Brewers	Jacob	Kane Kepley	OF	North Carolina	54
34	1-S	Tigers	JJ	Joseph Dzierwa	LHP	Michigan State	50
35	1-S	Mariners	Ben	Lucas Franco	SS	Cinco Ranch HS, Katy, Tex.	41
36	1-S	Twins	Carlos	Joseph Parker	SS	Purvis (Miss.) HS	56
37	1-S	Rays	Peter	Angel Cervantes	RHP	Warren HS, Downey, Calif.	49
38	1	Mets	Jacob	AJ Russell	RHP	Tennessee	66
39	1	Yankees	JJ	Gavin Fien	3B/OF	Great Oak HS, Temecula, Calif.	30
40	1	Dodgers	Ben	Matt Scott	RHP	Stanford	33

Pick-By-Pick Rationales​

12. Rangers — Kayson Cunningham, SS, Johnson HS, San Antonio​

Writer: Peter

Rationale: Carlos picked my pocket by taking Eli Willits—who I also considered taking at No. 7—but I’m a fan of Cunningham’s plus hit-ability, even if he’s most likely a second baseman long-term.

 

[saddles]

Here are some 2025 mlb draft scouting notes from Keith Law.

Lefty Zach Root transferred to Arkansas this year from East Carolina, where he was the No. 2 starter in 2024 behind eventual first-rounder Trey Yesavage. Root is poised to go even higher than his former teammate (who went at No. 20 to the Blue Jays), as he continued the outstanding start to his draft year with 7 2/3 shutout innings against Vanderbilt on Friday night in Nashville.


Root has a very old-school style of pitching, throwing five distinct pitches, and using any pitch in any count, so Vandy’s hitters seemed off-balance the entire night. He was 92-97 mph on his four-seamer but threw about 60 percent off-speed pitches, with the curve, slider, and changeup all at least showing above-average. The curveball was 77-82 and a real hammer at the upper end of that scale, and he threw some sliders down-and-away to lefties that were plus. The changeup was probably the most consistently plus pitch for him, without a ton of movement but very effective as long as he kept it down.

He has a funky delivery with a big tilt backwards before he starts moving towards the plate, staying very online when he lands. Root’s final line (7 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K) undersells how good he was, as he walked the final two batters he faced, the last coming on the fourth time he’d faced Vandy’s leadoff hitter. Prior to that, it was strikes all day, and Vandy never threatened until the eighth inning. I think he’s easily a mid-first rounder, and probably the next lefty taken after the big two of Florida State’s Jamey Arnold and Tennessee’s Liam Doyle.

 

[Kelleyman]

Thanks for the thread
Fairly early game today

 

[Uncle Siggy]

Severe thunderstorms rolled through the area last night so that has cooled things off by about 15 - 20 degrees from what it was yesterday. Wind will be from the north at about 10 mph so anything in the air to RF is gonna carry somewhat, and GAB already has a reputation as a launch pad. Reds starting pitcher is right handed so every LHed bat the Rangers have should be in the lineup tonight. Forecast is for 52 degrees at gametime and no rain, but it is misting at my house this morning I'm about 50 miles north of the ballpark...

 

[Kelleyman]

Severe thunderstorms rolled through the area last night so that has cooled things off by about 15 - 20 degrees from what it was yesterday. Wind will be from the north at about 10 mph so anything in the air to RF is gonna carry somewhat, and GAB already has a reputation as a launch pad. Reds starting pitcher is right handed so every LHed bat the Rangers have should be in the lineup tonight. Forecast is for 52 degrees at gametime and no rain, but it is misting at my house this morning I'm about 50 miles north of the ballpark...

Thanks sounds like there might be a few HRs to right field

 

[Uncle Siggy]

Thanks sounds like there might be a few HRs to right field

It's gonna be a chilly damp night so Rocker needs to warm up thoroughly and dress appropriately he doesn't need to get injured...

 

[saddles]

Word from Jeff Wilson is that Bradford feels he will begin throwing at the 4 week mark, so about 2 weeks. Then it should take 4 weeks to get him built back up. He said there is no more pain.

Also, Sbirz is doing well in his recovery.

 

[WastinSomeTime]

Word from Jeff Wilson is that Bradford feels he will begin throwing at the 4 week mark, so about 2 weeks. Then it should take 4 weeks to get him built back up. He said there is no more pain.

Also, Sbirz is doing well in his recovery.

Hope that is true for Bradford but I will believe it when I see it.

 

[Billybass]

Got my fingers crossed for a good Rocker start. He has the stuff, but dealing with rookie pitchers requires patience.

 

[saddles]

Jeff Wison said Fenstermaker told him the plan was to build up Teodo to 3 innings. That we he can help yhe big club, at some point, in either relief or in the rotation. That seems a little like indecision to me, but we'll see how it goes. All I know is if he is only going to use 2 pitches he won't be worth much as a starter, should that need arise.

 

[saddles]

 

[DTLUNA]

Good seeing Smith and Seager back.
Joc needs to start showing some power.

 

[Duane1952]

Since it didn’t look my carrier was put the Rangers on their network, I signed up with victory plus today.

 

[saddles]

From Jared Sandler:

The Rangers bullpen leads the league with 8 holds. Over their last three games:

15. 1 IP
1.76 ERA (3 ER)
16 K
.190 oBA
.559 oOPS

 

[DTLUNA]

Just heard Profar suspended for substance abuse.

 

[Duane1952]

Just heard Profar suspended for substance abuse.

Yep. Ped’s. 80 games and playoffs.

 

[DTLUNA]

Yep. Ped’s. 80 games and playoffs.

He had every thing going and blew it. What a shame.

 

[DTLUNA]

Semien should not be leading off until he gets his avg up.

 

[DTLUNA]

Rocker getting rocked. HR 2R