- 18 hours ago
Jared Sandler joined The GBAG Nation before the Rangers face off against the Astros, with Jacob deGrom taking the mound. Sandler discussed deGrom’s ongoing mechanical adjustments, the development of young players like Evan Carter and Alejandro Osuna, and more.
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00:00and it's time now to catch up with Jared Sandler pregame tonight at 6 30 first pitch at 7 0
00:065
00:06and it's Jacob deGrom on the hill for your Texas Rangers so let's talk about that with
00:12Sands buddy how we doing today what's up what's up where are you guys at we're in stood about you
00:18oh okay I don't know I know I'm I'm I'm in my suit but I did I don't know why
00:22it sounds like
00:24maybe you guys are out and about no we are we're kicking it here in the lakeside studios at 75
00:30and 6 35 and we're hoping that Jacob deGrom can stop giving up home runs Sands what are the chances
00:36of that well it's been great at home you know ERA just barely over one at home and you know
00:48a part
00:48of that I'm sure is you know it's a little tougher to give up home runs here than it is
00:52uh uh than it is you know at some of these other ballparks but uh you know he's constantly
00:58tinkering and and tweaking and um you know it's it's actually like I know you guys here after the
01:05game when he talks you know the way he breaks down is you know his mechanics and his body it's
01:10it's
01:10pretty impressive uh and you know then he goes to the lab and you know we're talking about tweaking
01:15this by half a degree and tweaking that by a degree or a millimeter or whatever and to try you
01:21know find
01:21that that perfect delivery and he uh he's searching for right now he doesn't feel like
01:25his delivery is his flow is where it needs to be and that's led to poor location with his fastball
01:30at times but uh you know hopefully second crack against the Astros in a couple weeks uh he'll turn
01:35around so could he just throw the fastball less or is that a bad idea in general well he's you
01:44know
01:44I think he already had a start this year uh where he threw his slider um you know maybe more
01:50than
01:50any other time in his career more than you know any other start in the last several years I forget
01:55the the qualifier there but uh you know he's throwing his fastball just a little bit less
01:59this year than he was last year but yeah he could you know he could definitely make those tweaks
02:04um you know I think right now he's he's you know pretty heavy fastball slider that accounts for about
02:11you know three quarters of his pitches and then you add in the change up uh you know that's another
02:1715 percent or so um you know last year he threw the fastball slider a little over 80 percent of
02:23the time which doesn't seem like a huge difference but uh you know he's he's having that change up in
02:27about five percent more often this year than than in the past and yeah I I think if he feels
02:32like his
02:33fastball just isn't gonna be as as much of a weapon as he'd like it to be then uh you
02:37can see things
02:38change you know last year opposing hitters hit under 200 against that pitch right so it's uh and that's
02:44just not the case this year but I'm sure in his mind and frankly you know if I were to
02:49take a look
02:49at this in my you know dip ass opinion like I I gotta believe that he didn't just totally lose
02:55his
02:55fastball in in a year it's not like the velocities you know significantly lower anything uh so I I think
03:02that you know he's still kind of in that discovery period where he's trying to get back to the point
03:06where that fastball you know is a weapon for him this year like it was last year but yeah I
03:10I'm sure
03:11that uh and it could be matchup dependent you might see a little bit of a different pitch mix
03:16Evan go ahead you good yeah you're good all right you good you good I'm good if you're strong I'm
03:23strong we're strong we're strong together we're strong I was gonna ask about Evan Carter too
03:27are you okay perfectly we're on the same wavelength so is I what do you think he sees night last
03:32night
03:32and just in general Jared I mean defensively he's been great but offensively he even alluded to it
03:37post game there with Laura some of it's just like man stop being a little b sometimes maybe
03:41gets in his own head but where should we maybe have realistic expectations for his career trajectory
03:47now as an offensive player well it's a good question because he hasn't played a full season
03:57like the fact that yesterday you know he set a career high in home runs in a single season at
04:01six
04:01is not because he just all of a sudden has rediscovered power it's because you know he still has only
04:07played 184 games in his career uh and he's not top 63 I think in a single season so I
04:14don't know
04:15exactly I know we obviously felt a certain way after 2023 you know we're on top of the world and
04:20Evan Carter was on top of the world he was going to be the leadoff hitter for this team uh
04:24for the
04:24next 10 years and it just hasn't worked out that way but I can tell you this he's definitely a
04:30better
04:30offensive player than what he has shown this year and I I think the question that we first have to
04:38answer is just understanding is he going to be a platoon player and because he's a left-handed
04:42hitter you can you can have a great career as a platoon player if it was the other way around
04:46because you don't face as many lefties as you do righties would be a little tougher I don't think
04:51that's what he wants you know I'm sure the Rangers don't necessarily want that but I mean we got to
04:56figure out like what is he against lefties because even if he's a platoon player you're not going to
05:02just bench him against every single left-handed pitcher when the Rangers are up by five and you
05:08need him in there because you're not going to take his defense out so if he just continues to
05:12struggle against lefties let's say that's 50 to 75 at bats a year I mean that could weigh down his
05:18production right in terms of the rates stats I think that with Evan Carter I'd like to see a guy
05:23who gets on base I don't care what the batting average is I mean I I care in general but
05:27like
05:28get on base 36 percent of the time if he can get on base 36 percent of the time consistently
05:33uh let
05:34his athleticism uh create extra bases turn walks and singles into doubles uh and whatnot scoring from
05:41first on doubles consistently second from uh or scoring from second on singles consistently
05:46following the dirt advances like that that's a weapon there uh so that that's what I want to see I
05:52I it is I I definitely think that he is a guy capable of getting on base 36 percent of
05:58the time
05:58if you would have said that in 2023 you guys would have been like dude you're an idiot he's gonna
06:02get
06:02on base 38 percent of the time right uh so maybe there's there's that ceiling like I I think he
06:08can
06:08still get there but I do think Zach to your point it's not easy when you show up you're a
06:12young guy
06:13you're trying to prove yourself he knows the injury narrative he knows that he hasn't had three years of
06:19showing what he can do and he goes up and he looks at the video board of these ballparks and
06:22sees 152 and
06:24161 and you know it's it's as easy as it is for us to sit here and say well you
06:29obviously can't go from
06:30150 to 250 in one game it's it's a lot tougher because you feel like every bat when you step
06:36in
06:36the box it's your opportunity to start building towards that and and you know I know Travis Jankowski
06:42talked to him he's like listen the last thing you can't the last thing you want to do is start
06:46adding like doing baseball math you don't want to you don't want to wake up and be like hey if
06:50I go
06:50one for three today and one for three tomorrow and uh okay I'll mix in an over four here but
06:54then I go
06:55two for four like now my batting out like you can't do that you just you know you gotta you
06:59gotta worry
07:00about every pitch and when Evan's at his best you know he wins so many pitches when he's in the
07:05box
07:05because of his play discipline and he's just got to get back to being that guy it's always the end
07:10of
07:10my quality golf round whenever I start doing math on what I could fire if I just play bogey golf
07:15from this
07:15point forward it's it's not a good place to be you know I let's talk about let's talk about a
07:2041
07:20percenter and Alejandro Suna in his 68 AB so far what what are you confident in saying um you know
07:28in such a limited sample size about how our young outfielders progressing yeah so when we saw him
07:34last year in spring the play discipline was was impressive but Ruge would have springs where he was
07:39like wow like super disciplined right so you never know how it's going to translate but then if you guys
07:44remember his major league debut last year uh came in Chicago and uh if I remember I think it was
07:52his
07:52first plate appearance he walked on a full count it was like a long battle and it's like yeah that's
07:58that's who he is now I think with Alejandro Suna we'll figure out as he gets older and gets more
08:04experience where he is from a power standpoint right uh he had two homers last year uh he has only
08:10two extra base hits so far this year right you you want to see like his slugging percentage is
08:15barely over 300 uh you want to see him like if he's going to be an everyday player every day
08:20against
08:21righties you want to see that closer to 400 if he's going to be a high on base guy if
08:25he's not going
08:26to be a high on base guy you want to see it over 400 but uh you know he he
08:30works the count he goes the
08:31other way really well right he does what the game asks of him you hear that phrase thrown around from
08:37time to time uh the question is all right how is he going to develop against lefties he looks like
08:43you know you asked about Evan Carter Alejandro Suna this year looks more comfortable against lefties
08:49than Evan Carter does neither of those guys are or the the player you'd want against a really tough
08:56lefty in a high leverage spot but Alejandro Suna has shown some progress the power is a big part of
09:02it
09:02uh as well and it's not he doesn't need to be a 25 home run guy but gosh you'd like
09:07to see if he's
09:07going to play every day or every day against righties again you want to see that slugging percentage up a
09:12decent amount but in terms of like you mentioned Gavin getting on base drawing walks working the count
09:17he does a lot of the things that uh you know make up for a great starter kit for a
09:21young hitter like
09:21himself like he is what do you think about Leiter last night yeah I thought he was good I think
09:27when you
09:27get up eight nothing it's it's a little tougher because uh you know you start pitching with the
09:33score in mind and so like Jordan Alvarez he gives him the three run home run if it's a one
09:37nothing
09:38game my guess is he attacks Jordan Alvarez differently right maybe he doesn't even bother pitching to
09:43Jordan Alvarez I think first is open in that spot uh but you know when you're up eight you obviously
09:47don't want to you know it it can be a little dicey if you get a little too careless but
09:51you know at
09:52that point you're trying to uh you know you're not you're not feeling the pressure of getting every
09:58out and I actually as the Astros started making a comeback I started thinking like is that one of
10:02those old school mentalities that maybe doesn't play as well these days with the way the game is
10:07is is played but I I think in general you know as long as you're you're not just totally throwing
10:12cookies up there consistently um it's not a it's not a bad thing uh and you know you you maybe
10:18get a
10:18little extra length out of it so I thought he was good you know I it wasn't his best start
10:23of the
10:24year or anything like that but it's just tough to judge you know giving up the four runs when you're
10:28you get spotted eight uh I I just don't think that he goes about things the same way if it's
10:34a one
10:34two run game uh against some of their leverage leverage bats Jared Sandler here with you on the fan
10:40how's Janko doing over there at first base it sure is cool to see him it's awesome see him I
10:46think
10:46you know he's learning uh you know he we're seeing this more and more these days guys go from playing
10:52to coaching you know at the major league level and a role that maybe you know in 10 20 years
10:58from now
10:59you don't just get right off the bat but his ability to connect with the players I think is huge
11:03you
11:03know his his contributions range far beyond just whatever happens in the first base coaches box uh and
11:09you know I think his ability to connect with guys Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter so many played with
11:14right you know he has that relationship with Evan I know Evan you know we just talked about he's not
11:18off to the best start but my goodness Evan Carter's having the best defensive stretch of games that
11:23we've seen and Janko definitely deserves some credit there uh and I just think you know keeping Evan
11:28up keeping Evan positive you know being being a resource for Evan you know he provides that value
11:33uh not just Evan but but a number of guys and then you know in the first base coaches box
11:37you know
11:37Travis is a really good base dealer he doesn't have a whole lot to work with you know we've talked
11:42about
11:42it before it's it's not like you know a lot of the guys who've been getting on base you're you're
11:46waiting for them to take off and try and swipe second but I know like a guy like Ezekiel
11:50Duran has talked a little bit about you know having Travis Jankowski and what he's learned from him as a
11:54base dealer so I think he's done a great job and it's yeah it's great seeing Travis he's he's a
11:58really
11:58positive presence you're not asking for your first base coach to be your team MVP uh but you know when
12:04when the guy can be additive and and a lot of different areas like Travis that's a that's a big
12:08one
12:08hey Jared is there any hard or fast rule about the challenge system because last night Higgy was on it
12:14you know he had a really good feel for where the strikes were you know when you know trying to
12:19help the
12:20team it did did does this team have something like certain players can challenge or uh or is it pretty
12:27open to to how because like I say he was he was pretty solid last night when it came to
12:33those
12:33those types of uh those types of calls yeah and you know it's funny because the the Rangers were
12:39in the spotlight as far as the ABS stuff was concerned at the beginning of the year because
12:43you know the team just wasn't challenging it didn't seem like they were super effective but I
12:47I think as if I know as of yesterday they led major league baseball and challenge percentage I'd say
12:51this though challenge percentage is great um challenges one though might be better right because
12:58you know you don't get bonus points like batting average or pre-throw percentage like
13:03I don't you know I think that at the beginning of the year they were a little hesitant uh now
13:08you
13:08know they've been a lot more aggressive and it's it's obviously been super beneficial uh as far as
13:12the rules you know every team is I think still trying to figure out what makes sense that's one of
13:18the things I think so fascinating about this is that you know we haven't had years of this being
13:22in play to where like every team's strategy is give or take similar I think a lot of teams are
13:28figuring out how to deploy it my guess is and I hate to use an example because I love Austin
13:32Hedges
13:32but my guess is Austin Hedges on the Guardians is it's not going to be challenging a call unless
13:37it's the ninth inning in a critical spot because even if he gets the call right what's the upside
13:41uh I think with the Rangers I don't know that there's anyone who's told you can't challenge
13:45and I think there's the balance of you know challenging and leverage spots because the
13:50leverage spot isn't just the seventh eighth or ninth inning right you know leverage spot
13:54yesterday was in the first inning when Jake Berger comes up with the bases loaded now he jumps on the
13:59first pitch so you know it doesn't matter but all right no you know it's a scoreless game what if
14:04that first pitch was called a strike and he didn't think it was right there's a big difference between
14:09one and oh and oh and one and that's a bases loaded situation so I think it's I think for
14:14the players
14:14because it's got to be such an instant reaction it's just trying to have an understanding of what's
14:19leverage what's not and then you obviously have certain guys who you know have a really good command
14:23of the strike zone uh and and what's interesting too but I'll use Jake Berger as an example the
14:28strike zone to these guys is not just a binary thing it's not like oh you you do or you
14:34don't
14:34have a good command of the strike zone you know they'll tell you like Jake Berger said hey I feel
14:38great about pitches that are over the inside corner or a little bit tight right I feel great about uh
14:44challenging those pitches I don't I don't feel as comfortable on the pitches outside corner off the
14:48plate right I don't know like that I'm going to be as successful challenging those pitches
14:52so all these guys probably have a better command of a certain portion of the zone and uh maybe
14:58they're going to be more comfortable challenging those spots because no none of these guys want
15:01to give away a challenge uh and then cost their team later in the game Jerry great time to have
15:07you on because we got a transaction that they just broke with Nicky Lopez infielder signing uh that
15:13one-year major league contract that'll cover through the season and then Andrew McCutcheon now
15:17being dfa'd your your thoughts on that move yeah you know Andrew was brought in in the middle of camp
15:24and the thought was he would be able to to provide value uh against left-handed pitching and and then
15:31perhaps provide some value as a uh uh you know as a veteran presence unfortunately and and I don't
15:39know how things would have been different if the Rangers would have faced more lefties earlier in the year
15:42and and maybe he could have gotten into a different rhythm but unfortunately the production just
15:47hasn't been there and uh you know he for a little bit he was actually pretty good as a starter
15:52but
15:52unfortunately in that role it's got to be more than just that because you're only starting you know
15:58a quarter of the games probably over the course of the season if you're only starting against lefties
16:03but you're going to have a lot of the bats against left-handed pitching off the bench and you know
16:07Andrew Andrew struggled unfortunately and hey it's a role that he just hasn't really experienced a
16:14whole lot of it uh you know he struggled as a pinch hitter uh you know I think uh his
16:18his pinch hit
16:19numbers are going to end up two for 18 I think both singles uh and so you know they probably
16:26at this
16:26point need someone who can provide a little better overall production in that regard and uh you know
16:31it's uh I don't know if Andrew's going to keep playing or go elsewhere he's had a hell of a
16:36career
16:36um it was great you know that they gave him that chance and hey it was a low leverage type
16:42move
16:42the fact that it didn't work out it's not like they're out millions and millions of dollars and
16:46uh unfortunately uh it just didn't work out well thank you for the update sans and your reaction
16:52to the breaking news pregame coming up at 6 30 tonight to look forward to uh talking about
16:56another dub with you tomorrow afternoon
16:58you tomorrow afternoon
16:58you tomorrow afternoon
16:58you tomorrow afternoon
16:58you tomorrow afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon afternoon
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