Law Hall 69-72 said:

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Ag2012 said:

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MSFC Aggie said:

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Flipped on MLB network to see what's what....and they are showing the Royals/Cards game. Neftali Feliz comes in and is a hot mess. Retires no one and gives up a granny to Fowler.

/puke face

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Dude has been broken since October 2011

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Me too.

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Feliz:

Single, Walk, Slam, Walk

Exit stage right

free_mhayden said:

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Posts getting deleted and 17,000 edits of one post. All we need is another poster to get jealous about someone asking the Rangers ticket rep about something and it'll be business as usual around here.

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Wait a minute. What did I miss??? I like when people fight over me

AccidentProne said:

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free_mhayden said:

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Posts getting deleted and 17,000 edits of one post. All we need is another poster to get jealous about someone asking the Rangers ticket rep about something and it'll be business as usual around here.

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Wait a minute. What did I miss??? I like when people fight over me

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Ag2012 said:

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MSFC Aggie said:

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Flipped on MLB network to see what's what....and they are showing the Royals/Cards game. Neftali Feliz comes in and is a hot mess. Retires no one and gives up a granny to Fowler.

/puke face

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Dude has been broken since October 2011

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He was fine until we decided to take an elite closer and make him a starter.

gougler08 said:

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AccidentProne said:

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Speaking on A&M hats. I have about 10 extra

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What do they look like this year?

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This year they are actually pretty nice, not the weird flatbill/grey look from last year. My opinion. Get one if you can.

Definitely not a great thing to have so many players on this list

http://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/81808/mlbs-2017-all-disappointment-team

Dyson I can live with simply because he's a reliever and we got significantly more out of him than Miami did (0.2 WAR in 3 seasons compared to 2.9 WAR here even WITH the stupid bad 2017 performances).

And Odor is certainly disappointing this season, but he's still been productive and is perfectly capable of a late season streak to get him back up to respectable levels.

Lucroy I'm just at a loss... Guy went from being a pretty good hitter and solid defender/framer to just looking absolutely lost on both sides.

The thing that worries me about Odor is that I'm not totally convinced that he is aware that he's having a bad year. I wouldn't be surprised if his attitude is "I just hit 30 HRs again. I'm awesome. Let's continue being awesome."

Eh, I think a lot of that is just us fans projecting (me included).

All these guys may not understand advanced statistics, but they know the basics... and they have access to the internet to read articles like the above...

I think a lot of times it's just us fans not understanding why they don't change this or change that and forgetting that it's really, really, really hard to hit a baseball -- even more-so to change ones natural approach to hitting a baseball.

AccidentProne said:

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free_mhayden said:

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Posts getting deleted and 17,000 edits of one post. All we need is another poster to get jealous about someone asking the Rangers ticket rep about something and it'll be business as usual around here.

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Wait a minute. What did I miss??? I like when people fight over me

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You missed all of mhayden's posts that came between all the posts on the last page. He's persistent, I'll give him that.

Seven Costanza said:

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The thing that worries me about Odor is that I'm not totally convinced that he is aware that he's having a bad year. I wouldn't be surprised if his attitude is "I just hit 30 HRs again. I'm awesome. Let's continue being awesome."

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I think a lot of guys want to pound home runs whether it's hurting their later game or not, and Odor isn't alone in that trend in baseball.

He's not a particularly skilled average hitter, which perhaps enforces the focus on big power swings.

Ive rarely posted on TexAgs, but long time lurker. Got a question for AccidentProne. I can't make the game this Sunday, but trying to get the TxSt hats they are providing. Is there a way I can get 2 vouchers for the hats? I have 2 friends going to the game, but they didn't get the voucher for them.

And yes I am both an Aggie and Bobcat.

Odor's K rate is similar to last year, as is his walk rate (both just a hair higher than PY - on pace for 145 K's vs. 135 last year, and 22 walks vs. 19 last year). He's hitting the ball to the opposite field at the same rate as last year (19%). The percentage of pitches he swings at outside the strikezone has actually decreased from last year, although it's still high (44.2% last year vs. 41.7%). The biggest change with Odor is that he's facing the shift far more, so hits from last year are turning into outs. That's what has really taken the toll on both his average and OBP from last year.

His game needs to continue to develop to adjust, but the perception that he's gone backward this year isn't exactly correct. It's more that defenses are adjusting to him and he's mostly the same.

Which probably lends itself to making an adjustment during the off-season rather than mid-season trying to concentrate more on going opposite field and potentially lessening your power game (which is about his only positive).

free_mhayden said:

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Posts getting deleted and 17,000 edits of one post. All we need is another poster to get jealous about someone asking the Rangers ticket rep about something and it'll be business as usual around here.

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A temper tantrum over staff deleting your temper tantrum?

I thought staff did you a solid getting that meltdown off the record for you.

Edit: hah, now it seems this tantrum got deleted too.

As tempting as trying to squeeze into the wildcard may be, at this point, there is no expectation and the club and it's players ought to focus on improving at risk of losing something rather than putting off adjustments due to risk of losing something.

That's my humble view of it, at least.

TheAngelFlight said:

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As tempting as trying to squeeze into the wildcard may be, at this point, there is no expectation and the club and it's players ought to focus on improving at risk of losing something rather than putting off adjustments due to risk of losing something.

That's my humble view of it, at least.

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While I don't necessarily disagree... I will. My thought is, if we can get the WC spot, it is one more game for the Rangers (and revenue) that would have gone elsewhere. While the magic of a win and potential run into the playoffs is a long shot... if it means a couple extra million in the bank, why not.

Hamels was interviewed yesterday and he said while losing Darvish hurt, they are still playing for the WC, and clinching the WC... even if on the last day, is a pretty incredible experience.

You look at players like Beltre, Hamels and Odor... they don't like losing.

It was interesting, because it seemed like Hamels genuinely missed not having Darvish on the team. He said Darvish was in Texas before he (Hamels) was. Praised his giftedness. Indicated I think they didn't realize what a clubhouse presence Darvish really was, but that it was business and that is how it is.

It would not surprise me if some of the players rallied Darvish back.

DannyDuberstein said:

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His game needs to continue to develop to adjust, but the perception that he's gone backward this year isn't exactly correct. It's more that defenses are adjusting to him and he's mostly the same.

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What's that old football coach line?

"If you're not improving, you're getting worse."

Something that just occurred to me.

If Calhoun is projected to be DH in 2018 for the Rangers... Ohtani's role is in question.

Interesting article about how he has been hurt.

I think a take away might be... waiting 2 years to get the full $$$ value of FA is as big a gamble as ever for him. What if he doesn't make it to then.

If the Rangers sign Ohtani and he is DH... Calhoun will really need to improve his LF position. We can't have Choo, Ohtani and Calhoun platoon at DH. An OF of Calhoun (L)\Gallo (L)-DeShields\Robinson (L)-Mazara(L)\Choo (L) is dreadful. And heavily lefthanded hitters.

Calhoun has really not played very much LF. I don't think he could ever be a plus defender there or anything. But I did read that the Dodgers kept sticking him at 2nd base. Maybe with more reps in the outfield he can become an average defender there.

Although honestly I don't know if I believe he can. He is quite short and has such an unauthentic build to him haha.

The idea would be to give your veterans a better chance next year to have a playoff run, but I'll take a step back and just say the idea of attempting in-season adjustments to how you approach at-bats shouldn't be a dagger in an attempt to make the playoffs. Rangers have a hitting coach problem.

You are always looking to improve.

However making wholesale changes to your swing and approach at the plate are things you typically don't do mid-season on the big league level.

If Texas coaching thought it was wise that Odor was completely changing his approach at the plate mid-season, then Odor would either be doing so or he would be riding the pine.

Ohtani has a better chance of being a serviceable outfielder than Calhoun. How MLB teams, whenever that may be, handle Ohtani will be fascinating.

DallasAg 94 said:

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And for today...

Thursday Starters:
Round Rock (AAA): TBD
Frisco (AA): Collin Wiles (23, RHP): 8-9, 4.10 ERA
Down East (A+): Jonathan Hernandez (21, RHP): 1-5, 4.40
Hickory (A): TBD
Spokane (A-Sh): Tai Tiedemann (21, RHP): 3-2, 4.40 - 8th Rd 2016

Wiles is the guy I think has tired. It will see if he continues to lose effectiveness, or bounces back.

I haven't really followed Hernandez. Even though he has been in the organization since 2013, most of that is DSL (Dominican) and AZL (Rookie).

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Frisco (AA):
last night: Wiles: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 SO, 1 BB
tonight: YoMen (7-7, 3.86 ERA)

Down East (A+):
last night: Hernandez: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 8 SO, 3 BB
tonight: Steven Bruce (2-4, 6.97 ERA, 25 from Flower Mound), started season in Spokane. RP? He may be a 2016 "Walk On" for the Rangers

Hickory (A):
last night: Christian Torres: 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 SO, 0 BB
tonight: AJ Alexy (former Dodger

Spokane (A-Sh):
last night: Tiedemann: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB
tonight: Hever "Never" Bueno

AAA was still soggy.

Looks like from the pitching lineups in the orgn, that some guys are probably getting some innings in to see what they can do, maybe filling in spots from lineup shuffles. Bruce was listed as signing as a PR FA.

Quote:

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June 14, 2016 Texas Rangers signed free agent PR Steven Bruce to a minor league contract.

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Some of the other guys have bounced around levels. I'm guessing it is the time of year that all-hands-on-deck and they drop pitchers in where needed. As SPs start to reach their season limits, you get what you get.

Quote:

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His game needs to continue to develop to adjust, but the perception that he's gone backward this year isn't exactly correct. It's more that defenses are adjusting to him and he's mostly the same.

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I do see where his pull % has gone up 4% which is a pretty hefty change in the grand scheme of things, and that's certainly playing into any defensive shifts.

Again, kid needs to learn to keep the bat on his shoulder.

Difference in pull came from reduction in center. His opposite field is the same. Agree that he needs to develop more plate discipline, which was the case last year too. Plate discipline is his biggest issue as an overall hitter, but it's slightly improved vs. worse. It doesn't explain his average dropoff this year. That is explained by more batted balls being turned into outs because of how defenses are positioning themselves.

Every player would benefit from taking more walks and striking out less.

But as Danny pointed out, the difference between Odor last year and Odor this year is the shift. That isn't going to be fixed by walking more, it's fixed by more often trying to hit opposite field. Trying to go opposite field more can have a very significant negative impact on players that have a pull power stroke, which is why it is something that is typically addressed in an off-season unless you are a prospect that can be sent back down to the minors to work on things mid-season (which Odor is not).

Everythng can be peeled apart. But my basic point with the #'s is that I think a lot of folks think he has been even more undisciplined than last year and that explains the dip in his average. But he hasn't, so it can't explain it.

Quote:

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Every player would benefit from taking more walks and striking out less.

But as Danny pointed out, the difference between Odor last year and Odor this year is the shift. That isn't going to be fixed by walking more, it's fixed by more often trying to hit opposite field. Trying to go opposite field more can have a very significant negative impact on players that have a pull power stroke, which is why it is something that is typically addressed in an off-season unless you are a prospect that can be sent back down to the minors to work on things mid-season (which Odor is not).

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I did not say anything about needing to walk more.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Everythng can be peeled apart. But my basic point with the #'s is that I think a lot of folks think he has been even more undisciplined than last year and that explains the dip in his average. But he hasn't, so it can't explain it.

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Its a game of constant adjustments. He's not doing that. That explains it.