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Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young joined GBAG Nation and announced that Corey Seager is being placed on the 7-day concussion Injured List. Young discussed the team's strong performance against left-handed pitching, shared an update on Evan Carter, and more.
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00:00Here he is, the president of baseball operations for your Texas Rangers, Chris Young, here on the fan.
00:05And a good afternoon, sir. How the heck are you?
00:08Hey, guys. I'm well, thank you. How are you all?
00:10Doing well. And second week in a row here, we get to talk about the success against the lefties continuing
00:16to trend up.
00:1818 runs in 19 and two-thirds innings against them as you face four left-handed starters in the last
00:25nine games.
00:26What exactly are we witnessing here, sir?
00:29Yeah, just some very good at-bats consistently throughout the lineup, a team approach, and the guys have really done
00:36a good job.
00:37I mean, it certainly helps when you have Wyatt Langford back in the lineup facing those lefties.
00:42So that's a big addition to our club.
00:45You know, in that time period now, we've lost a couple other guys right when we felt like we were
00:50getting healthy.
00:51But it is a good thing to see us improve our performance against left-handed pitching.
00:55And the hope is that if we can continue to do that, you know, we did shuffle the deck a
01:00little bit and changed out some of our right-handed hitters.
01:03Justin Foscue has done a tremendous job in the opportunities he's gotten.
01:07We brought him here mainly to face left-handed pitching, and he has really capitalized on that.
01:12So, you know, I think there's some positive things going.
01:14I think the main thing we're focused on now is to stay healthy and get our guys back on the
01:19field.
01:19This week was a tough week, you know, between Evan Carter going down, Michael Hellman, and then we lost Corey,
01:26obviously, with the collision in Kansas City.
01:30You know, we've just got to get these guys back and hopefully get our team healthy here shortly and keep
01:36competing.
01:36What's the outlook for Seager not being in the lineup tonight?
01:39Could this drag on for a while?
01:40Yeah, so Skip will announce this in a minute or two, but we are going to put him on the
01:45concussion aisle.
01:47You know, this is something we don't want to mess around with.
01:49While he's very close, we feel like he's not fully recovered yet.
01:53And obviously, we all know how serious a concussion can be, and we don't want to put him in harm's
01:59way.
02:00So we are going to put him on the concussion aisle and backdate it to Friday.
02:05And then at which point, he'll miss today, he'll miss tomorrow.
02:09We have Wednesday off, he'll miss Thursday, and the hope is by Friday, he'll be ready and cleared to resume
02:15playing again.
02:16So that concussion aisle, you can get him back in a week?
02:19Yeah, it's a seven-day concussion aisle, and he's got to pass certain tests to return to play.
02:26He's been able to pass some of those tests, but he's not 100% in the clear yet.
02:31And so while he's close, there are still a couple things that are irritating him.
02:36And like we said, we don't want to put him in harm's way.
02:38He's so important to our team.
02:39We've got to make sure we get him right.
02:41So we've activated Josh Smith today, who will replace Corey as he goes on the concussion aisle.
02:47So then what's the outlook for Hellman and Carter, and what kind of dominoes can fall there in the outfield
02:52for you?
02:53Yeah, so for Evan, he's got a grade one oblique strain.
02:58You know, it's at least two weeks on that.
03:00It could be a little bit longer depending on how fast he recovers.
03:04With Michael Hellman, it's worse news.
03:06It's a fractured finger.
03:08It's going to be at least eight weeks until he can be back to full strength.
03:13So we've got a long time on Hellman.
03:16You know, Evan, we're hopeful these oblique strains can be tricky.
03:19We hope that this is on the lighter end.
03:22The MRI did not reveal too bad of a strain, which we feel like we dodged a bullet on that.
03:27But, you know, if you watch that play when he dove and aggravated it, it was he hit the ground
03:32pretty hard
03:33and jarred something in his side or back there that caused this.
03:37So we've got to get him healthy.
03:38We've got to get him right.
03:39And hopefully it'll be closer to two weeks and not longer than that.
03:43What's your outlook on Wyatt Lankford in center field?
03:47Can that be part of a solution and to what extent?
03:50Yeah, there's no doubt.
03:50I mean, I'll just speak very candidly that on Wyatt's rehab, we accelerated his rehab because we wanted him back
03:58in the big leagues as quickly as possible.
04:00And one of the things that we had hoped to do on rehab was get him some exposure in center
04:04field.
04:04We didn't do it.
04:05We felt like with him coming back and especially with a healthy Evan Carter and Michael Hellman at the time,
04:10we were covered in center field.
04:12So we wanted Wyatt to really focus on playing left field.
04:16Now we've got to reconsider that.
04:18And so we'll talk to Wyatt and see if that's a possibility, see if he's ready for that.
04:22We also have to be very cognizant of the workload.
04:24Center field is a tougher position in terms of the ground you cover as compared to one of the corner
04:30spots.
04:30And, you know, for a ball hits a left field, the center fielder is breaking that way.
04:34When the ball hits a right field, he's breaking to cover right field as well, whereas the left and right
04:39fielder don't break like that all the time.
04:41So there is more workload on a center fielder.
04:44Obviously, Wyatt, the way he plays, it's 100% all effort all the time.
04:50And we've got to be cognizant of that to make sure that we keep him healthy because he and Corey
04:54are so important to the rest of our season.
04:56If we keep those guys on the field and healthy together, I like our chances.
05:00But if we lose either one for an extended period of time, obviously it makes things a lot tougher.
05:05Hey, you've talked to us about, I mean, injuries are part of the sport.
05:08And it's part of 162 and navigating that.
05:11But how challenging is it to really get a good evaluation of the club when it feels like, man, we're
05:16going to get we got everybody healthy.
05:18And then, oh, darn it. Now another guy's down.
05:20It literally started last Friday night.
05:22I felt like we had Wyatt and Corey back.
05:24And I felt like it was the first time all season that we've had our starting unit together in a
05:29long time.
05:29And now we've got a run of games here where we can make some headway.
05:33And that night, Danny Jansen went on the I.L.
05:36And it's kind of continued through the week.
05:39And so losing Evan, losing Michael Hellman, losing Corey, it's definitely been a blow to us.
05:47Even with that, the team managed to play 500 baseball on the road trip.
05:52We easily could have come away with one or two more wins and made it a great trip.
05:55But my anticipation is we get Corey back here soon.
05:59And he's the biggest one.
06:00We've got to get him back.
06:01Evan should not be too far behind him.
06:04But we do have to keep these guys healthy.
06:07And if we can keep these guys healthy, I would like to see what this team can become.
06:12This race is wide open.
06:13The division's wide open.
06:15And the American League's wide open.
06:16And so I'd like to see what our team can do for an extended period here if we can have
06:20some good health.
06:21C.Y., how much did the league work with you on this Wednesday off day?
06:28And I kind of feel it's kind of weird.
06:29Were you just like, did the league just say, hey, you're going to have Wednesday off because of a World
06:34Cup match and live with it?
06:36How did that all work out for you?
06:39It's a great question.
06:40And actually, my understanding is that it was a little bit bigger than just the league.
06:44It was part of the understanding when DFW was going to get awarded the World Cup is that you can
06:53only have so much traffic and people in the area and the police presence.
06:59And so part of the agreement was that we wouldn't have games when the games are going on next door.
07:08And so that was a big piece of this.
07:10And look, we're happy to accommodate.
07:13This is a great thing for DFW.
07:14I actually got to go to the game yesterday.
07:16It was phenomenal.
07:17I was so impressed with the crowd, the energy.
07:20It was just awesome.
07:22If you watched our game last night in Boston, you saw a soccer crowd that came to the game and
07:27the chanting and the energy, the atmosphere.
07:30Our players have said it was electric.
07:32And so my hope is that while they're here, they'll want to come to a Ranger game.
07:35And that we'll get some of those fans from Europe or Asia or across the world coming to see baseball,
07:40perhaps for the first time.
07:42And they will bring that energy and electricity that really was just amazing yesterday in, I guess, Dallas Stadium.
07:52Yeah.
07:52Chris Young here with us on the fan.
07:55I mean, you know Texas sports fans as good as anybody.
07:58Do you think we could get some more of that international flavor going on at some of our sporting events,
08:03the enthusiasm, the singing and stuff?
08:05Well, you know, look, the World Cup is a huge deal.
08:08It is not like a regular season baseball game.
08:11I mean, it is a huge event.
08:12And I get that.
08:13It's more comparable to maybe the Super Bowl in terms of some of these countries and the four years they
08:18wait to perform on this stage.
08:20That said, it is electric.
08:22And I have such appreciation.
08:24You know, I was not sure if I was going to get to any games.
08:28It worked out where I was home this weekend for draft meetings and just decided, I don't know the next
08:33time the World Cup will be here.
08:34I need to go experience this.
08:36And so I was able to go yesterday before our game.
08:39And I just couldn't have been more impressed with both the Netherlands and Japan, their fans, the energy, the players,
08:48the way the game was played.
08:49It was just such a great event.
08:50But, yes, from a spectator point of view, that energy was amazing.
08:55And I think for baseball, it would be phenomenal to have that type of fan base and the energy and
09:02the electricity and the chanting and the songs.
09:05And it was so phenomenal.
09:07And the players I know feel that.
09:08I can say that as a former player.
09:10I've been in big games, playoff environments, and you feel the energy of the crowd.
09:14That is real.
09:15So for all of our fans coming tonight, bring that energy.
09:18Let's go.
09:19So it certainly looks like Evaldi reacts to that big game energy positively, doesn't it?
09:25He loves it.
09:26I mean, it's so impressive to see him.
09:29He craves the big moment, the big game.
09:32It's a nationally televised game and an electric atmosphere and a place where he pitched and won a World Series.
09:37And he wanted to be out there.
09:39He shies away from nothing.
09:41And it's just so funny.
09:43He's such a great example for our entire team.
09:46And I love watching him compete.
09:48How about Jacob Latz and what he's been able to do in the closer role?
09:51Like, how much of a surprise revelation has he been?
09:56Well, it's not surprising in terms of the performance that he's giving us and the contribution he's making to the
10:01team.
10:02The role in which he's making it perhaps is.
10:05And it came about mainly because, one, we decided to put Kamara in the rotation at the end of spring
10:12training and slide Lassie into the bullpen.
10:14And really, with the idea that he was going to be a leverage arm, less than a sort of multi
10:21-inning reliever that would pitch non-leverage, we felt like he was going to pitch leverage innings for us and
10:27be a real weapon late in the game for us.
10:30If you had told me that he ended up closing, I would say it wouldn't shock me.
10:35But it also wasn't the exact plan.
10:37So it shows you how much I know in terms of, you know, we went into the season without identifying
10:42a closer, per se.
10:44We've had Robert Garcia and Chris Martin both go down.
10:47And Jake Latz and Jacob Junis have stepped up and really fortified the back of the bullpen and been phenomenal.
10:53And there's no doubt, without Lassie right now, we would not be even close to 500.
10:58So he's played a huge role for us.
11:00He will continue to play a huge role for us.
11:02And it's our job to continue to, one, get these other guys healthy and back, whether it's Martin or Garcia.
11:07And then, secondly, continue to develop internally guys who can eventually grow into those roles.
11:13Because Jacob has been a great example of someone who, you know, his road has not been perfectly clean to
11:18the big leagues.
11:19But he's persevered.
11:20He's continued to get better and better.
11:22And now he's closing games for us.
11:24Are we getting closer to Jordan Montgomery's return?
11:27Yeah, Monty threw a live VP today.
11:29I was outside earlier watching it.
11:31He looked good.
11:31He'll go back out on rehab after today.
11:34So we're excited to get him back out and pitching.
11:37And, you know, my understanding is he's feeling good.
11:39And we'll take it one game at a time.
11:41But we are making progress.
11:42And it was good to see him out there competing today.
11:44Is it important in your mind to get above 500 and stay above 500?
11:48Is that any part of the emphasis or focus?
11:50Yeah, there's no doubt.
11:52I mean, 500 is certainly important to us.
11:56It's not the primary goal.
11:57The biggest goal is to continue to play good baseball consistently over and over and over.
12:02And eventually the record reflects that.
12:05But we're at a point in the season where we need to start, you know, we need to start putting
12:11together win streaks, winning series, and stacking on wins one after the next, series after series, and establish ourselves as
12:19one of the teams to beat in the American League.
12:20And I do believe this team is capable of that.
12:23We've shown it at different times throughout the season, but not at the level, not with the consistency that is
12:29needed that good teams have.
12:31And so now it's, I think, a good opportunity for us at this point in the season to, you know,
12:36to continue to build wins.
12:37And the record will eventually take care of itself.
12:40But, yeah, 500.
12:41And then, you know, my hope is well beyond 500.
12:45CY, you mentioned about you in your draft meetings and stuff right now.
12:49A snapshot on where you think maybe the talent is positional-wise for the draft.
12:54Maybe you don't have to give me names, but just maybe positionally where you kind of feel like this thing's
12:58got a little depth to it.
13:00Yeah, there's, it's a good blend of high school and college position players, and then there are some good college
13:07arms.
13:08The high school arms I'm still learning more about at this point, but it's an interesting draft in that it's
13:14a very deep draft.
13:16And I'd say there's probably a consensus top three to five picks in the draft.
13:21And then after that, you know, the fifth pick could easily be the 20th pick and vice versa.
13:26So it's really to each their own in terms of their preference and how they view the players.
13:32It's a deep draft.
13:33We feel like the picks that we'll have, you know, in our second and third and fourth rounds will be
13:38very, very good picks
13:40and could very easily turn out to be just as good as the first round picks.
13:44So it's an exciting class.
13:46I've been enjoying hearing our scouts go through it.
13:48It's one of my favorite times of year because it's one of the few times where our entire organization comes
13:53together cross-departmentally.
13:55We have our R&D department, our scouting departments.
13:58We have our baseball ops departments.
14:01We have our pitching group, our hitting group.
14:04We have so many player developments, so many people, you know, coming together and giving opinions
14:08and analyzing information to help us make the best decision possible.
14:12And so it's really one of the moments where I evaluate what I consider to be the heartbeat of the
14:18culture of the organization.
14:19And to see us functioning well in those meetings was really exciting.
14:22And we have had to start those meetings earlier this year because of the World Cup.
14:26We're going to be kind of shut out of our offices here for a couple weeks as the games continue.
14:32And then we'll resume them in July.
14:34But in the meantime, our scouts have put us in a tremendous position, and I'm very excited about this year's
14:39class.
14:40We'll see why we'll be out there Friday at the ballpark.
14:42So if you need us to show up and give you a hand in moving tags around, just let us
14:45know, okay?
14:47Well, come on, bring that energy, and if you can recruit some of these World Cup fans to come with
14:51you, bring them on, please.
14:53Sounds good. Thank you, sir.
14:54Sounds awesome. Give them help. We'll be pulling for you.
14:56Thank you, guys.
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