- 2 days ago
Texas Rangers' insider Jared Sandler discusses the Rangers' five-game winning streak, Ezequiel Duran's chances of making the All-Star team, whether the club will keep Evan Carter or Alejandro Osuna when Wyatt Langford returns, and more.
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00:00Hour number two of the G-Bag Nation on 105 through the fan.
00:02We're about to chat with Jared Sandler, the most anticipated Ranger segment of the day here in the nation, on
00:08the fan in general.
00:10Eleven days ago, we went into the weekend one game under .500.
00:16Got swept by the Angels.
00:18Then what'd they do? They dropped three or four to Houston.
00:20Yeah.
00:21And once again, after fighting and clawing their way back with a five-game winning streak,
00:27the Rangers are within one game of .500 with McKenzie Gore on the hill tonight.
00:31Six o'clock pregame, 6.45, first pitch.
00:34Jared Sandler joins you now here on the fan to talk about it, buddy.
00:37How the heck are you?
00:39Hey, what's up, fellas? Doing great.
00:41Doing a nice job on TV.
00:43You back in there tonight?
00:45Back in there tonight, the Rangers fans will get rewarded with days back on Sunday.
00:51It's national Friday, Saturday, so they only have to put up with me for one more night this go-around.
00:56But, yeah, it's been fun.
00:57It's a lot more fun when they win, obviously.
00:59But, yeah, I've had a good time.
01:01I appreciate you saying that, Gavin.
01:03Another ninth-inning win last night.
01:05I appreciate these guys getting it done.
01:06It gave me kind of 20-23 vibes with the bottom of the eighth into the top of the ninth
01:10last night.
01:11Yeah, and you know what else gave me 20-23 vibes?
01:14And I'm not suggesting that, you know, they're on a collision course for the World Series just yet.
01:20Oh, what I heard.
01:22You know, Dustin May was just dominant through four innings.
01:25And then the Rangers flipped the switch in the fifth, and they made an adjustment, and they made him work.
01:31And the next thing you know, he's not even completing the sixth inning, right?
01:33It looked like he was, like, headed for a seven-inning, you know, maybe a couple-hit, no-run, season
01:40-high-and-strikeout-type start.
01:41And that just didn't end up being the case.
01:43And, you know, the Rangers would do that in 20-23.
01:46They would, you know, face a guy who was pitching really well and then do something to get him off
01:52his game
01:53and do something to get him out earlier than what the initial trajectory would suggest.
01:59And, you know, I thought they did a really nice job adjusting to Dustin May,
02:03who was absolutely carving them up through the first four innings.
02:07It's a Northwest Texan, man.
02:08That's all you can expect from a guy like that.
02:10That's right. He did it.
02:11He did it for you, and then he forgot about you in the fifth inning.
02:14And that's true, that guy.
02:15That's been a change.
02:16I think they call that Jack Leitering the pitcher when he starts out really good for four innings
02:21and then gets hammered.
02:25You got it, Gavin. I'll let you have that one.
02:28Get him, Jared. Get him.
02:32We've got to talk about Jock Peterson, though, because this is really incredible what he's doing right now.
02:36It seems like he just can't miss.
02:38Second RBI game winner of the season.
02:40I mean, he has another three hits.
02:42I mean, his last 20 games, the numbers are outstanding.
02:45Like, this seems finally much like yesterday.
02:47I asked you about Duran, but Jock seems in a groove to where he's going to sustain this.
02:51Well, is there anything that you really noticed that's different, or is he just finally, he's gotten hot?
02:57Yeah.
02:57So, a couple things.
02:59One, using all fields, right?
03:03It seems like last year you could just book Jock for a strikeout or a ground ball to the right
03:08side.
03:09And that's not Jock.
03:10Jock, you know, Jock, when he was at his best, obviously was hitting better in general, but he's someone who
03:16can hit, you know, from the opposite field gap, you know, to the right field line.
03:20You know, he's not going to necessarily hit a ton of home runs or anything to straightaway left or down
03:25the left field line.
03:26But he can hit balls to the left center field gap, and we saw that yesterday with his, you know,
03:32his game-winning hit.
03:33But, you know, I think that's one thing.
03:35And then the other thing is, he's one of these guys who controls the strike zone really well.
03:40He's got really good play discipline.
03:42And so, you know, when he's putting himself in position to succeed by swinging good pitches, that helps.
03:47You know, I think his first hit-bats on Monday against Mike McGreevy,
03:53he laid off like a really tough 3-2 pitch that you don't lay off unless you're really like locked
03:57in, right?
03:59And I asked Justin Beely, the hitting coach, like, what can you tell me about what Jock's doing?
04:02He's like, man, he's just got this feeling like he steps up to the plate like he's a gangster and
04:07no one's going to get him, right?
04:08He's just got that confidence back that he didn't have last year.
04:13And it's been a huge, huge lift for this team.
04:16And I get it that he was not very good last year.
04:20And I get that it's tough for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth impression of all of last season to
04:27be washed away.
04:28But I think it's also okay to just embrace the fact that, yeah, he's been great this year.
04:34And maybe he's not going to totally live up to the contract when you combine last year and this year.
04:39Or maybe he, I don't know, maybe he'll be just so good this year that it's like, who cares about
04:43last year?
04:44But, like, it's okay to take a look and say, hey, this guy has arguably been our best offensive player
04:50this year, right along with Josh Young and Ezekiel Durant.
04:53And it really, frankly, I think you can make an argument that he has been their best offensive player when
04:58you consider the on base and everything he's given you from the leadoff spot and the plate discipline and tone
05:03setting.
05:04Jared, yesterday I was going to ask you the question about Jacob Latz.
05:08And do you feel like that he was going to be the closer?
05:11And then last night we saw the skip went a little bit different.
05:15I hear you guys talking on the radio, too.
05:18It's like Skip always says, yeah, we'll see.
05:21We'll see who's closing tonight.
05:22We'll see.
05:23Is that something, I thought we were going to get a little pattern.
05:27And now it's like, we'll see again, right?
05:30Is that, are we going to do this?
05:31How long do you think we're going to do this?
05:34Well, Broadus, I'd say this.
05:35I think Jacob would have been the guy in the ninth if he was available.
05:39Skip said, you know, and this isn't like a skip thing.
05:42A lot of managers don't want to use guys three days in a row this early in the season.
05:47And so, you know, I don't think Jacob was available.
05:51And so that's where Jacob Latz and that's why they went with Jacob Junis.
05:54Now, you know, Skip did say the reason he's hesitant in saying he's our closer is because that suggests he
06:02is a
06:03ninth inning and beyond only guy, whereas he has said that there are situations where he would instead use him
06:10in the eighth, you know, depending on the leverage of the moment and, you know, who's due up and how
06:16it plays with who is available in the bullpen.
06:19And, you know, I don't think that he wants to use Jacob Latz for two innings all the time.
06:24And so I think there are situations where when, you know, when he brings him in in the eighth inning,
06:28sometimes he does it with the hope that, hey, Jacob Latz is going to take us to the finish line.
06:32But he's smart enough to also know that there's a chance he doesn't.
06:36And so he's got to be protected if Jacob Latz can only get you three, four or five outs.
06:41And so I do think you'll still see Jacob Latz at times pitch in the eighth inning.
06:47But I do think, whether Skip Schumacher wants to identify him as the closer or not, Jacob Latz is this
06:53team's closer.
06:54They just might, like, instead of saying he's not the closer because he might pitch in the eighth, I'll just
06:59say he is the closer.
07:00But they might use him a little more creatively than your typical ninth inning only closer.
07:05How about this Nicky Lopez fellow, man?
07:07I mean, he's stepped in and done a really, really nice job.
07:10Like, what is the role for him moving forward, especially as guys get healthy?
07:15Yeah, so he has done a great job.
07:19He's been great defensively.
07:20I mean, he's been tested a whole lot the last two games with all the lefties the Cardinals have had.
07:24And, you know, balls they've just pulled to the right side.
07:27And then offensively, you know, multiple hit games for three straight from Sunday through Tuesday.
07:34Like, that's awesome for Nicky Lopez.
07:37You're not expecting that out of him.
07:39But then the ability to lay down the sack bunts, let's say, twice in the last three games and just
07:45kind of fill his role as the number nine guy in the lineup has been really helpful.
07:52You know, he's come up.
07:53We talked about this the last couple of years.
07:55When you've got Jake Berger coming up in a spot with runners on, you're not going to bunt with Jake
08:02Berger.
08:02First of all, I don't know that he's a capable bunter.
08:05I don't know what his bunting skills are, but Jake Berger's not in there to bunt.
08:09But sometimes you're almost like, dang, I wish it was someone else because right now we just need a run.
08:14Maybe bunting is the best option instead of the risk of a strikeout.
08:17And I know someone listening to me like, well, hey, then if that's the case, then Jake Berger needs to
08:21bunt.
08:22Totally understand that thought process.
08:24Again, it goes back to Victor Scott yesterday who popped out on a bunt attempt.
08:27But Victor Scott's a good bunter.
08:29That was just, you know, a rare missed bunt opportunity for him.
08:33But a lot of these guys just aren't good bunters these days.
08:36So you can yell at the clouds all you want, but they're not good bunters.
08:40But when you have Nicky Lopez in the lineup, I'm not saying he's better than having a better, you know,
08:45more accomplished hitter.
08:47But there's really no question, right?
08:48It's, hey, we're going to lay down the bunt.
08:50We're going to put pressure on the other team.
08:51And then you need guys behind him to then deliver.
08:54And so when you've got Jack Peterson and you've got Josh Young and Brandon Nimmo who, you know, had good
09:00seasons, then it really, it benefits you.
09:03It's almost like, you know, Skip Schumacher looks at this version of his team, this version without Seager and without
09:10Langford, without Josh Smith even, and is figured out, all right, what is this group's identity need to be offensively?
09:17And one through five, one through six, hey, you guys swing it.
09:20You guys swing it.
09:21Let's see what happens.
09:22But seven, eight, nine, he's been really creative, whether it's with bunting or running, hit and run situations, first and
09:28third, try getting a run down tight spot.
09:31So I just think it's almost forced them to rethink the way they want to go about things offensively.
09:38And he's, Nicky Lopez has fulfilled his job tremendously.
09:42Now, what's going to happen when guys start to come back?
09:46You know, I don't want people to just forget that, hey, small sample sizes don't always extrapolate through the rest
09:53of the season.
09:54You're not taking Nicky Lopez out of the order anytime, immediately, by any means.
09:59But maybe Ezekiel Duran is going to go from short to second when Corey Seager comes back.
10:05Or maybe you can keep Nicky Lopez in there and maybe, you know, maybe Zeke ends up in the outfield.
10:10But then when, you know, when Wyatt Langford comes back, is Evan Carter going to stick around because of how
10:14good he's been in center?
10:15Are they going to think of other ways to try and get his back going?
10:18Like, you have options.
10:19But I think a guy like Nicky Lopez is a very valuable player off the bench on a good team.
10:25And whether or not he ends up on the bench, probably, you know, it depends on the health of others.
10:32And then when he maybe starts to cool down a little bit.
10:35So, speaking of those decisions, when you do have one Evan Carter ready to cover, or excuse me, between Evan
10:41Carter and Alejandro Osuna,
10:43once you get Langford back in the lineup, is that something that Osuna is making that's a tough decision?
10:50Sorry, Zach, I broke up.
10:52Are you saying is Osuna making it a tough decision?
10:54Yeah, when you have Langford back, now you've got a still playing time for Osuna versus Evan Carter.
10:59Do you send back Osuna down?
11:00I mean, he's been playing really, really well right now and come up with some big-time clutch hits.
11:04Yeah, you know, it probably would be tough to keep them both up right now.
11:09And I guess one of the questions has to be, are you comfortable with Wyatt Langford getting a lion's share
11:17of the time in center field,
11:18you know, coming off an injury?
11:20Now, it's not a lower body injury.
11:21It's not a back injury or anything.
11:22But that is, you know, it's a little more of a workload.
11:27If you are comfortable with that, then maybe that makes your decision a little bit easier.
11:32If you're comfortable with Alejandro Osuna in center, which I don't think, and there's no disrespect to Alejandro Osuna,
11:38but I don't think they look at him and say, hey, he's our everyday center fielder,
11:41or Michael Hellman is our everyday center fielder right now.
11:45But I think that's the question they got to ask is, because center field is such a valuable spot defensively.
11:51And the Rangers have been scoring a lot more here recently, but they still, I don't know that it's enough
11:56for us to change the thought of who and what this team is.
12:00And so you need to have an anchor there in center, especially because your infield defense hasn't been as good
12:06as you would have liked so far this year.
12:09And so, and Zach, I'd also say this, it's not like Alejandro Osuna is just white hot right now.
12:15He has cooled off a little bit.
12:16I think he's, you know, like three or four for his last 27, something of that nature.
12:22He's not really slugging a lot.
12:23So there's definitely room for Alejandro Osuna to improve if he were to get more AAA bats.
12:28It's not like he's accomplished everything he can accomplish at that level, but he's definitely a great asset to this
12:35team.
12:36The way he works at bats.
12:37And I also think the energy that he brings is something that, you know, you can't really quantify, but there's
12:42definitely a value to that.
12:43I just think that Evan Carter's defense has been so, so, so good in center field.
12:49I think that might continue to buy him some time to get the bat going in the right direction.
12:54How strong of a case does our guy Zeke have for All-Star?
12:58I think he's got a great case, actually, Gavin.
13:00I was a little surprised when I looked at it today, not because I was unaware of how good he's
13:05been,
13:06but just thinking, well, there's probably going to be some second basemen that make it a no contest.
13:09Like with Jock Peterson, for instance, you look at the DH spot.
13:12I mean, Jordan Alvarez is running away with that.
13:14As good as Jock's been, it's going to be tough for him to win that vote unless Rangers fans stuff
13:19the ballot,
13:19which, hey, there's nothing against that, nothing wrong with that.
13:22But Zeke, you know, at second base, and that's where he's on the ballot as a second baseman, right?
13:27I know he's been playing a lot of short.
13:29The Rangers got him on the ballot as a second baseman, which is awesome.
13:32He leads all second basemen and on base and slugging and OPS.
13:37He's, you know, leads in RBIs.
13:39He's second in extra base hits, second in doubles, second in batting average.
13:42I mean, he's like, other than the lack of name recognition, because this is a vote, right?
13:47It's not, this stage is not necessarily merit because fans can stuff the ballot.
13:53But if you were to look at the stats, I think you could make a really, really strong case
13:57that I think still Duran should be the starting second baseman right now for the American League.
14:01And I hope Rangers fans, you know, get going.
14:03I think that the ballot's open today.
14:05I know I tweeted a link and will continue to do so to get some representation there.
14:10Love it, dude.
14:11Have a great night.
14:12And we'll catch up with you on Friday.
14:15See you guys.
14:16There he goes.
14:16He's at Jared Sandler on Twitter, by the way, at Jared Sandler.
14:20If you want to jump into his timeline there and get involved in voting up your guy,
14:26Ezekiel Duran, who has been an absolute lifesaver here over the last month.
14:31Plus, and yeah, it'd be awesome to see him finally get that recognition of being an all-star
14:37after the journey that he's been on.
14:39You know, I've been convinced for about the last year that there was no reason to even
14:43have him on the big league team.
14:45But they kept him there, and it has paid off in a massive way.
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