- 5 months ago
Former Rangers hitting coach Bret Boone joined Shan, RJ and Bobby to break down Josh Jung’s early-season adjustments, the impact of Brandon Nimmo, and why he isn't worried about the pitching rotation's inconsistency. He also discussed the mental hurdles of hitting at Globe Life Field, and more.
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00:00Good morning, brother. How you doing?
00:01Good. How you doing?
00:03Eh.
00:04Eh?
00:05Yeah.
00:07Doing eh.
00:07It feels eh. It feels eh.
00:10It looks eh.
00:10I've been watching. I've been watching.
00:13It's good for my brother. It's good for Aaron.
00:16That's right.
00:18The Yankees are the blank best team in the sport right now.
00:21Our guy Mike Bassick, who you know,
00:23says they're definitely the best team in the American League.
00:26How are you looking at New York out the gate?
00:29I think that's a really good team.
00:32You know, two weeks ago, they'd lost six straight.
00:35And of course, Aaron, they were calling for Aaron to get fired again.
00:39He gets fired every year.
00:40And they rattled off 10 out of 11, I think.
00:44I mean, that's just the top of my head.
00:47They're just really solid. That's a good group.
00:50You got really good.
00:52You know, it helps when you have the best player,
00:54the best offensive player in the world, the middle of it, healthy, judge.
00:59But you just have a great core group that's been there for a while.
01:02And they kind of know how to get it done.
01:05And when they're not pitching, they're hitting.
01:07They just figure out a way.
01:09Yeah.
01:09Right now, I think they're the best team in the American League.
01:12I look across the American League.
01:13I've been surprised by a lot of this early season.
01:16You know, the Boston.
01:17Unbelievable.
01:18Toronto.
01:20Seattle's really slow start.
01:22So, I think there's a lot of headline stories that I don't think any of us expect to be.
01:26Yeah.
01:27Right now, the Yankees are the best team.
01:29But they're definitely a postseason team.
01:33But this is so early.
01:34We're not even into May yet.
01:35You know, so I'm not going to sit here and make my huge predictions.
01:39There's a lot of baseball we play.
01:41I think a lot of these teams that got off to slow starts, they're going to come on.
01:46And there's going to be some.
01:49The teams that we thought were going to be playing better, they're going to start playing better.
01:52Brett, Josh Young is the best story going right now.
01:56And he's making me look really stupid.
01:58Making me look really, really dumb.
01:59And I'm glad that he is.
02:01What are you seeing in the turnaround for Josh at the plate?
02:06It's amazing to me.
02:08You know, last year we worked with Josh.
02:10And he couldn't.
02:11You know, he had a stint where he had to get sent to the minor leagues.
02:14Coming off, you know, two years prior, winning a World Series, being an All-Star.
02:18Brett, let me ask you a quick question about that.
02:20Because it seems so minimal in baseball.
02:22I hear people say, well, that day off, maybe reset him.
02:26Or that stint down there.
02:27What do you think can actually lead to an actual reset?
02:31How many days off?
02:32Can it be a day off of 162?
02:36Absolutely.
02:37Because when I was a young player, you know, I came into the league and I was kind of as
02:42naive as you could be.
02:43And I wanted to be Cal Ripken.
02:44And I wanted to play every day.
02:46And I never wanted a day off.
02:47And I used to get pissed.
02:49Davey Johnson, early in my career in Cincinnati, would give me a day off.
02:53And I would just be not fun to deal with on that day.
02:57Finally, one day, Davey came up to me.
02:59He said, all right, what's the deal?
03:00You get so mad if you have a day off.
03:02I said, I play every day, Davey.
03:06And he said, okay.
03:08That's the way you want it?
03:08I said, yeah.
03:09So I rattled off about 120 in a row.
03:13And I remember, man, I'm scuffling.
03:16We're in, of all places, the best place on earth to hit Colorado.
03:19He comes up to me.
03:20He says, Booney.
03:21He said, how you doing?
03:23I kind of looked at him.
03:25You know, I don't know what I was at the time.
03:27But it was known that I was having a tough time.
03:29I said, well, I've been better, Davey.
03:31He goes, about time for a day off.
03:35I looked at him.
03:37And in Colorado, I said, yes, please.
03:41And now I have that experience.
03:44And last year, there are certain guys who don't like days off.
03:47Simeon is a good example.
03:50And I tell Marcus, I said, I know, Marcus.
03:52We all know you show up and you post every day.
03:55And that's a huge thing in today's game because everybody doesn't do it.
03:59But I said, sometimes you have to sit on the sidelines and just watch a game
04:03and take it in from that perspective and not be out there.
04:06This is a grind and it's really hard.
04:08And sometimes that could be really beneficial.
04:10I think with Josh Young, you know, we worked last year.
04:14And I talked about it a couple weeks ago.
04:17He continues to go forward, forward, forward.
04:19That cuts his swing off.
04:20I always talk about swinging in a phone booth.
04:24Watch Barry Bonds, the greatest of the greats.
04:27He just turns.
04:29All of a sudden, Josh is just picking up that front foot and setting it right down.
04:33He's seeing the ball a lot better.
04:35He's recognizing pitches.
04:36He's having great at bats.
04:38He's walking more.
04:39And when he gets a pitch to hit in the zone, he's hitting it.
04:42And it's really, from an ex-hitting coach of his last year,
04:46I am so happy for him, what he's doing.
04:48He's one of the best players in baseball right now.
04:50I watch his at-bats and I'm thinking, can he keep this going?
04:53He just continues to have good at bat after good at bat.
04:56And coupled with Nimmo at the top, who I think has been just tremendous spark plug
05:00for this team at the top of the lineup.
05:02When right now, there's kind of few things, very few things to really hang your hat on
05:08offensively.
05:08Those two guys are really carrying the mail for him right now.
05:11And these other guys will get going.
05:13It's kind of, you know, they've lost three out of their last seven.
05:16And other than DeGrom, the pitching's been a little inconsistent.
05:20That's been something in Texas the last couple years that's been real consistent
05:23is that starting pitching.
05:24They've been a little inconsistent lately, but I think they're better than they're
05:28playing right now.
05:29I still think the class of that league, the class of the West, is the Seattle Mariners.
05:36And the Seattle Mariners are starting to put it together a little bit, play,
05:39but that's a really good team, top to bottom.
05:42Brett Boone joining us here on 105.3.
05:44Brett, you kind of made reference to it just there when you were saying that,
05:46you know, Josh and Nimmo, they've been hitting really good.
05:48And you said the others, they'll come around.
05:51Do you think that with this offense, given, you know, some of the struggles
05:54the last couple years and heading into the season or some of the inconsistency,
05:58do you think time on task is all that it's going to take?
06:01Or do you think they're going to be faced at some point with, yeah,
06:03at some point maybe some of the personnel needs to swap out?
06:07Absolutely.
06:07That happens to everybody.
06:09I've been on several teams where that's happened, where guys that have been there
06:12a long time and are kind of staples there, they got to move on.
06:16That will shake out as the season goes on.
06:21I think missing Wyatt Lankford, not only from an offensive prowess,
06:25but Wyatt's just being in the lineup.
06:29You know, him being there, that's a different lineup with Wyatt.
06:33He brings a different energy.
06:34You know, that young, he's like a bull in a china shop,
06:38but it's big when Wyatt's in that lineup.
06:40He's missing some time right now, too.
06:42So I think he's set to take some swings on Friday.
06:45He's going to be a big addition back.
06:47Jack Peterson, it's good to see him having better at-bats, and he really is.
06:51I mean, sample size of a year ago, what you saw, you know,
06:55the worst season he's had by far.
06:57So anything's better than that.
06:59But I see him having better at-bats than he did a year ago.
07:03The key is, you know, you've got to get Seager going.
07:05Seager's the cog in the wheel.
07:07He's the errant judge of the Texas Rangers.
07:09And when he's not going good, you know, that's a big void in the middle of the lineup
07:14because we know when he is going good, how good he can be.
07:17So the strengths of this team have been, for the last few years,
07:21pitching and defense are really good defensively.
07:24And that's got to continue to be it.
07:26But they've got to hit a little bit more.
07:27They're Evan Carter.
07:30You know, he's got to get it going, too.
07:32He plays an unbelievable center field.
07:33He covers as much ground as anybody.
07:36But he's got to swing the bat.
07:38You know, he's under the Mendoza line.
07:40But it's a lot of things have to get going.
07:43And you keep hearing about the ballpark.
07:45And the ballpark is big.
07:46I watched it a year ago.
07:47I've watched every road stadium in the league.
07:52That's the biggest ballpark in baseball, Texas.
07:55But we've got to play there.
07:56It's the same for the visitor when they come in.
07:59And at some point, as a big leaguer, you've got to sit there and go,
08:02it is what it is.
08:03Our stadium is what it is.
08:04It's not the friendliest place to hit home runs.
08:07But this is where we play and use it as an advantage instead of a detriment.
08:11But I also understand the mental side.
08:13Hitters come to the ballpark and they go,
08:15ah, the ball doesn't go out of this park like it does other ballparks.
08:19But at some point, you've got to kind of put that aside and say,
08:21we've got to win games.
08:22And let's use our pitching as a positive in a pitcher's ballpark
08:27and just beat the opponent, score more runs than they do.
08:30You know, I was going to ask you about a volleyball.
08:32I want to touch on that because I was at the game last night.
08:35I almost hit you up for tickets.
08:36I wanted to see if you still knew somebody who could have gotten me tickets.
08:39I think you got a connection or two.
08:41But I was there.
08:42And has word gotten around the rest of the league about the ballpark?
08:47Because it looked like some of the Yankee players were stunned that a ball didn't go out.
08:51Well, I don't think the word gets it right.
08:53Yeah, players just play there.
08:55You know what it's like.
08:56And batting practice is a little bit different.
08:58Ball goes a little bit better at BP there.
09:03But this is nothing that's hidden.
09:05I mean, we're players.
09:06We come in.
09:06We know when we hit a ball how it travels.
09:09It's like for us, it's not a big deal.
09:12We know right away if the ball's going or it's not going.
09:16Pitchers know right away if the ball's going or it's not going.
09:19So it's not a Colorado effect.
09:21I remember in the early 2000s, they built Safeco Field, now T-Mobile Park, the Mariners.
09:26And it was huge.
09:27They moved the fences in since.
09:28It didn't care.
09:29And it started to affect some of my teammates offensively.
09:32They come to the ballpark, and it's almost like there was defeat before the game even started.
09:37Because if I hit a ball in the gap and I hit it right of left center, that ball's not
09:42going out.
09:42And all of a sudden, you start making adjustments in your own swing to, if I want to hit a
09:47home run, I've got to pull it down the line.
09:49Now you're a worse hitter.
09:50So you've got to really be aware of that and not let the ballpark creep in.
09:55But it's pretty obvious to all the pitchers and all the hitters.
09:58They know a pitcher, believe me, when they're going to Texas and they're up in the rotation, they're excited about
10:04that.
10:04Just like the opposite.
10:05Right now, if you're going to Sacramento and you're a pitcher, you're not pissed if you get skipped in the
10:10rotation for that particular game.
10:12It's just the way it is.
10:13And as a hitter, same thing.
10:15I could be 0 for 10.
10:17I'm going to Colorado.
10:18I know I can fall out of bed and get a hit in Colorado.
10:22So it works both ways, offensively and defensively.
10:25At the end of the day, it is what it is.
10:28You've got to use your home field advantage for exactly that.
10:32An advantage.
10:34And it's equal for both sides.
10:36But, yeah, as a hitter, I want to go to Cincinnati when it's hot.
10:40I want to go to Philly when it's hot.
10:42Get the ball up and watch it fly.
10:43Brett Boone joining us here, 105 through the fan.
10:45You mentioned a day off with Josh Young or any hitter.
10:48When it comes to a guy like Nate Ivaldi who has really, really struggled, could it be as simple as,
10:54like, you know, if it continues, do you skip a start with him?
10:57Do you manufacture an IL stint?
10:59I mean, how does that work with a pitcher who just hasn't gotten it done in the six starts or
11:05so this year?
11:05You know, I watch Nate, and right now he is scuffling.
11:09Nate, by the way, one of my favorite, not only, and I can't call him a teammate, but, you know,
11:15the closest you could be coach to player.
11:18My favorite guy.
11:19I mean, he's just a pro.
11:21And I think with a situation like him, I'm watching him scuffle.
11:25I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I know how to break down pitching mechanics.
11:29But I know him the person, and I know his reaction.
11:32I know his body language.
11:33He's just not able to put the ball where he wants right now.
11:37I think that's an internal discussion.
11:39I think you look at him, his body of work, and as a staff member, I'm going to have respect
11:44for that.
11:45I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and let him lead me.
11:48So those are going to be talks behind closed doors of what's best for Nate to get him going.
11:52Because if these guys want to be successful, Evaldi's got to be a big part of it.
11:56He's a huge leader on that staff.
11:59He mentors the young pitchers.
12:02And like I said, his body of work speaks for itself.
12:04But it's something that's a discussion.
12:07And he's earned that right to have a discussion and be a part of it, how they proceed forward.
12:12But I watch him.
12:15He's had a couple tough starts.
12:17Then he got it together and had a good start.
12:19But I just see him time after time.
12:20He's just not comfortable out there, and he's just not able to put the ball where he wants,
12:25which is something he's not used to having, especially coming off last year,
12:29where he was on pace to be the Cy Young Award winner before he went down
12:32and missed the remainder of the season.
12:34Booney, I wanted to get your take on the managers fired.
12:37Two of them gets fired, Rob Thompson and Alex Cora.
12:40You know, pressure cooker situations, both, though, gone before May 1st.
12:44What was your take on those moves?
12:47I look at Boston, and a year ago, I think they exceeded expectations.
12:52I think they won 89 games.
12:54I don't think anybody expected them to win 89.
12:56I think they bettered their roster going into 2026.
13:00And they came out of the gate and just really scuffling with the expectations being high.
13:05They're already high in Boston, but really high.
13:07But I think there's more to it.
13:09But that kind of caught me off guard, like, wow, that's a little early for a guy with Cora's resume
13:15to just kind of cut bait, especially with the money he had remaining on his three-year deal,
13:21$21 million, and you're cutting him off before we get to May of the second year.
13:26I think something behind the scenes was going on.
13:28I don't know anything.
13:30I don't have any insider information.
13:31But I think something with Breslow and Cora has been going on, and it got to a point where
13:36he thought he could go to the owner and say, oh, no, with this start, with our expectations,
13:41we need to make a move.
13:42So I think there was something deeper than just a knee-jerk reaction and expectations.
13:51Philly, that didn't surprise me as much with the start they had.
13:54You know, I don't know what they were, but one of the worst records in baseball.
13:57A year ago, one of the best teams in baseball, Thompson's done a great job for them.
14:02He had a great four-year run.
14:04But with Don Mattingly sitting on the bench, his son being the general manager,
14:07and I'm not saying it's just because of that.
14:10I just think Philly expects a lot, and with that rough of a start, that didn't surprise me one bit,
14:16especially after the Cora firing.
14:20And you look to New York, another guy, Mendoza, one of my favorite guys in the league.
14:24He was a bench coach for the Yankees for a while.
14:26One of the most likable guys in the game.
14:29But I'll tell you, New York, Philly, Boston, those type of places, you don't win.
14:33They're going to find somebody to cut your head off.
14:37And that's just life, and that's just the way this business works.
14:41But hopefully the Mets get it going and saves Mendoza's job,
14:45and he's the next guy in the hot seat.
14:47Great stuff as always, brother.
14:48We appreciate it.
14:49Until next time.
14:50Thanks, guys.