00:00Part of the World Series teams in 2010 and 2011 spent seven seasons with your Rangers
00:05and now member of the broadcast team with RSN, the great David Murphy here with you on the fan.
00:10And a good afternoon, sir. How the heck are you?
00:13What's up, guys?
00:15Man, exciting times, right? What's your favorite opening day memories?
00:21Oh, gosh. I mean, every opening day is special.
00:26You know, the first one was a great one. There's just something different about...
00:30Most guys get called up, you know, midpoint of the season or September call-up, at least back in the
00:35day.
00:36So there's something special about making your first opening day team.
00:41And then I guess I had a big hit in 2011 on opening day, so that was a fun one
00:46also.
00:46But, you know, there's something special about everyone.
00:50Yeah, what's it like? Tell us more about 2011 and, you know,
00:53coming back from being American League champions, the electricity and everything involved
00:58with the excitement around the Rangers at that time.
01:02Yeah, I mean, I guess opening day is always electric as it is.
01:07Like, there's no better day for optimism as a sports fan, as a baseball fan.
01:14You know, everybody is expecting or hopeful that their team can make the playoffs that season.
01:20And so, yeah, I mean, coming off 2010, there was, I guess you could say,
01:25there was even more electricity than in previous years.
01:29And I didn't start the game, came off the bench, and I guess I hit what was the go-ahead
01:37double down the line
01:38in the eighth or so.
01:40So, no, that's probably a top five, top ten moment in my career.
01:44What do you think about opening night?
01:47We've got Yankees and Giants, and we always hear opening day.
01:50Should opening night be a thing, Murph?
01:55I don't know.
01:56That's a good question.
01:57I mean, I think it's kind of cool that there is one singled-out game for all of Major League
02:05Baseball.
02:06Day or night, I don't know if it really matters to me.
02:08I'm just excited that baseball is back again, and I think it really depends on which specific city you're in
02:16and the weather of that particular area because we're trying to avoid these guys playing in, you know,
02:2335 to 45-degree weather because that's miserable as it is,
02:26and that doesn't produce the best quality of baseball, or at least offensively.
02:30So, yeah, I think it's worth a try.
02:32And, you know, it's weird that it's March 25th, like, when I woke up on Monday, I'm like,
02:39man, opening days in two days, and we're still a week away from April.
02:43That's crazy.
02:44So, one topic of conversation, and I don't know, you obviously on RSN and being a hitter yourself,
02:51the way the ball travels in the Rangers' new ballpark, and they get more information every year,
02:57but what are your thoughts on that as a hitter?
02:59Like, is this really just a pitcher's park?
03:02Is there any way to replicate the dominant success of 2023 that the hitters have,
03:06or will we just never get back to that?
03:09I just, that's a puzzling question because I think for the most part,
03:17I would say that the park is, it's either 50-50 or it's slightly in favor of the pitchers.
03:27But then there's days when the ball is just flying, and I can't put my finger on what's going on
03:35or what I see most days versus what I'm seeing that particular day when there's, you know,
03:41six or seven home runs combined in the game.
03:43So, at the end of the day, they're big league hitters.
03:46They're talented.
03:47You know, most of them can leave any ballpark.
03:50I just know that, you know, the Rangers have struggled offensively, obviously,
03:54in the last two seasons.
03:56It's been great for the pitchers.
03:58You know, we'll see how it goes this year, but leaving spring training,
04:02there was a different form of optimism after, I guess,
04:06what you could say is kind of a two-year slump offensively.
04:10Hey, Murph, that's what I was going to ask you.
04:12If, coming out of camp, is there one thing about this ball club that you feel like you can hang
04:18your hat on
04:19and you can say, okay, I am absolutely positive about this particular thing with this baseball team?
04:28If there's one thing, I would say that they're going to pitch as long as they stay healthy.
04:33When you've got a rotation of DeGrom, of all the, you know, gore.
04:38I did the game the other night where gore was throwing 97 from the left side.
04:45I think it's safe to say that Jack Leiter is going to take another step forward.
04:50You know, there might be a little bit of a question mark as far as what we're going to get
04:54out of Rocker
04:56at the back end of the rotation.
04:58He's got the stuff.
04:59It's just a matter of can he, you know, fill up the strike zone.
05:02I think that's a given as long as they stay healthy.
05:05If we can get both DeGrom and Evaldi, you know, maybe between 160 and 180 as far as innings goes,
05:13you know, they'll put up the numbers and everybody else will follow.
05:17And then I feel kind of the same about Lankford and Seager.
05:20Early in the season last year, there was just way too many times where if one of those guys was
05:27healthy,
05:27the other was hurt and vice versa.
05:30And, you know, every team has, you know, that one guy that can hit.
05:35But the more of those guys that you can stack together and get some protection in the middle of the
05:40lineup for your better hitters,
05:43you're bound to produce and you're bound to, you know, take a trip through that heart of the lineup.
05:48And one of those guys is going to beat you.
05:50So, I would say those are the two main guys that we need to stay healthy.
05:55I like what I've seen out of Nemo so far, a leadoff man.
05:58I think earlier in the season last year, our hitters burned through at-bats.
06:03You know, I think your job as a lineup is to put some pressure and make that opposing pitcher work.
06:10And there were way too many times in April and May last year where the starting pitcher would have 65
06:15pitches going into the sixth inning.
06:17And so, make that guy throw some pitches, make him work, obviously barrel some balls.
06:23You know, it may be a small thing, but the fact that the Rangers led the Cactus League and on
06:29-base percentage,
06:30I feel like that's one great thing about going into the season that hopefully they can maybe not lead the
06:38American League or lead baseball.
06:39If they do, that's great.
06:41But if they can end up in the top five or so, I'd say that's a big jump.
06:45Merv, how refreshing do you think it's going to be for Josh Smith to be able to just play one
06:49position
06:49and not bounce around like he's been doing?
06:53Yeah, I think for so many players, just knowing that expectation, I'm going to come in here and that job
06:59is mine.
07:00I can relax a little bit.
07:03There is a little bit of pressure that comes with that for sure.
07:05But being kind of a similar guy, I mean, there were so many years where I'd come out of spring
07:11training
07:11and I'd be the fourth outfielder, and then maybe by the end of the season I'd be getting more consistent
07:15at-bats.
07:17And I grew to understand my role as I became more of a veteran player.
07:21But I can totally understand what he's gone through throughout the course of his career.
07:28And so hopefully he can get consistent at-bats and he can have the same quality of second half
07:37as he has in the first half the last two years.
07:40Former Ranger David Murphy with us here on 105.3 The Fan.
07:43So being a former Rangers outfielder, what do you think about this current group
07:47and how do you feel about the addition of Andrew McCutcheon?
07:51Man, promising for sure.
07:54You know, you talk about Lankford.
07:55He is an MVP candidate.
07:58I would love to see him put it all together.
08:00You talk about Carter.
08:02You know, he's on so many people's lists as a breakout candidate.
08:07You know that if he's healthy and he's in there every day that he's going to perform against right-handed
08:13pitching.
08:13I would love to see him get to the point where he hits league average against lefties
08:18and just even if it's just singles, gets on base and uses his speed.
08:22Nimmo, I kind of already mentioned him.
08:24I'm excited about him.
08:25And then McCutcheon, you know, I was doing a game out in spring training
08:29and he hit an opposite field three-run homer.
08:31And the way the ball came off his bat and from the angle that we were up in the booth,
08:35it looked like it was a left-handed power hitter hitting that baseball.
08:39So, he's been a good one for a really long time.
08:42So, I'm sure he's going to help the team statistically and in the win column.
08:47But I'm going to love the leadership that he's going to bring to our boys in the clubhouse also.
08:54Okay, speaking of that leadership in the clubhouse,
08:56why do you think moving on from Bruce Bochy made sense for this organization
09:01after, you know, winning the World Series less than two years earlier?
09:07I don't know if moving on from Bruce Bochy ever makes sense with his track record, right?
09:14But I guess if anything, you know, you look at the old saying that if it ain't broke, don't fix
09:22it.
09:22But just the opposite, you know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again
09:28and expecting different results.
09:30And so, you know, I'm not going to pin it on any one guy, whether it's Bochy,
09:35whether it's Marcus Simeon, any of the guys that the Rangers parted ways with.
09:41It's just, you know, you've got a coaching staff, a manager, you've got a 26-man roster.
09:47And there's a certain amount of chemistry that you expect to have with that
09:52that maybe the Rangers were missing the last two years after the World Series season.
09:58So, naturally, you're going to shake things up a little bit.
10:00Maybe this is the right formula.
10:02How about that, Mackenzie Gore?
10:04You said you called the game with him the other night.
10:06What are Rangers fans in for with the new lefty from Washington?
10:10Yeah.
10:11I mean, I think the only thing that I've seen in his past is the walk numbers can be up
10:16a little bit.
10:17He was an all-star last year.
10:18So, I think he knows what he's capable of.
10:21The league knows what he's capable of.
10:23There's no question about the stuff.
10:26And I think on top of that, when you join a rotation with a guy like DeGrom and Evaldi,
10:31not to mention Evaldi, and I know I'm a homer here, I'm a biased guy,
10:36but this guy, if he wants to, he's going to be a great coach someday.
10:40He's as caring of a teammate.
10:42He watches all of his teammates' bullpens.
10:47And I feel like he makes everybody around him better.
10:49So, I feel like any pitcher that comes over here, they have an opportunity to thrive
10:55and get better just from game plan, just from talking baseball.
10:58I love when the camera pans to those guys in the dugout, especially the last few years.
11:03You always see Jack Leiter around Evaldi and DeGrom.
11:07So, Gore's a young guy.
11:09I believe he's going into his age 27 season.
11:11So, he's entering the prime years of his career, and how exciting is that to have a lefty
11:16that throws 97 miles an hour, and hopefully we have him and his success for years to come.
11:22Which of these Rangers starters, and they all got nasty stuff,
11:26which one would make you as a hitter sweat the most?
11:30DeGrom, no doubt.
11:31The way that his fastball jumps out of his hand, you know, it seems like he's ageless,
11:36just throwing 98, 99 miles per hour, sliders, wipeout, changeup is quality,
11:43and he doesn't even throw it that much.
11:45But he is, you talk to people around the league, and the comparisons that he draws,
11:53the amount of praise that he gets, I don't know that people talk about any pitcher
11:58the way that they talk about Jacob DeGrom.
12:01Well, you're the man, Murph.
12:02Have a great season, call in the games.
12:05We'll be enjoying it from our side of the equation,
12:08and we'll look forward to catching up with you talking baseball soon.
12:11Yeah, appreciate it, guys.
12:13Talk soon.
12:13Enjoyed it.
12:14Cheers.
12:14There he goes, David Murphy, Rangers legend here with you.
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