The 2023 Texas Rangers Spring Training Thread

[Kelleyman]

He is doing color commentary
Cole had 2 strikeouts too

 

[Kelleyman]

Mike Bacsik just said that the most impressive thing he has seen so far this spring is the uptick in the velocity that Cole Ragans features now.

Yep listening on line. Which he was TV color guy

 

[saddles]

He is doing color commentary
Cole had 2 strikeouts too

He could very well leapfrog Otto and Dunning into being the first man up when a starter needs to go on the DL. That could come into play very early in the season.

 

[saddles]

 

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[saddles]

 

[Kelleyman]

Crim homer. Called as a Roy Hobbs version

 

[saddles]

The Crim Reaper with a HR.

 

[True Rangers Fan]

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[Nightcrawler]

Don’t get what the rangers saw in Howard,

 

[Nightcrawler]

Giants are only comfortable with condor pitching because the NL has recently adopted the DH.

 

[saddles]

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[Kelleyman]

Giants are only comfortable with condor pitching because the NL has recently adopted the DH.

Ha maybe he gets some ABs

 

[armadillooutlaw]

He could very well leapfrog Otto and Dunning into being the first man up when a starter needs to go on the DL. That could come into play very early in the season.

You could be right. I kinda think at least one of the young guys (Ragans, Otto, Dunning) significantly improves under Maddux and very likely displaces one of the vets for that #5 job.
Ragans' improved velocity makes him the favorite.
Two of them probably make at least 10-12 starts.

 

[saddles]

From Levi Weaver:

Asked if any of the younger players caught his attention, manager Bruce Bochy mentioned a couple of guys who had performed well, and finished with this:

“Ragans, that was impressive. He was hitting 95-96 (mph).”

Hang on.

Did he just say 96?

Your next move, in that case, might be to go check Baseball Savant to see if you were being failed by your own memory. He didn’t throw 96 mph last year … did he?

Fortunately, the data backs up the recollection. Ragans was in just the 19th percentile in fastball velocity last year, averaging 92.1 mph on his four-seam. If he’s hitting 96 mph now, he’s a completely different guy.

“Yeah, I said the same thing, sitting there,” Bochy said the next morning. “I went back and looked at (last year’s) games when I came over, and watched him, and no — but it was impressive, wasn’t it? He was bumping 96 (mph). I didn’t see that in (last year’s) games. But it’s also (his) first game so there’s always that added adrenaline — that’s a wonderful drug. I’m not saying that was why, but it’s pretty cool to see how he threw, and the velocity.”

It gets better.

“Ninety-nine,” Ragans said, raising his eyebrows slightly. “That’s what my reports said.”

 

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