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The K&C Masterpiece recapped the Rangers’ final stretch of spring training, highlighting Chris Young on the team’s improved plate discipline and focus on quality at-bats. They also discussed Brandon Nimmo setting the tone at the top of the lineup, Joc Pederson’s inconsistency, and more.
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00:00But right now, as we are eight days away, six spring training games left.
00:06What?
00:07Eight complete days away from spring training baseball being over
00:12and regular season baseball starting.
00:15We got to talk a little bit about the Rangers.
00:16They were on an off day yesterday, but Chris Young said,
00:19you know what, I'll talk.
00:20So he had a little Q&A with some of the media
00:22and got a little conversation in there.
00:24And the first part of it is kind of how are you feeling in general?
00:29And he's like, I'm feeling pretty good.
00:31I feel good.
00:32That's kind of what you want to hear, right?
00:33Like for the most part, everybody's healthy,
00:35and it looks like you're going to have opening day health right there.
00:38That's important.
00:39All the evaluation process, everything's, they're feeling very confident there.
00:44The part that I really was intrigued by was they want to talk a little bit
00:52about the plate discipline.
00:54And when it comes to the plate, we talked about the plate discipline the other day.
00:56When these guys get up to the plate, small strike zone,
01:00keep it small until the pitcher forces you to make it bigger.
01:04And then hopefully you get a pitcher in a situation where he's 3-0, 3-1.
01:09He has to groove one.
01:10You take advantage of it.
01:12That's what we call approach.
01:14When you go up to the plate, you're,
01:16I used to think approach was literally how you walked to the plate.
01:20Approach.
01:21Like when I was a kid, I was always like, what's my approach?
01:23I mean, I guess I walk slow.
01:26Do the money walk.
01:27And then, you know, put my right foot in first.
01:30I don't know.
01:30Like what's my approach?
01:31And then I realized your approach is like what you're trying to get out of the at-bat.
01:37And the walk total might be a little bit of a problem because he's like, look,
01:43that might be a little bit of what's going on on the other side too.
01:45But the metrics are indicating that they're having very good at-bats right now.
01:50And that's a positive thing from them.
01:52And the messaging from their staff, he's really excited about how they're getting this across.
01:58It's been really good messaging.
02:00But that commitment from both the hitting group and the hitters,
02:04they are committed to being better hitters this year.
02:08So then they said, what's different here?
02:10This is where the word, there's a specific word in here that I really liked.
02:16We have some different, this is Chris Young.
02:18We have some different personnel that's obvious.
02:21The personnel helps and the profile of player that we have, one through nine, one through 13,
02:28there's just a little bit less volatility.
02:31That's the word right there that I think I appreciate the most here.
02:36He said, there's more reliable skill sets that make it tough on the pitcher.
02:40It's not an individual at-bat, but it's a team mindset going up that each person is going to have
02:45a quality at-bat.
02:46He said, I don't like over-promising and under-delivering, but what we've seen this far this year, very positive.
02:52There's still a season of play.
02:53We need to continue that into the season.
02:55We're going to keep facing better pitching, and we've got to keep the same approach and mindset, discipline, and so
02:59forth.
02:59But when it comes to the conversation of volatility, that's where I was like, oh, that's exactly what we were
03:07discussing last year.
03:09The mindset of baseball has turned to home runs, and we love home runs.
03:15Home runs are awesome.
03:16But at the same time, if you're not hitting the ball at all, home runs are useless if you're not
03:23hitting the ball at all.
03:24To create that is what we just discussed.
03:26What we just said is to create home runs, it's not just going up there and being a free-swinging
03:31dude.
03:32You've got to go up there and find the pitch that makes it into a home run.
03:36When it comes to volatility, who were the volatile dudes, the dudes last year, that you looked at this lineup
03:44and you said they could hit a home run every time they stepped to the plate,
03:49or they're going to strike out on three or pop up.
03:52It's like they don't have any in between.
03:55Who are those guys for you?
03:57One of them's not here anymore.
03:58His name's Adolis Garcia, as much as I hate to say it.
04:02But as soon as you said the word volatile, I was like, translation, Adolis isn't here anymore.
04:07You're not putting him in big spots.
04:09And that's his personality, too.
04:10He has a volatile personality.
04:12Sure.
04:12Jonah Heim's another one of those guys.
04:14Yes.
04:15Jonah Heim, you had no clue what you were getting out of those two hitters in particular.
04:22Every time they went up to the plate, you were just like, I don't know.
04:25And once they started to get hot, you'd be like, okay, all right, they're back.
04:29And then same undisciplined approach, and it turns into, well, what happened?
04:34What did we just have?
04:35How do we get that back?
04:37And that had to have been frustrating for Boach and Chris Young and the entire group.
04:40And not that Marcus Simeon was volatile, but he just never seemed to get back to that form
04:46that he was whenever they went to the World Series.
04:49And again, during that stretch run in the World Series, he wasn't that great.
04:56Phenomenal defensive player.
04:59Adolis, phenomenal defense.
05:01Exciting defensive player for Adolis Garcia.
05:04There were plays that you were just like, how did that happen?
05:06And maybe you're like, I don't know, maybe he was in the wrong spot, and that's why he
05:10had to dive to get it.
05:11But he made some amazing plays out there.
05:14But the volatility at the plate was something they wanted to limit and shrink and create a,
05:20look, we understand.
05:21He says it right here.
05:21A little bit less volatility, more reliable skill sets that make it tough on the pitcher.
05:28Brandon Nemo is the key to that.
05:29He's going to go up there and work the count.
05:31He's going to find that pitch.
05:32And hitting lefties, not a problem for him.
05:35Somebody just texted in about Josh Young.
05:37Good defense.
05:38Can he get into a form where he is forcing pitchers to pitch to him instead of saying,
05:45I'm up here trying to yak one, and that's my goal right now.
05:50Volatility with this lineup, I think, is going to be a key word all season, Alec.
05:54It's going to be a very key word because you add a Brandon Nemo for that exact reason.
05:59You're trying to find some consistency.
06:01You don't need anything flashy when you have guys like Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager already
06:08on the roster.
06:09You know that you can get the big play and you can get the big hit from any situation that
06:16you put them in, pretty much.
06:17At this point, early on in his career, I'm already putting that on Wyatt Langford.
06:21I do think that you can get that Corey Seager's proven at time and again.
06:25When you start adding veteran presences and even maybe Andrew McCutcheon turns into one
06:31of those guys in a platoon DH situation where it's like the days that you know he's getting
06:37that rep, you know that you're going to get at least one quality at bat where he draws
06:41a walk.
06:42You know, there's a reason.
06:45There's intentionality with how they're building this lineup.
06:48And it's frustrating when they don't go spend all of the money.
06:51I get it.
06:52But with what limited resources they've had, they've said, can we get guys that have seen
06:58the game long enough and know what their responsibility is within this lineup?
07:04Because if you get a bunch of free swingers in, like if you put nine Adolis Garcia's in your
07:10lineup, you know, if we're going off the war model, then you're going to have some games
07:15where you put up 12 runs, you're going to have some where you put up none, and you're
07:20out of there in an hour and 55 minutes because you ground it out in two pitches every single
07:25at bat.
07:26I like the mentality that they're taking with this coaching staff, and it starts with Skip
07:31Schumacher, and it goes and works its way down.
07:34But that's one thing that I was interested to see.
07:36You make the hitting coach change midseason last year because it wasn't working.
07:42You had to get your message has to get through somehow.
07:45The messaging was not good enough.
07:47It was not being received, what have you.
07:49And there were some stretches with Brett Boone that it seemed like, okay, the approach did
07:54seem a little bit different, and it did seem like it was working, but it was always too
07:59little too late.
08:00You needed to make that decision a lot earlier than you did.
08:04Now, it seems pretty cut and dry for the Rangers from a coaching standpoint.
08:09Last year's model did not work.
08:11How do we address it in a different philosophical manner?
08:16And now it's exactly what we talked about the other day with plate discipline and just
08:20focusing on a smaller strike zone.
08:23So I think the moves that they did make are going to pay off, and you're going to notice
08:29it a little bit quicker than you would probably expect from a guy like Brandon Nimbo batting
08:35the leadoff, is if you can even get the first guy at the beginning of the game on base, good
08:41things are probably going to happen when it gets to Corey Seager's turn.
08:44Yeah.
08:45Yeah.
08:45Especially if Wyatt Langford's turning into the character we believe he's turning into.
08:49Like, I feel like it's going to be a really good season for Wyatt.
08:52But I feel like Jake Berger, I think Jake Berger's going to have an awesome year.
08:55I can't wait to watch him.
08:56Just what I saw while I was out there at spring, and obviously it was very early, but what I
09:01saw was like, that feels really good.
09:03So I'm really excited about that.
09:05And somebody asked if Brett Boone is still part of this thing.
09:08It's Justin Viali and Alex Citron.
09:12Those are the guys that are part of the hitting group that they have built there.
09:15They have a completely, not a completely, like I don't know how much revolutionizing hitting
09:20you're doing at this point.
09:22There's a lot there, and maybe you'll find a couple tweaks here and there.
09:25But you're just trying to create, as I was talking, a good understanding of the strike
09:29zone and a good understanding of what their swing naturally is.
09:34You don't want dudes having to swing out of their boots every time.
09:38They're up there to create power.
09:39How do you naturally create the torque and power?
09:42They work on those mechanics with these guys.
09:44Hell, last night, listening to David Ortiz talk about it, he was like, look, you're in
09:49March, most of these guys are still trying to get their hitting mechanics and their timing
09:53down to be playing a competitive game like this right now.
09:57They're ballplayers, but mid-season form dudes, they've been changing just the way their
10:05elbow sits.
10:05Those are the little things that hitting coaches work on.
10:10We're talking with Jordan Montgomery about pitching, and he's like, look, I know that
10:15we're going to have, with Teagues, a good approach to the way that my mechanics are going to be
10:20built.
10:20And he's like, I want my mechanics to be a certain way, and he's going to get me right.
10:25So they trust these coaches to do these things.
10:27Now, when it comes to volatility, I think one of the players that has been frustrating in
10:35that volatility world is Jock Peterson.
10:38We got him for the one year, and I'm curious, 877-881-1053.
10:45When it comes to Jock Peterson, when will you believe that Jock Peterson is here?
10:49Like, actually here.
10:51For most of his career, Jock Peterson's spring training performances have been, you can't
10:56tell.
10:57In spring training, you're like, he's hitting 486 OPS right now.
11:03That is atrocious.
11:05A year ago, he posted a 1.018 OPS in spring and hit five home runs.
11:11That was last year.
11:13Rock it in spring training.
11:14Then he didn't hit his first in-season home run until May.
11:18Yeah.
11:19And the rest of the season was just horrendous.
11:23The year before that, he was horrendous in spring, 558 OPS.
11:27And then he ended up having a great season in that year.
11:32Great spring, so-so season in 2022.
11:35Spring bad, season great.
11:37Every year, it seems like season bad, season good, as long as spring is a certain way for
11:44him.
11:44I don't know how much stock I'm putting into this.
11:47Is this going to be one of those years where I look at his spring and I'm like, hey, everything's
11:52going to be fine because Jock Peterson didn't have a great spring.
11:55He's not a spring guy.
11:56But just wait until he springboards into the regular season.
12:00From Peterson, he said, spring training's always been a weird place.
12:03You always want to play good and you always want results.
12:06I'm not saying that you go out there and you try to get out, but I also think that there's
12:11a time to peak.
12:11What really matters is having a good season and not a good spring.
12:15I know people can panic, but I'm working on things.
12:17I feel like the process of the cage has been elite.
12:20And I don't think that there's any correlation between spring stats and the regular season.
12:24All that being said, how much leeway, how much time do you feel like you can give a Jock
12:32Peterson before you say, I got to look at another dude for DH McCutcheon or Kanna or somebody
12:37else?
12:39It's really difficult to put an exact timeline because I don't know what this team's goal
12:44is.
12:45Obviously, Chris Young is going to tell us, you know, World Series.
12:48We want to compete.
12:50I don't think this roster is quite ready for that.
12:53So if you were in a spot where you made it to, you know, the ALCS last year and it's
13:00like, OK, I'm only giving them a few weeks because I don't have time to spare, especially
13:07with the beginning of their schedule.
13:08They have some big, heavy hitters to start the season coming through town.
13:13So I would say, honestly, give them the same mark as last year when he hit his first home
13:19run of the season, give them until May, like early May.
13:23That's when I'm like, I gave you every last chance that I could as an everyday or a somewhat
13:29regular full time player.
13:31I have to either platoon or I have to move on entirely at some point because it's business
13:38at the end of the day, right?
13:39They don't want to pay a guy to not be on the team.
13:41So they're going to give him every last chance that they can to see something, even if it is
13:47in a platoon situation where he's playing every other day or every couple of days, if they
13:51know that they could get an advantageous matchup with him against, you know, maybe a pitcher
13:57that has extreme reverse splits or something, whatever the case may be, they can get some
14:02value out of it.
14:03I'd say I'm giving him like the first month of the season to really know if changes have
14:09been made in a timely manner, because he can say that and he can be working in the cage.
14:13I believe him that he's actually working.
14:15You guys even said it looked like he just had a different demeanor during spring training
14:20and how he carried himself.
14:21So he's trying to break some bad habits right now.
14:24You know, I think he might be.
14:25And whether it works or not, we have to wait.
14:28That's the unfortunate part.
14:29We can only sit and speculate.
14:31I'm excited to see because I do think he means it.
14:34And I do think he wants all of the best things for himself to help this team.
14:39So the motivation's there.
14:41I just need to see it translate against good pitching.
14:44So give it a month.
14:46That's my timeline.
14:472-1-4, two bad weeks.
14:48Bye-bye.
14:49But you heard it first.
14:50Alec Medford said, one month into the season, Jock.
14:54And if no good, you get the can.
14:56You get the hook.
14:56You get the can.
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