00:00Do you like the announcement for the starting pitcher for opening day?
00:05Nathan Ivaldi is set to start the season opener at Philadelphia on March 26th,
00:10and then Jacob deGrom will have the home opener on April 3rd.
00:13And I just saw somebody texting in there like, hey, we need deGrom for opening day
00:18because last time deGrom was on opening day as a starter, it was against the Phillies.
00:23We won the World Series.
00:25I love Evo, but I want the World Series.
00:27Listen, I want the World Series too.
00:29Just as bad as you.
00:31I thanked Nathan Ivaldi for our last World Series.
00:33That's right.
00:34Because I've tried to do that with every single Rangers player that was on that team.
00:37Fortunately, I did get Simeon before he was traded away.
00:40He might have been the first one I thanked because I saw him at Jared's event.
00:45Yeah.
00:45And he was walking with one of his five kids or something,
00:49and I walked straight up to him and he set the kids down.
00:55And then I was like, hey, I just need to say thanks.
00:58And he was like, well, you're welcome.
00:59And I was like, that's it.
01:00Like, I just thank you.
01:03But I think if I remember correctly, that opening day was here.
01:06So that was a home opener.
01:08And it was deGrom against Philadelphia.
01:10It didn't start off great, but it ended up great.
01:13And this one's on the road.
01:16So deGrom opening at home, that's two out of three there.
01:20I'll take the two out of three for that.
01:22But let's hear from your manager and Nathan Ivaldi on opening day from the Rangers Sports Network.
01:28Ivo will be our opening day starter.
01:31Pretty easy decision, even though we have, you know, Jacob and Gore, you know, right behind him.
01:38Ivo is, you know, obviously coming off the injury last year.
01:42And where he's at right now, the leadership he provides, the standards that he sets.
01:48I think they're all very special.
01:49And whether it's the first or this one, you know, I take a lot of honor and pride in going
01:55out there and being able to represent the Rangers.
01:58And opening day, being able to get that first start.
02:01I want to be able to start the season and finish strong.
02:04I mean, going out there, giving a strong quality outing, set the tone.
02:07I mean, everything that we've been working on in spring training coming up to this point, being ready to go
02:11at the beginning of the season.
02:13You know, you're going to be going up against their ace and, you know, you're setting the tone for the
02:18season.
02:19That is like he's so business forward.
02:23Nathan Ivaldi is.
02:25And just hearing one of the things I love about being at spring training and getting those interviews with those
02:31guys.
02:31And then going into the clubhouse and talking to them is you do get a good idea of how they
02:38feel about other guys.
02:39A lot of times, you know, and I try to avoid it, if at all possible, like some of the
02:44conversations about themselves.
02:46Because it seems like this Rangers group loves to talk about their teammates.
02:50And hearing how they all feel about Ivaldi, that breakdown that we got on Ivaldi and, like, he knows exactly
02:58how to get me out from Josh Smith.
03:00Like, he's so detailed.
03:01I learn more about Ivaldi from them.
03:03And I learn more about all their other teammates from the teammates.
03:06So that's a great thing.
03:07I love that that's the dude that's going to be business for you for the third year in a row.
03:11He's going to step up on the bump.
03:13And he's going to set the tone for things.
03:15Because you know, like, he goes, when he said on the air with us, I wish I was part of
03:21the World Baseball Classic, there's no doubt in my mind.
03:23He would be like, you need me to start?
03:25You need me to close?
03:26What do you need?
03:26I'll do whatever it takes for us to get a win.
03:30If it's horseshoes, he's out there going, I'm going to beat you at horseshoes.
03:34That's just the way that he competes.
03:36That's just who he is.
03:37So I love that he's the opening day starter again.
03:41And now we actually have a little bit of consistency.
03:43There was a time, what, it was 15 years or something like that where he didn't have the same opening
03:47day starter.
03:48I think it was Kevin Millwood that we got a number of times in a row.
03:51So I love this consistency that we're getting right now.
03:54And I do love hearing Skip and he's like, look, I know you could probably make a case for all
03:58three guys.
03:58So I shouldn't say it was that easy.
04:01It wasn't that easy of a decision because there is a good case for him to Grom and even Mackenzie
04:06Gore to go out there and be the opening day starter.
04:08It's exciting and I like it just for the fact that you mentioned that the consistency of it, it's just
04:14further cementing his legacy as a Ranger, which I enjoy.
04:19And I know that means something to him, too, that the team keeps on leaning on him in those big
04:24situations.
04:25But, you know, the home opener, opening day, whatever it is, it's ceremonial.
04:30You know, there's something to be said about getting that nod.
04:33It's not just, are you the best player?
04:35Part of it is you're a Texas Ranger.
04:37You represent this club better than anybody on this roster.
04:42And the fact that we've seen him do it before, it's just so cool to see the same guy getting
04:48the nod over and over again.
04:49I'm getting that same luxury now that other teams have had for years or I've had in years past of,
04:55you know, like it's kind of not really a question.
04:58We know our guy and, you know, he did great things and he had incredible success in the postseason with
05:05Boston.
05:05But he's being known and becoming more and more a Texas Ranger.
05:10He's going to retire, hopefully, a Texas Ranger.
05:13I hope so, too.
05:13And everybody's going to refer to him because of the 2023 run and the opening day starts and the stats
05:21that he's put up in the back end of his career when people are kind of questioning, like, oh, what
05:25is he really?
05:26They're going to be like, yeah, he was a Texas Ranger.
05:29Whenever you talk about him at the bar with your buddies, that dude was awesome as a Ranger.
05:33So I just enjoy that he's getting the nod once again.
05:36Oh, yeah.
05:36No, absolutely.
05:37It's a lot of fun.
05:39And then knowing that DeGrom is like there, too.
05:42You're just like, oh, yeah.
05:43We have really good starting pitching.
05:45But can we hit the damn ball?
05:48That's the question that everybody, no matter what, can we hit the damn ball?
05:53Everybody is going to be, yeah, it's fine.
05:55We can have all this great hitting pitching.
05:56But if we can't, and my whole childhood, Alec, I don't know exactly how your childhood was.
06:02My whole childhood was we can hit the ball.
06:05Can we pitch?
06:06Yeah.
06:07Can we win a 15 to 14 game?
06:09Like, that's basically what it came down to pretty much all the time with the Rangers.
06:14And now we completely flipped it.
06:15And they're still trying to figure out some of the guys that are going to make their way
06:18onto this thing.
06:19And right now, Andrew McCutcheon has impressed.
06:23Just 39 years old, gotten out there and just done some work.
06:27And your manager right now is very impressed with the work that Andrew McCutcheon has done.
06:33He gets up.
06:34He gets his opportunities.
06:35He gets on base.
06:37Swings.
06:37He's in his first 12 plate appearances.
06:42He had three doubles, three singles, and walked four times.
06:46Those were in his four A games.
06:48So three doubles, three singles, and walked four times.
06:52And that's going to be something we're going to talk about a little more at noon today,
06:55the competitive at-bats that the Rangers are having and how important that is because
07:00they're just not swinging at certain pitches.
07:02But man, if I can get one last hurrah out of Andrew McCutcheon, a dude who's also a very
07:07vocal leader in the clubhouse, this could have a huge impact on this club.
07:13I expected nothing when they signed him just because he's 39 years old.
07:18And even in his first interview with Jared, he kind of made it sound like,
07:22this is my last run.
07:23This is probably my last year playing Major League Baseball.
07:27So I was like, it would be cool if he made the team.
07:30You know, I don't really have expectations for him because I just don't think that's fair
07:33at this point in his career.
07:35I know what he's capable of, but I'm like, I'd rather not have expectations and let him
07:40surprise me.
07:41And he's done exactly that.
07:43And if I'm going to ask somebody who's pushing 40 to come in and platoon DH for my team,
07:49I'm going to ask him to do one thing, get on base.
07:51Just get on base as consistently as you can.
07:54I don't care how you do it.
07:55Just get on base.
07:56And that veteran presence has shown early on five walks so far that he's drawn through
08:01yesterday.
08:02He's been patient.
08:04Like I expected him to be at this point in his career.
08:06He knows the strike zone well, but he's also been aggressive.
08:10He's got a couple, a few doubles to his name now.
08:13I mean, the OPS and a short sample size looks incredible.
08:16If he's going to have that level of patience for you, you know, every few days, you know,
08:22and really compliment some of the hitting that you have, some of the younger players that
08:25you have that you could be platooning in this situation.
08:29I like it, especially because Jock Peterson isn't exactly impressing me in spring training.
08:35Not that I expected him to, but I haven't seen much from him.
08:38There hasn't been many other people outside.
08:40You know, we talk about the Cam Colley hype train, stuff like that.
08:43There hasn't been people that have really impressed me.
08:45Jake Berger's done great work.
08:47But if I'm going to add a veteran to this group, I want you to draw walks.
08:52I want you to get the count up high, knock a base hit over the first baseman's head.
08:57You know, like, I don't need you to be this power hitter like I'm asking Jock to be.
09:01Just show me a little bit of consistency getting on base, and he's doing just that.
09:05It's exciting because I expected nothing.
09:07Also, Mark Canna, who signed a minor league deal earlier in the spring, he's turned it on
09:11lately, .324, .343, .500, and that's a slash in 13 games.
09:16He needs to make sure that he's crushing those lefties, though, because that's probably his
09:19best opportunity to make this squad.
09:22Osuna only had three at-bats for Team Mexico.
09:25Not exactly what we wanted.
09:26So far, though, four for eight with a walk in Cactus League play since he's gotten back.
09:31That's, you know, that's where Kevin is like, I want Osuna in my game.
09:35And he proved that he can be an exciting player.
09:37It's the consistency at such a young age that we've still got to keep an eye on for the 23
09:41-year-old.
09:42And Ezekiel Duran has made his way back into life as the utility player.
09:48I feel like there's a combination of him and Tyler Wade in that backup infield role.
09:54Who's going to be at third base if Josh Young has some extended time on the injury list or if
09:59Seager does as well?
10:01Both of those guys have had that history, so you've got to make sure you have some dudes that can
10:05play those positions.
10:06But right now, Ezekiel Duran looks like he's made his way.
10:10He's slashed 303, 439, 545 with equal parts strikeouts and walks.
10:15So far, 1.22 OPS with two home runs and that versatility defensively.
10:23This was early in camp whenever we talked to Skip.
10:27He was like, and now, like he said, I challenge these guys to show me.
10:33He has a clean slate with everybody.
10:35You have a clean slate.
10:37There's no expectations.
10:38There's also no pat on the butt right now because you're having to earn it.
10:44And with Boach, we won the World Series, guys.
10:47Congratulations.
10:48And when was the time to kind of put that slate clean again?
10:52Right now, this is where the Rangers are with that.
10:54So nice to see for the Rangers.
10:56Really looking forward to what this season can bring as we get closer.
11:00And you can hear every single moment of the Rangers season right here on 105.
11:05Through the van, your home of the Texas Rangers.
11:07And you can hear every single day.
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