00:00Last night with the Rangers, you know, that was kind of on the back burner, but it was also on.
00:05You know, the Stars game, I thought, here's kind of how everything went for me yesterday.
00:10Got home, did the gym, started preparing dinner.
00:15Yeah, I do cook a lot, man. I just now notice that.
00:18Started preparing dinner, and then I was like, all right, oh, Mavs are about to play.
00:22Started playing the Mavs game.
00:23And then I was like, okay, oh, Stars are about to play.
00:26Let's flip it over to the Stars game.
00:27And they were like, not yet.
00:28And I was like, son of a gun.
00:30Because this is how hockey does.
00:32And then during this time, I was like, oh, I've got to keep track of the Rangers game, too.
00:35And I know it was on as well.
00:37It had options to be able to watch it.
00:38And I was like, this is awesome.
00:39This is exactly the time of year right now where all this fun stuff starts to happen.
00:44Again, if you want to get ahead of your friends that are going to get in on hockey whenever the
00:49tournament starts,
00:50then you say, okay, I'm going to get in on it now, and I'll be able to let them know
00:54exactly how things are.
00:56But Rangers season's on the way, baby.
00:57And last night, they took on the Kansas City Royals.
01:00Now, it is the Kansas City Royals.
01:02So we do have to take it with a grain of salt.
01:03All right?
01:04But we had a fascinating turn of events.
01:07There was one lineup out.
01:10And then all of a sudden, that lineup completely changed.
01:13Now, it didn't change in that they took players out.
01:17It was the same lineup.
01:18They just retooled it because Michael Wacca was pitching.
01:21And so they said, well, if Wacca's going to pitch, that changes the way that we're going to go after
01:25it.
01:26But more importantly, Kamar Rocker was pitching last night as well.
01:29So we had to keep track of that.
01:31Man, Twitter blew up on me last night.
01:33There were every—the Rangers posts, it was—I loved it.
01:36I love this time of year, following Sean McFarlane, Kennedy Landry.
01:41Got everybody that I follow, covering the action.
01:44I know exactly what I'm going to get.
01:48Nemo's 0 for 4.
01:49Don't worry about it.
01:50All right?
01:50Don't worry about it.
01:52He's still got a 1.16 OPS during spring training.
01:56We're doing good.
01:56But this is the number that's really starting to pop here.
02:01Wyatt Langford last night, three RSBI, a hit, a run, and that dude right now is hitting—he had a home
02:13run last night—hitting a 1.538 OPS.
02:18That is insanity as far as OPS goes.
02:21And we got to be loving—I am prepared right now.
02:26Uh, during Baseball Nuggets.
02:29To stand on this.
02:31Oh, no.
02:31Whatever superlative you want to call Wyatt Langford this year, whatever you say he's going to be, I am prepared,
02:41as opening day happens, to say you're correct.
02:45Whatever you decide he's going to be this year, I'm not prepared to say anything bad.
02:50Superlatives mean super.
02:51All right?
02:52Good.
02:53Anything that you're like, he's the MVP.
02:55He's the best.
02:55Whatever you want to say, I'm prepared to believe you.
02:59Because I think this is Wyatt Langford's season.
03:03S-Z-N, isn't that how we do it?
03:05Yeah.
03:05The kids these days.
03:06That's right.
03:07I'm prepared to say that this is going to be Wyatt Langford's season, and I'm looking forward to it.
03:11The 1.538 means he is just raking right now.
03:14He's got five home runs in spring training.
03:16And I think that that's going to be the dude at the top of the list for me, man.
03:20He's got to be at this point because we talked about the issues last year offensively at the top of
03:26the lineup, just getting people on base for guys like him and Corey Seager to drive in runs because that's
03:33what they do and they do very well.
03:35And for me this spring, it's been the timely hitting and the timely getting on base because it feels like
03:43you mentioned Twitter exploding.
03:44It feels like every time I see live updates from Kennedy Landry or Sean McFarland, it's, well, Langford got on
03:52base with a double and then Corey Seager home run or it's Nemo singled and then Langford doubled and then
03:58Seager doubled and then they scored a million runs.
04:01Like, that's what it feels like.
04:03And it's been impressive.
04:04And that's what you thought you were going to get with a full-time Wyatt Langford last season because Marcus
04:11Simeon did have a reputation of being a reputable leadoff guy that can get on base, that can draw walks,
04:18that can get a base hit.
04:20It felt like everything I wanted to see the last couple of years.
04:25That's what I'm starting to see.
04:27And granted, it's spring training and the competition is different.
04:30It's Michael Walker.
04:31Like, I know.
04:33I understand.
04:34But the consistency in which I've seen the domino effect of the top of the lineup playing the way that
04:43they have envisioned and they have told us for a while now is what they expected to see.
04:49Wyatt Langford's been the biggest part of that for me.
04:52So I'm pretty much right there with you in lockstep of whatever superlative, whatever idea you want to throw out
05:00about him, whatever bold prediction.
05:02I'm probably right there with you.
05:04I'm just going to nod my head and say, yeah, I can get behind that.
05:079-4-0.
05:08I threw $20 on Wyatt for the MVP at plus $4,500.
05:12So I'm calling him MVP from the 8-1-7.
05:15First-time All-Star and AL MVP.
05:17He is the face of the franchise for the next 15 years.
05:20And then from the 3-1-4, temper your back your expectations.
05:23Langford is an MVP in spring training.
05:25That's fine.
05:26Hey, like I said, whatever you want, as long as it's positive, because I think you're going to be happy
05:31with his play this year.
05:33Now, let's continue to go down the line just a little bit because Andrew McCutcheon last night had himself three
05:40RSBI.
05:41And he had his first Rangers home run of spring.
05:44And that's nice to see as well.
05:45But guess what, dude?
05:46Guess who had three hits last night?
05:48One, Josh Young, who also had himself a home run.
05:52Josh Young batting behind Josh Smith, who had a couple stolen bases last night as well.
05:57Josh Smith, by the way, 1.63.
05:59I'm sorry, 1.32 OPS.
06:02Josh Smith is having a hell of a spring.
06:04That is a dude that was motivated to make sure that he wasn't just part of this team, that he
06:10was the I am your second baseman.
06:12So he went up to the plate with that demeanor.
06:15And he's also played in the field with that same demeanor as well.
06:18And just talking to him when Kevin and I were out there in spring, I see the fire in his
06:23eye.
06:23Like, there's some guys, you're like, you don't see it.
06:26You can absolutely see it in him.
06:28Jack Leiter, I can absolutely see it in Jack Leiter, too.
06:31I'm very excited for those two.
06:32But last night, Josh Smith, two hits, two stolen bases, had a run scored as well.
06:37So that's nice to see.
06:38But Josh Young batting behind him, had three hits and a home run last night.
06:42Hopefully that's the version of Josh Young.
06:44Hopefully we get a very consistent version of Josh Young throughout this season.
06:48One thing that has been consistent is him just absolutely yeeting his bat into the stands, too.
06:54He's done that twice this week, which was just amazing.
06:57But yes, he is swinging for the fences and he's looking comfortable again.
07:01He's getting back in the lineup after having a couple of little injury bugs.
07:05But it's nice to see him getting his work in before opening day, because that's been really my biggest question,
07:12which it feels like a recurring theme.
07:14And we've had to throw the injury prone tag on him at this point.
07:18But it's what is his status going to be for opening day?
07:21What is he going to look like going into opening day?
07:24It looks like he's got his timing.
07:26It looks like this last ailment didn't really do too much to him mentally.
07:30He's looking good.
07:31He's feeling good.
07:33I hope that we're going to get a more consistently available Josh Young.
07:39And he does seem like, not to the level that we saw with Adolis, but he does seem like a
07:44guy that the mental side can beat him down sometimes whenever he's in a bad way.
07:49Just like when you were talking with Skip in spring training about Josh Smith in his second half struggles, the
07:57phrase that we love about chasing winning and whatnot.
07:59But he said sometimes in the second half of the season when the team isn't necessarily doing as well as
08:05you would like,
08:05you might start looking at yourself individually and you start acting way too hard upon your personal performances.
08:14Josh Young has always struck me as a guy that thinks that same way, which can be good sometimes.
08:19When the team is winning, I absolutely want you putting in extra work in the cages and whatnot.
08:25But now he seems like he kind of understands what he needs to be doing.
08:29And I think really it's just the messaging of Skip Schumacher.
08:32It seems like he has really good connections with these guys.
08:35Everybody seems real calm.
08:37I mean, Jock Peterson, he's having an abysmal spring training, but he seems confident.
08:41You know, he's saying all the right things.
08:44And we'll find out on that one.
08:45Yeah, we'll find out on that one.
08:47But it seems like at least the guy that is making the call and making the decisions is saying all
08:53the right things to his guys.
08:54And everybody seems cool, calm, and collected right now.
08:56There's a reason that McCutcheon's here.
08:58But I appreciate what you're saying, but there definitely is a reason.
09:01They added seven walks last night, three of them from Sam Haggerty.
09:05He's been having a great spring, too.
09:06Kevin Carter had a scheduled day off there.
09:08But then we turn around and say, okay, this fifth person in the rotation, what is the conversation there?
09:15And we're going to have a deeper dive coming up here at noon today discussing how we're going to project
09:20out this roster,
09:21try and figure out exactly where everybody lands on this.
09:24But Kamar Rocker last night goes four innings, gives up three hits, one run, walks two, strikes out six.
09:32That's the kind of outing that Kamar Rocker needs to keep himself in this conversation because it's kind of him
09:39and lats.
09:40There are a couple other guys we'll discuss there, but Rocker has to just kind of prove that he is
09:45that dominant of a dude.
09:47Now, Chris Young did say the other day, he was like, look, the goal right now isn't for him to
09:52be in the bullpen at all.
09:53But I'm not going to say never, and I'm not going to just completely eliminate that because things could come
09:59up.
09:59If Rocker says I'd rather be in the bullpen than be in AAA, then that's the conversation they want to
10:05have, too.
10:06But right now, I do love seeing there is a competitive balance and a competitive back and forth between your
10:13starter and who might be the starter.
10:17Like those two guys, him and lats, going back and forth with it right now.
10:20Nice to see the outing last night because they understand what's on the line.
10:23They have to prove it to Skip.
10:24They have to tell Skip, this is exactly what we want to be.
10:27New eyeballs on me.
10:28I've got to go out there and show the world.
10:30So we've got a few more games left here.
10:32This felt kind of like dress rehearsal based on what you saw with the at-bats last night, what the
10:36lineup looked like.
10:37We are starting to get into that mode as the Rangers season.
10:40We'll be on here, right over here on 105.3 The Fan next week.
10:44We are that close, ladies and gentlemen.
10:45Get ready for it.
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