- 17 hours ago
Jared Sandler joined RJ and Bobby to break down the Rangers’ opening series offensive struggles. He analyzed hard-hit balls that aren’t producing runs, and explored how Globe Life Field factors into the team’s woes. Sandler also highlighted players like Joc Pederson, Wyatt Langford, Nathan Eovaldi, and more.
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00:00We need to talk to the Sandman, Jared Sandler, about this Ranger offense, which was offensive
00:06over the last three days, the home series, where they were swept by the Reds and scoring
00:11four runs in the three games.
00:14Morning, Sandman.
00:15How are you doing today?
00:16I'm great.
00:17Hey, quickly, before we get into that, just a shout-out to my guy, Devin.
00:21I went to get, I had a blue out of tires Saturday driving home.
00:26I don't know if I'm allowed to say the name of the tire shop, but I don't want to get
00:29anyone in trouble.
00:30I'm happy to.
00:30It's not going to tick anyone off.
00:33But anyway, they were listening to you guys.
00:36They had it on at the counter where you check in and pay, and they try and upsell you every
00:42which way.
00:43My guy, Devin, took care of business this morning.
00:48I didn't tell him that I was about to be on the fan.
00:50Actually, if it would have taken a few minutes longer, then I would have been on while I
00:53was checking out.
00:56But I don't know if Devin's listening.
00:58He probably is taking great care of all the people over there.
01:04But if he is, Devin, I appreciate you, man.
01:06I asked him for his name.
01:08I was like, hey, what's your name?
01:11I thought it'd be funny, like maybe if he was listening, he'd be like, oh, holy crap.
01:15But he was like, hey, my name's Devin, but not if there's anything bad going on.
01:18Because it was kind of those, like, what's your name so I can report you to your supervisor?
01:22I get you.
01:23I didn't mean it.
01:23I never do that.
01:24Okay.
01:25What did you – it's a ball tire?
01:27Do you get a flat?
01:28You just don't know how to change it?
01:29What is it?
01:30No, like the whole thing busted.
01:31I had my spare on, and I needed to get a new tire.
01:34That's the worst.
01:35That's the worst.
01:36All right, Sandler.
01:37We'll start off with this.
01:40Look, I don't even know what to do about the offense.
01:4133 balls hit 95 miles an hour or higher this weekend.
01:44That's a great thing.
01:45But only a third of them come out as hits.
01:48Is that a bad luck weekend?
01:51Is that a ballpark situation problem?
01:55What was your take on that?
01:58There's two things.
01:59One, when you score four runs in three games, it's obviously tough.
02:05Sorry, I think I just said a little weird Bluetooth thing.
02:08When you score four runs in three games, it's a tough sell to Rangers fans listening right now to say,
02:15well, hey, you know, maybe a little bit of bad luck.
02:19You know, a couple things, maybe that counter that one.
02:22Hard hit balls on the ground, while they have a better chance of getting through because they're hit harder and
02:26it's less reaction time,
02:28they're not going to do as much damage as hard hit balls in the air, line drives, fly balls.
02:34Where are you hitting the fly balls?
02:35If you're hitting them to center field at Globe Life Field, well, you better, you know, be super strong because
02:41it's tough to get one out to center.
02:43Or if you're hitting a fly ball pull side, well, pull side fly balls tend to do more damage.
02:49If you're hitting a fly ball to the opposite field, if you're hitting it hard, then, you know, it'll do
02:55damage.
02:55But, you know, typically balls in the air to the opposite field don't yield the same type of results.
03:02And being a fan, you want the immediate gratification, right?
03:05I don't know what percentage it is, but, you know, we spend time in our world looking at the now
03:11and the future.
03:12But for most fans, 90%, 95%, they just want to win that day, right?
03:18It doesn't matter to them that, you know, a guy sitting the ball hard, all that stuff.
03:22So, you know, it's tough.
03:24The Rangers lost four straight, and they scored four runs over the last three games.
03:29So, you know, I can't just sit here and say, well, you know, process, process, process.
03:34But what I can tell you is that they had a lot of stretches like this last year, and they
03:39would have stretches where they just wouldn't have base runners.
03:41You know, they've had opportunities.
03:42They didn't do a good enough job with runners in scoring position.
03:45I don't think it's time to press the panic button yet, but I understand why coming off of last year,
03:51people are like, oh, here we go again.
03:54I totally get that.
03:56I just, I'm not ready to say that this is going to be the norm in 2026.
04:01Jared Sandler joining us here on the DNM Leasing Hotline on 105 Through the Fan.
04:05Okay, Jared, right now, what is the, when we were talking about getting things back on track, and obviously it's
04:11very early.
04:11I mean, it's nine games into the season or whatever it is, but when you talk about getting things back
04:15on track, what's the top priority of like, hey, this has got to get fixed right here?
04:19Is it just getting Wyatt Langford on track?
04:22Is it getting some more consistency out of other guys?
04:23What is it?
04:25Yeah, I mean, you know, they really in the last two games of that series, they didn't get much from
04:30Corey Seager or Wyatt Langford, and I just don't, like, that's not something that to me, like, needs to get
04:36fixed.
04:37It's just, you know, eventually those guys are going to get back to it.
04:41I mean, Corey had a great road trip.
04:42We're still waiting for Wyatt to get going.
04:44You know, with the way Brandon Nimmo's getting on base right now, you'd love to take advantage of it with
04:49Wyatt being able to do a little more damage.
04:51And, you know, Wyatt got off to a slow start last year, you know, especially after the oblique stuff in
04:57Chicago.
04:59He ended up as a five-win player in a 2020 season.
05:04So, I don't have any concerns about Wyatt's going to be productive, but, you know, that is one reason why
05:11maybe the Rangers haven't been able to take advantage of Brandon Nimmo basically living on the bases.
05:16You know, I think one thing, Bobby, just, like, from a more analytical standpoint, I guess, the Rangers need to
05:24do a better job at taking advantage of being ahead of the camp.
05:27You know, I tweeted some numbers last night, I think.
05:29I forget exactly the specifics, but basically in hitters count.
05:33So, you know, 3-0, 3-1, 2-0, 2-1, the Ranger 1-0.
05:39The Rangers are getting there a decent amount.
05:42They're, like, middle of the pack in terms of getting there.
05:44But when they get there, they're really not doing a whole lot about it.
05:47They're in the bottom five in terms of batting average and slugging percentage in those situations.
05:52And so, you know, I want to spend some time today talking to people to better understand, you know, what
05:58to make of that because maybe it's just a small sample.
06:02But, you know, and it's not like their hard hit rate or some of their peripheral data is terrible in
06:09those situations, but they're just not taking advantage of being in hitters count.
06:13You know, they have better approaches this year.
06:15They're more disciplined than they were last year.
06:16Well, a part of the advantage is that you get into these favorable counts where you're able to do more
06:21damage, and they're just not capitalizing on that just yet.
06:24So that, to me, is one area where I think they could, you know, an easy fix, easy adjustment in
06:30terms of just the results.
06:32And, you know, it could change the complexion of things.
06:34Do you think the ballpark is a factor?
06:36I know the Morning News wrote something about this.
06:39Yeah, well, I think, yeah, RJ, I think every ballpark is a factor to some extent, right?
06:45Whether it's hitter-friendly or pitcher-friendly.
06:47Yeah, absolutely.
06:48So, you know, but in, like, 2023, it's weird.
06:54In 2023, we weren't having these conversations at all, right?
06:57I mean, if anything, it was like, wow, this is actually more of a pitcher-friendly or a hitter-friendly
07:02ballpark.
07:04In 2024, 2025, it was, you know, it was definitely a little bit of a different – hold on one
07:12second, guys, one second.
07:16It was a little bit more of a different setup, you know, in terms of the results.
07:21I do think that the ball doesn't carry tremendously well out to left field and center field.
07:27But, you know, I'd like to see what it looks like at the end of the year if the Rangers
07:32have a little better progress or a little more production offensively than they did last year.
07:38I still kind of think this is more of, like, a middle-of-the-road ballpark just because it's tough
07:43for me to forget 2023 where, like, all the – you know, there were no thoughts.
07:47Like, this is super pitcher-friendly.
07:50I think the pitcher-friendly narrative has kind of coincided with this offense maybe taking a little bit of a
07:55step back.
07:56And when the team that plays there, you know, they're 81 games, that means there's 162 teams.
08:03Well, the Rangers make up 81 of those 162 teams at Globe Life Field.
08:07And when their offense isn't productive, that's going to very much influence the metrics.
08:11So, you know, yesterday the roof was open.
08:14It was super windy.
08:15That made it more pitcher-friendly.
08:17But when the roofs closed, which is the majority of the season, I'd want to see what another year looks
08:21like before, you know,
08:22I'd commit to, yeah, this is definitely a pitcher-friendly park.
08:25Jared Sandler joins us here, 105 through the fan.
08:27Heard some boos, the boo birds, out for jock, and then he silenced them with a home run.
08:32But it was a tough start for him.
08:35Can you – how long can they keep him in the five hole?
08:39Well, yeah, that's a good question.
08:43You know, I wasn't surprised he was in the lineup yesterday, but I thought maybe there was a chance he
08:47would hit, you know,
08:48seventh, eighth, what have you.
08:50But, you know, they went back to the five hole.
08:52I sent out a tweet that, you know, ticked a lot of people off, which happens from time to time,
08:58just trying to explain why, you know, he would be in the lineup and why perhaps they would, you know,
09:02leave him in the five hole.
09:03And that was, you know, that when we're talking about the exit data, the hard hit rate, the exit velocity,
09:10it was actually really good for him.
09:12And maybe they felt like he was about to turn the corner.
09:14Now, yeah, he hit that big home run yesterday, and then he had a really good plate appearance afterwards and
09:19drew a walk.
09:20Does that mean he's going to turn it around?
09:22We'll have to wait and see.
09:23I don't know.
09:25But I do think that, you know, there are guys, frankly, who maybe had a hit or two who have
09:31not looked or profiled as well as Jock has.
09:35But also, Jock is coming off a really bad 2025.
09:39And so I totally understand that, again, much like we talked about a few minutes ago, where I get why
09:47Rangers fans are frustrated after these, you know,
09:50that three-game series and here we go again.
09:52Well, when you as an individual didn't have a good year in 2025 and it's your only experience in a
09:58Rangers uniform, I get why fans are frustrated.
10:01So, you know, I don't think that Jock Peterson has this, you know, marathon-long runway.
10:08I think he's got to produce.
10:09And, you know, we talk about, you know, guys need a month for the results to kind of fairly represent,
10:14you know, or fairly warrant a change in plan.
10:20And so, you know, on May 1st or April 26th, whatever the month point is, not that it has to
10:27be exactly a month, but around there, Jock has not turned it around.
10:30And I think you're going to see a change in usage or, you know, a change in execution of the
10:37plan.
10:37But I think because he's been hitting the ball hard, I think they feel like, all right, well, we want
10:43to give him that chance.
10:44And here's the thing, the best right now, the best version of the Rangers lineup is one in which Jock
10:50Peterson's hitting.
10:51And so you can't just punt on that a week and a half into the season.
10:55You know, if the Rangers had Connor Griffin in AAA and Connor Griffin played the same position as Jock Peterson,
11:03which, you know, Jock obviously is a DH.
11:05And Connor Griffin, for people with a top prospect in baseball, is just called up.
11:09If the Rangers have that guy, then maybe, all right, you can have a different conversation.
11:13But it's not like they're, you know, there's, you know, a DH or someone who can fill that role in
11:20the organization who's just not with the Rangers right now,
11:23who could, you know, hit 25 homers and give the type of production that if Jock Peterson gets back on
11:28track, he could give you.
11:30So the best version of the team as the organization is constructed right now is one in which Jock Peterson
11:36gets right.
11:37It's obviously not the 2025 version of Jock,
11:40but I think they need to figure out whether or not they could tap back into that because we see
11:44in this sport all the time,
11:46guys have career years and then guys also will have these down years that they bounce back from, right?
11:52It's your previous year is not necessarily going to define the next year for you.
11:57And so I think they've got to try and figure that out.
12:00But I understand the frustration.
12:02I don't, I mean, you know, I'd be, I'd be blind to not get the frustration.
12:05I totally understand it.
12:07Hopefully yesterday it was a springboard for Jock to kind of get back on track.
12:11Jared, you know, one of the areas where there've been, I wouldn't say like big concerns,
12:16but somewhere where you're hearing fans going like, okay, is there anything off here a little bit wrong?
12:21It's these first couple starts from Nathan Evaldi.
12:24No, no real concern for you there on that front, right?
12:27Not yet.
12:28I mean, again, father time is undefeated, but when you got a guy like Nathan Evaldi, who he is, you
12:35know,
12:35as best as we know, he's healthy and he works his tail off.
12:38You know, those are the guys who typically can win, win the battle of father time a little bit longer
12:43than,
12:44you know, the average, average person.
12:47Yeah, I went with, and the other thing too, Bobby, you know, looking at some of the peripherals,
12:51what is the velocity down?
12:52No, the movement profile for pitches.
12:54No, you know, nothing like that's concerning.
12:57It's just, you know, I think he has not located pitches with as much precision as he typically does.
13:04And it's, you know, he doesn't have 99 miles an hour to get away with it.
13:08Like, I know we always talk about, well, you know, like the cliche thing that people like to say,
13:12I don't care how hard you throw it, if you throw it down the middle, it's going to get hit.
13:16Yeah, but there's also a lot more margin for error when you throw it 99 compared to 95.
13:21And it's crazy that we're in an era where 95 is not considered hard, but that's just the reality.
13:28And so, you know, Nathan Evaldi's got, you know, great, what people like to say, pitch ability.
13:35His split finger is a really, really good pitch.
13:38But a part of what makes that pitch so good is his ability to locate it, his ability to throw
13:44it for a strike more consistently than the average person who favors a split finger.
13:48The ability for him to throw, you know, any one of five pitches as his kind of go-to pitch
13:54in a given start.
13:55It's not because he throws 99 with a 93-mile-an-hour slider, like the guy we're going to see
14:00on the mound today for the Rangers and Jacob DeGrom.
14:02And so, you know, I think that that precision, that control and command for Nathan Evaldi is of premium importance.
14:08And it just hasn't been, you know, tip-top shape, you know, through two starts.
14:12But not ready yet to say, like, hey, let's press the siren because we're concerned.
14:18DeGrom and Gilbert tonight should get you out of there by about 845.
14:21You can catch the second half of the game.
14:24Yeah, man, I – this is a big series and can have – I mean, listen, if you're Chris Young
14:31and Ross Fenstermaker,
14:32you're getting ready to play the reigning ALS champs for the first time this year.
14:37And you've got DeGrom, Evaldi, and Gore lined up.
14:39I mean, that's kind of how you, you know, built your team, right?
14:42So, now the Mariners have pretty good pitchers themselves.
14:46And, yeah, that matchup tonight, a couple of steps and hatters, Jacob DeGrom and Logan Gilbert should be a fun
14:51one.
14:51But, hopefully, the Rangers can snap this losing streak and get back on the right track.
14:556-6-30 tonight, man.
14:57Talk to you then.
14:58See you, fellas.
14:59Jared Sandler joining us here on 105.3 The Fan.
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