- 6 minutes ago
Chris Young joined the K&C Masterpiece ahead of the Rangers’ home opener. He discussed the addition of MacKenzie Gore, praised Brandon Nimmo’s early impact. Young emphasized the team’s offensive approach, internal development, highlighted Jack Leiter’s growth, and more.
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00:00Live from Globe Life Field, getting you ready for the Texas Rangers home opener, and who better to do that
00:06with than right now we talk with Texas Rangers president of baseball operations, it is Chris Young, good afternoon.
00:12Hey guys, happy opening day.
00:13Indeed, indeed. Now I appreciate you powering through with us as well.
00:18Well, I apologize for my voice in advance, but I'm fighting a little upper respiratory here, but nonetheless, happy to
00:25be here and excited to be with you.
00:26All right, so absolutely. Now, the start of McKenzie Gore, not only his performance against the Phillies, but now getting
00:34to start the home opener, that feels like a great start and a good bit of confidence shown in him.
00:39Well, I think, you know, we, one, have confidence in everybody in the rotation, but McKenzie pitched great in Philadelphia,
00:46a huge trade acquisition this winter, someone we feel like can pitch at the front of the rotation and certainly
00:53in the middle of the rotation.
00:54But, yeah, anytime you get to start an opening day or a home opener, it is a special day, and
01:00I know he's up for it, and I'm excited for our fans to get to see him here opening day.
01:05What was it, what was it that when you were kind of looking to add to this team that you
01:10saw in him, was there a number or was there something about the personality that you were like, that's the
01:15guy that's going to be a Ranger?
01:16Well, anytime you have the chance to get kind of a frontline starting pitcher, and especially a young one who's
01:21still coming into his own, you have to be interested in that.
01:25And then when we did our background work and kind of learned about the person, the intangibles, the competitor, the
01:33desire to be great, it just, he hit every checkbox that we want to, you know, that we look for
01:40in terms of a good pitcher and a successful player.
01:43And he's lived up to it.
01:44Watching him this spring, watching him his first start in Philly, he's not afraid of the moment.
01:48He wants to be good.
01:49He wants the ball, and he's a great teammate.
01:51So we're really, really excited to have him.
01:53See, Kevin, right there, you were making the joke about wearing the nacho hat and seeing a nacho man in
01:59front of Chris Young.
01:59I told him about that off air.
02:01What did I tell you, though?
02:02I was like, he would look at you and say, are you here to compete?
02:05The first question, and he's already talking about competitiveness.
02:08We like having fun, too, so nothing wrong with that.
02:11Well, in the spirit of being honest and competitive, you know us media folks, we love to call people out.
02:18So I'm going to call out myself, early returns on Brandon Nimmo make it look like he'll be far more
02:25impactful than I anticipated.
02:27Can you walk us through that decision?
02:29Because I have to admit, I was like, oh, yeah, I like Brandon Nimmo, but early start.
02:34Yeah, Brandon's been phenomenal.
02:35And again, similar to McKenzie, just anytime we acquire a player, we want to know who the person is that
02:41we're getting and how that's going to fit into our environment.
02:44And everything we heard about Brandon was super positive and just a guy who's so dedicated, wants to be great,
02:51hard worker, great teammate, just this positive energy that he exudes every day.
02:57It's infectious.
02:57And, you know, there's nothing wrong with having someone like that in our environment.
03:01But then, you know, you couple that with the performance and he's been an all star.
03:05He's, you know, been one of the best players in Mets history.
03:09And it just felt like this was a very good fit, especially as we had made the decision to move
03:13on from Adoles Garcia.
03:15You know, we needed somebody who fit, one, the profile of hitter that we wanted in our lineup and, two,
03:21somebody that could play the outfield.
03:22And it just lined up that we were able to make that trade.
03:25I never doubted that one, Kevin.
03:27I think you can remember I was always on.
03:29I'm here to face the criticism.
03:31It's only fair.
03:31When I watched Nimmo play in the past, I always saw this hustle factor that I was like, that could
03:36go on my team anytime.
03:37If you're as long as you're hustling, you can play in my team.
03:40Obviously, the skill is going to come along with it, too.
03:43But I just saw that heart that I was like, I didn't expect that much of a talker, though.
03:47I didn't realize that he was going to be that much of a talker.
03:49But he's definitely been awesome there.
03:51Jack Leiter feels like he's got this tiny little hammer and tiny little chisel and one more little tap.
03:57He's just going to break through.
03:58And we kind of got to see it leading into at spring training.
04:02All his teammates were talking about him.
04:04And I was like, man, I keep hearing his teammates talk about him.
04:07How close is he to cracking that thing wide open?
04:09Well, you know, I don't know necessarily, like, is this just a breakthrough moment?
04:14I would say the second half of last year, he was one of the best pitchers in the American League,
04:19if not in baseball.
04:20And his performance was really, really on par with some of the best in the game.
04:24And so, you know, this spring and into his first start, we saw him continue that.
04:28And, you know, I think at 25 years old, we'd be foolish to think that he is a finished product.
04:34I mean, I still think he's coming into his prime.
04:36Same thing with McKenzie Gore.
04:38And there's going to be an evolution here and the best is yet to come.
04:41So, you know, I think Jack is in some ways scratching the surface of who he is and what he's
04:46going to be.
04:48But he's a pretty good pitcher right now.
04:49And we're just so excited about the progress he's made and what he means to our team.
04:54Now, one of the things about that, though, is I don't feel like you guys handled him with white gloves
05:00this whole time since you drafted him.
05:02I feel like y'all have given him really good things to go after.
05:06Has it been that same process with everybody that you deal with?
05:10Absolutely. I mean, we have, you know, two mantras that govern my career where that it's a performance-based game
05:15and the game owes you nothing.
05:17And at the end of the day, you've got to go get the job done.
05:19And I love for our players, especially in the minor leagues, to experience adversity because it's going to make them
05:25stronger.
05:26And once they get through that, they're going to know the next time they have that adversity, they're going to
05:31fall back on their previous experience.
05:33If a player coasts to the minor leagues and gets to the big leagues and doesn't experience adversity, at some
05:38point, everybody in this game goes through really hard times and times where you doubt yourself.
05:43And if you haven't been through that before, it's a hard thing to get through.
05:47So for Jack, he did.
05:49I mean, he was a top draft pick who did have some adversity.
05:51It was not a perfectly smooth, linear road, so to speak, in his development.
05:56But I think that's the best thing for some of these guys.
05:59And Jack has learned from that.
06:01It served him well, and I think he's a better pitcher today because of that.
06:05And I'm just so happy and proud of him.
06:07Now, you talked a lot in the offseason about, hey, we're going to need improvement from within.
06:13Only six games.
06:14But how encouraging are the early improvements in the lineup, especially some of those performances against the four-seam fastball?
06:21Because that feels like a big jump up.
06:23Yeah, it's very encouraging.
06:25We saw it all spring.
06:26I mean, we saw an offensive profile and an identity offensively that we felt like is what winning teams have.
06:33And so, you know, throughout spring, I try not to ever get too excited about anything.
06:38But over the course of spring training, it felt like, okay, we've made steps in the right direction.
06:43And our hitters have bought in, our hitting coaches have done a tremendous job of preaching the message, and the
06:50hitters are executing it.
06:51And, you know, you hope that that's going to continue into the season.
06:54But the early returns have been wonderful, and I expect that to continue.
06:58And I also expect some, you know, some guys to get hot that haven't been yet.
07:02I mean, we've gotten off to a good start.
07:03And I wouldn't say that we've had one through nine all hitting at their best yet.
07:07But that's going to come.
07:09So I'm excited about where we are.
07:11But, you know, this division's tough.
07:13We've got our work cut out for us.
07:15Obviously, Seattle is picked at the top of the American League deservingly.
07:20Houston has been a perennial powerhouse and is there every year.
07:24And certainly, we're trying to keep pace with them.
07:26Oakland is much improved.
07:27So we have our work cut out for us.
07:30But what we have seen thus far from this team, for me, is a great sign.
07:34And I'm excited about what that means moving forward.
07:36You mentioned the phrase, what is the winning profile?
07:40In terms of offensively?
07:42Yeah.
07:42Well, it's, you know, hitters that are disciplined to their approach, that can have adjustability,
07:50some versatility.
07:51They don't have to necessarily hit a home run to beat you.
07:53They can just draw a walk on an eight or nine pitch at bat, make the pitcher work.
07:57Then you get on first base, potentially steal a base.
08:00It's having guys that one through nine are committed to their specific role within the
08:07lineup and understanding that role may vary or change at bat to at bat, but they know
08:11what's being asked of them.
08:13And they're up there doing their job and trying to do their best to help the team win.
08:17And to me, that's what winning teams have.
08:20And, you know, there's a discipline to that, a focus and a discipline.
08:24And these guys have shown it early.
08:25I think there definitely can be selfish swings in this game, for sure.
08:29And realizing, hey, man, I don't have to be the one.
08:32The next dude in this lineup can definitely do this for me.
08:36It's understanding the game.
08:38It's trusting your teammates.
08:39No individual single-handedly wins any game.
08:42It's collectively the team.
08:43And so that's the approach, the mentality.
08:46And you can't be the hero every at bat.
08:48You know, I can speak from experience.
08:50Greg Maddox once told me, he was a teammate of mine, he told me, you don't beat individuals,
08:54you beat lineups.
08:55And you have to pick and choose the guys that you're going to, you know, pitch around or
08:59work to.
09:01And that's true of teams facing us, is that they're going to decide, hey, we're not letting
09:05Corey Senior beat us tonight.
09:07But Corey has to trust the guy behind him, which he does.
09:09And the guy behind him has to trust the hitter behind him.
09:12So it's a collective mentality and then a commitment to that.
09:17And then lastly, and most importantly, the ability to execute that.
09:20Now, not talking about these players specifically, just using them as examples, Colt Emerson, Cooper
09:27Pratt, it looks like it's about to happen with Connor Griffin.
09:30The extensions for players who have not even played in Major League Baseball yet, is that
09:36just the next evolution of contracts in baseball?
09:40Yeah, you know, it's been there in the past.
09:43And there have been guys that have been, you know, pre-signed either in their first year
09:48before they've reached the Major Leagues.
09:50But, you know, I think it's organizations doing a good job of understanding their players
09:55and saying, we want to make a long-term commitment.
09:57And certainly, there's risk involved with that.
10:00But I can't say it's going to be the norm going forward.
10:03But I do think that, you know, when you're a young player and you're trying to establish
10:07yourself, having that, you know, kind of out of the back of your mind can be a good thing.
10:12And I know the situations are somewhat different, but we get asked about this all the time.
10:16Have any extension talks taken place with Wyatt?
10:19Yeah.
10:19Well, I wish I could divulge everything there.
10:23But, you know...
10:24That would be great.
10:24Yeah, we're a pretty tight-knit group front office-wise.
10:27We keep that stuff in-house.
10:28But I can tell you that we drafted Wyatt for a reason.
10:31We love him.
10:32He's a tremendous player.
10:33I'm so happy our fans have him to watch.
10:37And, you know, we certainly have interest in keeping him a Ranger long-term.
10:41I think you know how much we love this team, for one.
10:44We both grew up here in East Dallas, Garland kid.
10:48So, you know, the feeling on this is always like, we want this thing to be amazing.
10:52Yeah.
10:53Nathan Ivaldi, we love him.
10:54I got our chance to interview him.
10:56This is my first time to get a chance to thank him for the World Series since they won.
11:00So I got a chance to do that at spring training.
11:02But we also...
11:03Thank you, too.
11:03Yes.
11:04Thank the players.
11:05They did it.
11:05A lot of, like, questions started popping up after this second outing.
11:11Are you concerned?
11:12And I have reasons that I was like, no, here's why I'm not.
11:15I still see the competitor.
11:17Why are you not concerned about these two outings?
11:20Because he's just an absolute winner.
11:22You know, one, I have information and data internally that suggests that he's going to be just fine.
11:29You know, we've got to always work through a couple mechanical things, but he's in a good spot.
11:34He threw the ball well this spring.
11:35He's healthy.
11:37There is no need to panic or worry about Evo.
11:40This guy's going to help us win a lot of games and just an absolute winning player.
11:44Yeah.
11:45And, Kevin, that's how I...
11:46Like, that's the first thing that stands out for me immediately is I know the dude's mentality.
11:51And he's just that kind of guy.
11:53Now, Cody Bradford, he got the injury rehab start yesterday.
12:00What are the reports and the thoughts on him throwing?
12:03And how are we progressing?
12:04Still hoping for May?
12:05Yeah.
12:06I think May's very realistic.
12:08Cody's made tremendous progress through his first rehab outing yesterday in Round Rock.
12:12Two innings and came out of it feeling great.
12:15We'll continue the progression.
12:17You know, we're still, you know, about a month away, but he's passed all the tests.
12:21And he, too, like Evo, is just a winning player.
12:24Somebody that you know you can depend on.
12:27Never going to beat himself.
12:28Going to go out day in, day out, be prepared and compete.
12:31And we can't wait to get him back.
12:33It's going to be a big boost for our group when we do.
12:35I only have one more question for you.
12:37I don't know how much more Kevin's going to put you through.
12:40But I do will give you a little advice.
12:42Kevin has some great advice.
12:43He loses his voice once a year at least.
12:45All right?
12:46And in radio.
12:46What am I doing wrong here?
12:47He's got some controversial advice.
12:49He's got some very controversial player enhancements that he can work on.
12:53Okay, good.
12:54We fell in love with that 23 team.
12:57Yeah.
12:58Obviously, a lot later, too, because we saw the potential.
13:01And then that Astros series was amazing.
13:04That was great.
13:06What do you love about this team right now?
13:09And what are you hoping to fall in love with them for?
13:12There's so much I love about them.
13:14I mean, we're invested in every single one of these players.
13:17Our coaching staff is tremendous.
13:19Skip has done an amazing job.
13:21But the thing that stood out to me this past week was watching the game.
13:26I came home from Philadelphia and watched the games in Baltimore at home.
13:29And on TV, I could hear our players in the dugout cheering for each other, yelling for each other, supporting
13:36each other, and fighting for each other.
13:38And to me, that's an early sign of a winning team.
13:40And, you know, it gave me chills when I heard it, and it continued.
13:46And when a team has that type of support and love for each other, good things are possible.
13:50And that's what I'm excited for, for our fans to see that.
13:53Does it help having a manager that he can just go in there and go, no, this is how I
13:57want you to do the pull-off?
13:58And then he can just start doing that, right?
14:01I'll tell you what, Skip's in some kind of shape.
14:03So, yeah, it's impressive.
14:04Yeah.
14:05Well, we appreciate the time very much.
14:07Appreciate you fighting through to talk with us today.
14:10Guys, it's a real pleasure to be here, you know, just to speak to our fans.
14:14I'm so excited for this season.
14:15I can't wait for our fans to watch this team.
14:18I think great things are possible, and I'm looking forward to a great year.
14:21So, thank you.
14:22There you go, ladies and gentlemen.
14:23Chris Young right here on 105.3 The Fan.
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