00:00Right now, let's take you to Texas Rangers broadcaster Matt Hicks. Good morning, sir.
00:08Good morning. How are you guys?
00:10Well, we're doing good. We just talked with Tim Kirchhen, and that's why we're a little bit behind.
00:15Do you think you can do better than he did? Because he did really well.
00:20So here's the deal. Nobody can do better than Tim Kirchhen.
00:23I can listen to that guy talk baseball 24-7.
00:28You know, I've known Tim for a while now, and it's his recall of so many details of so many
00:38events in the sport over such a long period of time is just phenomenal.
00:43And when I hear his voice, there are a few people on a national scale that when you hear their
00:49voice, immediately you're thinking baseball.
00:53And you're thinking of it in not only an informational way, but a nostalgic way.
01:00And it's just a part of the fabric of this sport.
01:05And his is such an important voice, the work that he's done over so many years.
01:09And he's got so many great stories. He's just so much fun to listen to.
01:13Well, Hicksie, I've said it since you arrived here in Texas.
01:16You're a gem of a broadcaster. When we were doing nights, I always loved driving in and listening to you.
01:21So your voice is one of those for me, for sure.
01:24You and Nadal do an amazing work. Really appreciate it.
01:28I've been very hot on Jake Berger throughout this spring.
01:32I feel like he's set in a new way.
01:35And I'm very excited for what this season can bring to him.
01:39What's your feeling on what Jake can produce this season?
01:42Well, I'll tell you what, I mean, he had a very good spring training.
01:45And he seems to be, in terms of the frame of mind about hitting, in a really good spot right
01:51now.
01:53So hopefully what he did in spring training carries over.
01:58And, you know, the other thing that you're hoping is that the way that the offense looked overall in spring
02:03training.
02:03A team essentially being more selective at the plate, drawing more walks, striking out just a little bit less than
02:11in the past,
02:12and making more contact, that that sort of catches on with everybody.
02:15It's just going to be one important cog in the wheel that will be Rangers baseball, Rangers offense this season.
02:23So, again, right now the mindset is good.
02:26But you're in one of those situations where you don't want to talk with him about his individual offense,
02:34because guys don't like to do that, especially when they're going well.
02:38So hopefully, like I said, it just continues from where he had been all spring.
02:44Both defensively and offensively, the importance of Josh Smith this year, the whole year.
02:52Well, number one, you know, Josh has such defensive flexibility that you can plug him in almost anywhere,
03:00and he's going to be good.
03:02But I think, you know, right here at the outset, he'll be given the opportunity to play second base on
03:08an everyday basis.
03:09So I don't ever really question his capabilities on defense.
03:16It's can he get back to where he was offensively, where, you know,
03:21we used to talk about him being a guy that was just as good against lefties as he was and
03:27is against righties.
03:28And that sort of diminished for him last season.
03:32So hopefully he's able to, you know, pick that up and get back to being the kind of hitter against
03:39lefties
03:39that he had been a few seasons ago.
03:41I got a project for you, Hicksy.
03:44Oh, great.
03:44I don't know if you can get this on opening day.
03:46Yeah, I know this is opening day.
03:47You got some busy stuff going on for you.
03:50But I'm trying to figure out, and we can start with the Rangers on this one,
03:54but if you want to expand this out to all-time, who is the all-time home run leader in
04:00feet?
04:00Like, who has hit the most feet in home run over their careers?
04:04Now, I don't know when they started keeping feet.
04:06Kevin says he wants actual feet, not the fake feet of the polo grounds.
04:10But if you can work on that throughout the year or find something out there, I'd really appreciate it.
04:16You're talking about all-time, all-teams?
04:18Yeah.
04:18Yeah, all-time.
04:19Or you can just start with the Rangers.
04:20Be like, who's hit the most feet home runs?
04:23Not just one home run, but, like, add up all their home runs, add up all the feet that they've
04:28had,
04:28and we'll see who the longest hitter is.
04:33Wow.
04:34Well, I mean, it would stand to reason, you know, that the people that are right at the top
04:39in terms of hitting home runs, when you add up all of those home runs and all of those feet,
04:44that they'd probably also be right up there.
04:47You know, there wasn't anybody in the game that hit most of their home runs, you know,
04:52down a short line, 290 feet, you know, like at Fenway Park.
04:57It's true.
04:57Kind of feels like you're just guessing, though.
04:59I don't think you've done that research yet now, have you?
05:02Yeah, you're right.
05:04You're right.
05:05It's just a roundhouse, generalized guess, but a pretty good one, I would think.
05:11Yeah, no, absolutely.
05:12Now, last year, Texas Rangers had the best pitching in baseball.
05:18How good does that have to be this season?
05:21Across the board, not just the starters, but the entirety of the pitching staff.
05:25How good are they going to have to be this year?
05:28Well, obviously, if you're going to compete, if you're going to be in the postseason,
05:31and if you want to make a deep run, you're going to have to be very good.
05:35Being the best would be, obviously, ideal.
05:37So, and the Rangers, when you take a look at the starting rotation, certainly have an ability
05:43to repeat as far as that's concerned.
05:44Now, you know, I don't fancy myself a mathematician, but, you know, I did take...
05:50I heard the last answer.
05:53I did take some probability courses in both high school and college, and the probability
06:00that the Rangers are going to repeat as having the best team ERA across Major League Baseball
06:07is, it's not nothing, but I think it's probably a small number.
06:13Now, having said that, I think that this is a team that's very capable of finishing top
06:19five, top six in baseball in terms of ERA and some other pitching metrics.
06:26And that's what they expect to do.
06:29So, I think if you're in that range, if you're in the discussion as being one of the top pitching
06:34teams in baseball, then, you know, the attention turns to the offense, and can the offense pull
06:42itself up from where it had been last year, which was across a number of metrics anywhere
06:47between, like, 23rd and 26th in baseball.
06:51That's got to be appreciably better in order for that pitching to mean something.
06:56Talk with Matt Hicks right here on 105.3 The Fan.
06:58I know the players, I'm sure the manager will tell you, hey, game by game, maybe even series
07:04by series, but when you look at this schedule, how important is that first 40 games, and do
07:10you feel like that just might define the direction this season is going to go?
07:15Well, it usually does.
07:16Because, I mean, 40 games, you're a quarter of the way in, and if you're 25 and 15 after
07:2140 games, there's no question that you're in the mix.
07:25If you're 15 and 25, you're asking a lot of questions, and you're searching for a lot
07:30of answers.
07:31But, I mean, in the first month of the season, I mean, here we're starting off in Philadelphia,
07:36one of the top teams in the National League.
07:39Baltimore, which you would expect to be a better, for sure, in 2026.
07:45Cincinnati is a team that I think many feel has a real shot at making the postseason.
07:50Seattle is being picked by some to win the World Series.
07:53The Dodgers after that.
07:55So, it's a real gauntlet here, these first couple of weeks.
07:59Then you play Seattle again, and then, you know, you might get a teeny bit of a break
08:04having to play the A's and the Pirates for a while toward the end of the month.
08:09But, you know, the A's, I think, are going to be better.
08:12Maybe the Pirates, too.
08:14Yeah, and maybe Pittsburgh.
08:16You know, they've got some talent on that club.
08:19And then you've got the Yankees a couple of times going into early May.
08:24The Cubs, the Diamondbacks are really good.
08:26Then you've got Houston.
08:27So, that first six or seven weeks of the season is definitely going to give Ranger fans an idea
08:34about how good this team is.
08:38And, you know, we'll see.
08:40Now, having said that, we also have stories of teams that 40 games in are 10, 11, 12 games under
08:46500
08:47and still, you know, have the metal to respond and get back into postseason play.
08:52So, it doesn't necessarily mean that your season's over if you do get off to a slow start.
08:58Matt, thank you very much for the time.
09:00We look forward to hearing you on the call today.
09:03And we look forward to getting your homework project done from Corey.
09:07Homework on opening day.
09:09I'm going to write this down in my little notebook here.
09:13Project, fellas, KC, Master, okay, we got it in.
09:17All right.
09:18Sounds good.
09:19Thank you very much, good sir.
09:20All right.
09:21We'll see you.
09:21There you go, Matt Hicks right here on 105.3 The Fan.
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