World Series Champions, Texas Rangers 2024 Spring Training Thread

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

Crim with 2 hits including a double. Huff with a triple. Foscue with a double.

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

Rangers get the win.

The radio guys were really happy with Marc Church and Diego Castillo in relief. The bullpen shut the White Sox down over the last 6 innings. They also liked how Cole Winn battled back after a rough start.

 

[Kelleyman]

Rangers get the win.

The radio guys were really happy with Marc Church and Diego Castillo in relief. The bullpen shut the White Sox down over the last 6 innings. They also liked how Cole Winn battled back after a rough start.

Thank you I was unable to listen

 

[Kelleyman]

I wonder how he is doing with the outside breaking stuff

 

[saddles]

 

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From Shawn McFarland:

Two DH candidates keep hitting: Infielder Justin Foscue sparked a three-run seventh-inning rally with a hard-hit leadoff double to left field. He was pinch ran for by Cam Cauley, who came around to score on a Blaime Crim double two at bats later.

The 24-year-old Foscue is among the candidates for reps at the Rangers’ designated hitter position alongside Ezequiel Duran and Wyatt Langford. Foscue has slashed .375/.444/.500 in his first four exhibition games.

“He’s got a good eye at the plate,” Bochy said of Foscue. “He’s a disciplined hitter.”

Duran (who hit .417 in spring training two seasons ago and .357 last spring training) has slashed .375/.444/.500 in his first four exhibition games this year. Langford, the Rangers’ first-round draft pick last July, is 0 for 5 with a walk and two strikeouts in his first two games.

 

[saddles]

Also from Shawn McFarland:

The best pitching performance: Congratulations, Marc Church.

Church needed just 12 pitches to throw a clean 1-2-3 seventh inning. He reached 97 miles per hour on a swinging strike in his final at bat against Brett Phillips, which ended in a three-pitch strikeout. The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher has allowed just one hit in two scoreless spring training innings.

He reached Triple-A Round Rock last year and yielded a 3.48 ERA in 30 games (44 innings pitched) and has a career 13.4 strikeout-per-nine inning ratio in three minor league seasons. The Rangers’ active major league roster is heavy on right-handed options in the bullpen and less so on lefties, which doesn’t necessarily help his chances of earning an opening day spot, but the early poise is noteworthy nonetheless.

“Very confident kid,” Bochy said. “He throws strikes and uses his fastball well. He uses the zone the way you want these guys to.”

Jon Gray’s spring debut, kind of: This one might be cheating considering it didn’t actually occur in the Rangers’ win against the White Sox, but, Gray made his first spring “start” against his own teammates in an intrasquad scrimmage earlier on Monday morning.

The 32-year-old right-handed pitcher threw two innings and allowed one run on two hits (one being a second-inning home run from outfielder Evan Carter), a walk and three strikeouts. He struck out Adolis García (who isn’t expected to make his exhibition debut until Wednesday) in the second inning after the reigning ALCS MVP singled against him in the first.

“I thought he was good, I did,” Bochy said. “Command was right there, good slider. Good to see him out there. He felt good and came out of it clean.”

 

[saddles]

Part of Scott Lucas' report:

Rangers in the Top 100
Six publications I follow or subscribe to (Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, The Athletic, ESPN) have published their top-100 prospect lists. Below are the ranges of Texas players on their lists:

OF Wyatt Langford – high of #2, low of #6, median 4.5
OF Evan Carter – high of #4, low of #12, median 5.5
IF Sebastian Walcott – high of #40, low of #91, median 62.5
RHP Brock Porter -- #88 on one list (MLB Pipeline)

Would you choose Carter or Langford? Fortunately, if you’re a Rangers fan, you get cake and ice cream for dessert and won’t gain a pound. But if you had to pick one? Not easy. Four of six publications rank Langford higher, but except for one case, they’re pretty much #1 and #1A relative to each other.

Despite his .573 slugging percentage in 122 MLB at-bats (including playoffs), the limiting factor on Carter is probably power. Still, he doesn’t turn 22 until August and has already established a reasonable floor of “average MLB regular.” He could be an elite leadoff hitter (complicated by the presence of Marcus Semien, but let’s leave that for another time).

Texas lucked into the 4th pick in the 2023 draft and might have lucked into the best player. Langford could be a star. He’s probably good enough to play in the Majors today, although (pending Cactus League results) I wouldn’t automatically deem a spell in AAA a cynical ploy to game his eventual free-agent status. Some time in the minors might not hurt, particularly on defense, which drew some alarming pre-draft reviews despite strong tools. (Not that I got a lengthy look, but what I saw in the minors didn’t frighten me.) Getting Langford instead of Max Clark, who may well be a terrific Major Leaguer but not for a while, was a sudden tailwind for the franchise.

 

[saddles]

More from Scott:

Rangers in the Top 100
Six publications I follow or subscribe to (Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, The Athletic, ESPN) have published their top-100 prospect lists. Below are the ranges of Texas players on their lists:

OF Wyatt Langford – high of #2, low of #6, median 4.5
OF Evan Carter – high of #4, low of #12, median 5.5
IF Sebastian Walcott – high of #40, low of #91, median 62.5
RHP Brock Porter -- #88 on one list (MLB Pipeline)

Would you choose Carter or Langford? Fortunately, if you’re a Rangers fan, you get cake and ice cream for dessert and won’t gain a pound. But if you had to pick one? Not easy. Four of six publications rank Langford higher, but except for one case, they’re pretty much #1 and #1A relative to each other.

Despite his .573 slugging percentage in 122 MLB at-bats (including playoffs), the limiting factor on Carter is probably power. Still, he doesn’t turn 22 until August and has already established a reasonable floor of “average MLB regular.” He could be an elite leadoff hitter (complicated by the presence of Marcus Semien, but let’s leave that for another time).

Texas lucked into the 4th pick in the 2023 draft and might have lucked into the best player. Langford could be a star. He’s probably good enough to play in the Majors today, although (pending Cactus League results) I wouldn’t automatically deem a spell in AAA a cynical ploy to game his eventual free-agent status. Some time in the minors might not hurt, particularly on defense, which drew some alarming pre-draft reviews despite strong tools. (Not that I got a lengthy look, but what I saw in the minors didn’t frighten me.) Getting Langford instead of Max Clark, who may well be a terrific Major Leaguer but not for a while, was a sudden tailwind for the franchise.

 

[Duane1952]

Also from Shawn McFarland:

The best pitching performance: Congratulations, Marc Church.

Church needed just 12 pitches to throw a clean 1-2-3 seventh inning. He reached 97 miles per hour on a swinging strike in his final at bat against Brett Phillips, which ended in a three-pitch strikeout. The 22-year-old right-handed pitcher has allowed just one hit in two scoreless spring training innings.

He reached Triple-A Round Rock last year and yielded a 3.48 ERA in 30 games (44 innings pitched) and has a career 13.4 strikeout-per-nine inning ratio in three minor league seasons. The Rangers’ active major league roster is heavy on right-handed options in the bullpen and less so on lefties, which doesn’t necessarily help his chances of earning an opening day spot, but the early poise is noteworthy nonetheless.

“Very confident kid,” Bochy said. “He throws strikes and uses his fastball well. He uses the zone the way you want these guys to.”

Jon Gray’s spring debut, kind of: This one might be cheating considering it didn’t actually occur in the Rangers’ win against the White Sox, but, Gray made his first spring “start” against his own teammates in an intrasquad scrimmage earlier on Monday morning.

The 32-year-old right-handed pitcher threw two innings and allowed one run on two hits (one being a second-inning home run from outfielder Evan Carter), a walk and three strikeouts. He struck out Adolis García (who isn’t expected to make his exhibition debut until Wednesday) in the second inning after the reigning ALCS MVP singled against him in the first.

“I thought he was good, I did,” Bochy said. “Command was right there, good slider. Good to see him out there. He felt good and came out of it clean.”

Hope he keeps it up and makes the team.

 

[saddles]

Yes, he sure does.

 

[Duane1952]

Anyone heard anything on Jonathan Hernandez.

 

[saddles]

Anyone heard anything on Jonathan Hernandez.

Nothing so far. I know they had an intrasquad game today. Maybe he was a part of that.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

This is an interesting situation regarding Duran and Foscue. Assuming they both continue to hit - and assuming Seager and Jung are healthy for opening day - they are competing against each other for the DH gig. Going to be real interesting to see how this gets sorted out. Our cup runneth over as far as hitting is concerned.

 

[saddles]

This is an interesting situation regarding Duran and Foscue. Assuming they both continue to hit - and assuming Seager and Jung are healthy for opening day - they are competing against each other for the DH gig. Going to be real interesting to see how this gets sorted out. Our cup runneth over as far as hitting is concerned.

Unless they put Langford at DH instead of LF.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

Unless they put Langford at DH instead of LF.

That's certainly a possibility, but would be a mistake, IMO.
It would be better to let Langford take his lumps in LF, get the experience, and have the best 9 bats in the lineup most of the time.
We're a better team overall with Langford in LF, Carter in CF, with Foscue or Duran at DH than, say, Carter in LF, Leody in CF and Langford at DH.

 

[saddles]

'I just saw the best player on the field': Wyatt Langford is turning heads with every thunderous swing of his bat

Less than a year after being drafted, the Rangers' 22-year-old outfielder appears destined for MLB stardom.

www.espn.com

This is a great article about Langford by Jeff Passan.