00:00We do have Rangers spring training wrapping up here soon.
00:03We only got, like, what, five more games, four more games, something like that.
00:07And then we're rolling next Thursday for opening day up in Philadelphia.
00:13Looking forward to that, and I'm looking forward.
00:15I love that our guy Nathan Evaldi is representing the team on the road
00:20and that Jacob DeGrom will represent the team here at the home opener.
00:24It's wonderful to have both of those two guys up there.
00:27I'll tell you what, man, I just love some Nathan Evaldi.
00:31I just, there's something about the dude.
00:34He is the team leader.
00:36He is a dominant pitcher.
00:38He's won our World Series, and he's won other World Series as well.
00:42So looking forward to him being that opening day starter for because he deserves it.
00:48All right, guys, speaking of, let's go ahead and let's put a big bow on this team.
00:53Who needs to be on this team?
00:55What does this thing actually need to be looked at, and what is left to decide for Skip Schumacher?
01:00Because that's what he's been doing since he got here, whether you knew it or not.
01:05We kind of discussed this whenever he got hired as a consultant.
01:09Mike was still with us, and Mike was very excited.
01:11He played with them on the Olympic team.
01:16That's right.
01:17They qualified together.
01:20And when he came here, it was kind of this mindset of, this is a manager that left Miami and
01:26said, I see the direction y'all are taking the organization, and I don't want to be part of it.
01:32Let me go find a winner or something.
01:34Chris Young immediately picked up the phone and said, I like the cut of your jib.
01:39And said, come hang out with us for a little bit.
01:42And so Skip came here, and I do believe one of his kids was playing around here as well.
01:46Yes.
01:46So that was another factor in it.
01:48And then as things started to wrap up last year, and maybe Boach was kind of like, all right, guys,
01:52I've done my job here.
01:53I had a three-year deal with you.
01:55And Chris Young said, thank you for your service, sir.
01:58And they parted ways.
01:59Skip was always the frontrunner for it.
02:02But the great thing about it was Skip, kind of like Schottenheimer, had some time to observe the group.
02:08He was watching it.
02:09He was paying attention.
02:11But he also told the guys, y'all have a clean slate with me.
02:14We're going to figure this team out.
02:15You're going to have opportunities.
02:16But y'all really, some of you have things to prove to me that you deserve to continue to be
02:22on this team or in your role.
02:24And then some of you, y'all still have some opportunities to prove me wrong.
02:28So we're looking forward to seeing how they all respond to that.
02:33So far, the spring has been pretty nice.
02:35So here's what we're looking at, the starting rotation.
02:39There is only really one thing left to decide there, and that is kind of Latzer, Kamar, Rocker.
02:48But it's that fifth person in the rotation.
02:51Both have done a very good job.
02:52When it comes to Cal Quantrill, he pitched well in the World Baseball Classic, but has an out in his
03:00minor league contract on Saturday.
03:03Would they keep him and send Latzer, Rocker, to the minors?
03:06I don't think so.
03:08I'm not in a place where I think that they would do that.
03:11What's probably going to happen, Alec, and see if you agree on this,
03:16they're not going to make a real decision on Latzer and Rocker, and they're going to kind of use both
03:21of them
03:23because they have 40 games to start that are really tough, and they need their 13 best pitchers from the
03:29start.
03:30So both of these guys get fit in that category.
03:33They don't have a lot of room to manipulate.
03:34A fifth starter might be needed as a few as six times in those first 40 games.
03:40So there would be occasions where both of them could pitch and do the double pitching situation.
03:45I could see that easily.
03:48I don't think you've seen so much from one guy versus not enough from the other.
03:55I think you've seen plenty of good and rough from Rocker.
03:58And then from Latz, you haven't seen anything that's blown you away.
04:03You've seen the consistent guy that you know, that you already expected.
04:08So if somebody was so miles ahead or behind one of the other, I would say, sure, I could see
04:17a reality.
04:17Like, even just a couple weeks ago, I would put my money on Latz being that guy,
04:22just the way he was always being brought up in conversation when being asked.
04:26But right now, I do think that they would like the benefit of having the options
04:33without having to worry about, okay, if things go wrong with Latz and then we have Rocker down in AAA,
04:40what if he just pitched one day and Latz is down and Latz had a rough outing?
04:45We need somebody right here, right now.
04:47But Rocker already pitched, so then you're having to make a spot start with somebody
04:51that you probably aren't comfortable putting up there.
04:54So having that flexibility would be nice.
04:57I just don't know how they are going to navigate the fine line of,
05:03we don't want to get Rocker's mentals messed up by telling them,
05:08hey, we're keeping you on the roster, but for now you're going to hang out in the bullpen.
05:12Or telling Latz the same thing.
05:14You're going to stay with the Major League Club, but we're going to put you back here
05:18and we might not really use you right now.
05:20We're just going to have you up in case we need to make the switch.
05:24So if they're willing to navigate that, which I bet they probably are at the beginning of the season,
05:30it's going to be one of those things, like you said, it's going to be up to the very last
05:34minute
05:34until they get hardcore proof in the regular season that somebody stands out more than the other.
05:41I would still lean Latz just because personally I want Rocker getting starts.
05:48So I don't care if it's not with the Major League team.
05:50I would rather it be because I want to watch him every few days, you know, because he's fun.
05:55But I want to see him improve and become the pitcher that I know he can be,
06:00that he's talented enough to become.
06:02So I'd rather him get that starting opportunity once a week down in the minors
06:07than kind of, hey, we might need you for a couple innings tomorrow
06:12and then we're going to sit you for a few days because we might need you to start.
06:15And you're going to be capped at four innings because you're not fully stretched out.
06:19So keep them stretched out.
06:21Give them the opportunities.
06:22That's me personally, but I'm with you.
06:24I think they're going to bank on the side of caution.
06:27Just say, let's keep them both.
06:30From the E-1-7, don't compare Skip to Schottenheimer.
06:33Skip's much better.
06:34I didn't compare the manager and the coach.
06:37I compared the situation of being kind of a fly on the wall
06:41while also being able to take some notes.
06:44But I appreciate that.
06:45I appreciate that you're a part of the conversation.
06:47Thank you very much.
06:48From the E-1-7, I wish our first game was at home instead of on the road.
06:51Me too.
06:52I love opening day.
06:53But guess what?
06:54Opening day is going to be awesome.
06:56So just be prepared.
06:57KNC Masterpiece is going to have a great time setting us up for that one.
07:00The rotation, though, Evaldi DeGrom, McKenzie Gore,
07:04who I am psyched about this year.
07:06I cannot wait to watch this dude pitch and see how things go.
07:10Jack Leiter in either Lats or Rocker.
07:12But, man, hey, also, I keep telling Kevin this,
07:17the whole room seems to be excited about Leiter this year.
07:22And I don't know exactly where I stand on it,
07:25but I think he might take the biggest jump this year
07:29because everybody seems to have this.
07:31He looks comfortable.
07:32He feels confident.
07:34The whole room is just looking at him going,
07:36and I'm talking about teammates, Josh Smith, Nathan Evaldi.
07:40All these dudes are very hype on him, so I'm excited about that for him.
07:43When it comes to the bullpen,
07:45there are a few things to try and figure out there.
07:48Obviously, how the rotation wraps up could change a lot of things
07:52with Lats and Rocker,
07:53so we'll kind of keep that out there for a little bit.
07:55Here's kind of the way that it's going to look, though.
07:57Chris Martin, Robert Garcia, Cole Wynn, Tyler Alexander,
08:02Jalen Beeks was a nice addition, Carter Baumler, Luis Crivello,
08:06and either Lats or Rocker.
08:08Obviously, listen, if you have four right-handers in your starting rotation,
08:12you can deal with that.
08:14But they're trying to figure out the balance there.
08:17That's why Lats is considered, plus Lats is pitching well.
08:19And Lats was a high-quality, highly-rated prospect a long time ago,
08:24and he's trying to re-find himself right now, and I hope he does.
08:27At catcher, I think it's going to be down to the two.
08:31I think it's just going to be a...
08:33We discussed it with Higgy, and he was like,
08:35I don't even know if any of us deserve to actually be an everyday catcher in the world.
08:39Any catchers anywhere, and in the whole world now.
08:44Higashioka and Danny Jansen.
08:46And everybody just hopes Danny Jansen has fun.
08:49Yes, that was my favorite part of spring training.
08:52Even when Brandon Nimmo gifted the watch to Hellman,
08:56he was wearing the shirt that said, I just hope he has fun.
09:00That's my favorite bit.
09:01The clubhouse camaraderie has been great.
09:03But the catcher position, I feel a lot better about this season.
09:07It's not just totally to degrade Jonah Heim at the plate.
09:11I just think Danny Jansen might end up being better than people give him credit for.
09:17Especially if you're going at a pretty pure 50-50 split,
09:20keeping him off his feet a little bit.
09:22I think that was one of the better low-key signings that you could have made,
09:26because we know this team is financially limited.
09:29Chris Young is financially limited.
09:31I thought that was a savvy veteran move that you made.
09:35And going back to the bullpen real quick,
09:38I'm actually more excited to watch them than I am nervous.
09:42I thought I was going to be really like, oh, what's it going to look like?
09:47I kind of reached the place where I don't have expectations.
09:51Especially when you're adding Jalen Beeks just days before opening day,
09:56and you're saying, here's a major league deal.
09:58You haven't been in camp with us, but here's a major league deal.
10:01I'm like, okay.
10:04There is no narrative with them right now for me.
10:08It is, we have what we have, it's going to change a little bit,
10:12but it kind of gives me the vibes of 2023,
10:15where I went into that season saying, this bullpen is odd.
10:18It doesn't really make sense to me.
10:20And like Will Smith was pitching at an all-star level up until the all-star break,
10:25and then he fell off a cliff.
10:27Maybe you have some of that this year that you just have to navigate,
10:30where somebody looks like an all-star for the first 80 games,
10:33and then they disappear, and then it's like, okay,
10:36Jalen Beeks, it's your turn to be an all-star for the rest of this season.
10:40I'm just intrigued.
10:41I'm not as nervous as I thought I was going to be for whatever reason.
10:44I think there might be one or two guys that do step up.
10:47I wanted to be Robert Garcia because he's so emotionally invested
10:51in being the best in that bullpen,
10:53and he'll be the first to tell you that.
10:55He's pounding the table to be the closer.
10:57I want that guy to win,
11:00but I don't know who is going to stand out in this group,
11:03and I'm kind of excited to see who does.
11:05Hopefully somebody does.
11:07I love this text.
11:08817, Leiter goes 16-5.
11:10It is an all-star.
11:11From the 214, Rangers will finally find their offense again this year.
11:14The whole club knows hitting needs to be the focus.
11:18And then, yeah, if Leiter takes that big leap,
11:20we might have a similar pitching performance last year from our rotation.
11:23If that's the case, then we can go out there and just crush.
11:27Let's go rip the ball open, dude.
11:29I like it.
11:30When it comes to the infield, infield lineup,
11:32this looks pretty easy.
11:34Jake Berger, Josh Smith, Corey Seager, Josh Young across your infield.
11:38All right, that's what it's going to look like.
11:39And by the way, all those dudes right now,
11:41even Josh Young, ripping the baseball.
11:44So that's a nice thing to see.
11:45Sam Haggerty and Ezekiel Duran,
11:47as your infield outfield options,
11:49Duran is your backup utility guy right now.
11:52That's what it looks like it's going to be.
11:54Duran's done enough.
11:55He had, as we said, clean slate with Skip,
11:58and he came into this spring training and was like,
12:01I'm focused, and he's done everything that's been asked of him.
12:03He's shown well in the last half of camp,
12:05and that's nice to see.
12:06And Sam Haggerty is having Sam Haggerty spring, dude.
12:09Like, he is rolling.
12:11All right, let's look at this outfield,
12:12because we have a lot of questions.
12:14Right now, it seems like it's going to be the three.
12:17Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, Brandon Nemo.
12:19That's what's left to decide there.
12:21And with Sam Haggerty as your kind of rotational guy.
12:25And I have questions,
12:28but Skip told us that Josh Smith and Evan Carter
12:32have earned the right to hit against lefties.
12:34I think having Brandon Nemo in the lineup
12:36is helpful for both Smith and Carter,
12:39hitting against left-handed pitchers.
12:41Hopefully that's the case for them.
12:43If that turns out the way that we want it to,
12:46that might be one of the best outfields in all of baseball.
12:49Yeah, and Evan Carter might not have had
12:52the box score numbers against lefties in spring,
12:54but he was squaring the ball up very well.
12:57There was a lot of 100-plus mile per hour
12:59off-the-bat speeds that he was getting against lefties
13:02that were just tough luck outs.
13:04You know, line drives right to the perfect spot
13:06for an outfielder, or, you know, a sharp infield out.
13:10He's squaring up the ball against lefties.
13:12It's a matter of time.
13:13And I think he's earned that right to say,
13:16you know, give me the everyday appearances,
13:18and it's going to figure itself out.
13:20Last year and the year before,
13:22it was, no, you haven't really earned that.
13:24Now I think you just let them figure it out with time.
13:27Good to see you next time.
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