I'm definitely fine with who he is at first. As long as you consistently dig balls out of the dirt and hit, you're alright in my book.

But see, that's the problem. He doesn't consistently do that. If you go back and look at the infield errors, a substantial number of them would have been outs if Lowe had made the play at first. It's his job to dig out or otherwise catch errant throws - and he simply misses a lot of them. The error doesn't go to him, but if he makes the play a good first baseman should make, there isn't one at all.

Lowe's D needs improvement.

It builds. If he digs out more errant throws, it improves other's D and confidence, reduces Unearned Runs, etc.

I think the best option is for him to spend the offseason working on D. We have him for 4 more years and now he has established a role. I hope he continues to improve his D.

Lowe (27) was a 1B first, not converted.

We have Apostel (23) at AAA, a converted 3B. We have Blain Crim (25) @ AA.

Two best 1B FAs I believe are Josh Bell (Was/SD) and Mancini (Balt/Hou). I don't know if either of them are better defensively and both would cost.

I'd rather spend money on RP/Cl and SP (Perez+).

Oh, I'm absolutely not suggesting that we get rid of Lowe. Just pointing out that with his great bat you get substandard defense, and that's something we'll have to live with.

I forget who the manager was who said it (Sparky Anderson or Lasorda maybe), but the quote I read was something to the effect of "you don't judge a first baseman by the errors he makes, you judge him by the errors he saves the other infielders."

Seager, Semien, Jung (or whoever) are likely going to have elevated error totals with Lowe at 1st. Probably not substantially so, but 16-18 errors vs 10-12 (arbitrary numbers, just as an example).

I didn't think you were talking of ridding Lowe... I was thinking DH as an alternative to 1B.

I'm not opposed to getting a 1st baseman if it's part of a trade. No interest in looking at a FA.

Keuchel gets the start tonight:

Rangers lineup for August 27 vs. Detroit pic.twitter.com/TA4PaZkg5U

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) August 27, 2022

Tigers hit Keuchel in the first, he gave up 2 runs on 4 hits. Those recent AAA starts looked promising, but not so much in the first inning tonight.

Well that was unlucky. Started with a horrible strike call to Adolis

Hope Keuchel can settle in and get us 6.

Tor and TB both lost already, so a W would be helpful.

Is this where Keuchel clears out his locker tonight on his way out?!

Brutal.

Really?

DallasAg 94 said:

---

Is this where Keuchel clears out his locker tonight on his way out?!

Brutal.

---

Yeah this feels like Keuchel will not be pitching for Rangers again.

Tksymm7 said:

---

Yeah this feels like Keuchel will not be pitching for Rangers again.

---

Really seems like Arihara should join him on that list!

WestTexasAg said:

---

Tksymm7 said:

---

Yeah this feels like Keuchel will not be pitching for Rangers again.

---

Really seems like Arihara should join him on that list!

---

yeah, he's not looking good today so far. Hopefully Gray will be back soon. Or Ragans is ready to go right after his 10 day trip to the IL. Gotta put somebody out there.

Arihara was good his last start (or one before that, I forget), but not today.

I read that an innings cap is being put on Ragans at 130. I believe he is at 117 already.

We need Jon Gray back. He was pitching extremely well for a stretch before he got hurt.

I could be completely wrong on this, but I swear I heard or read that Gray was most likely done for '22. And honestly, there's no need to rush him back if it's in question. We're not going to compete this year, let him get healthy for '23.

This game has gotten fun.

Things are getting interesting

9-8 in the 9th

Hey hey!! Craziest swinging bunt ever

lol, amazing infield single for Lowe to stick on the chalk.

You need to pinch run Thompson here, right? He's the potential tying run.

KT 90 said:

---

lol, amazing infield single for Lowe to stick on the chalk.

You need to pinch run Thompson here, right? He's the potential tying run.

---

They put Thompson in to run. (I texted Beasley )

This has become quite entertaining indeed!

Damn! Calhoun just missed that one. Fun game.

Dang it. Just missed squaring that one up

Kole gets a hanger and misses it

Offense for this team is 100% there. Just need to add more pitching in the rotation and bullpen, maybe a bat, and we're in the mix.

Offense stats

Category/Rank/value

OPS 13 .708
AVG 14 .244
HR 7 156

So I would love to see us add another high average guy to the lineup and then pick up at minimum a true ace and a couple Bullpen guys.

Went today. Arihara is awful. Stuck it out to the end and nearly got rewarded for it. Definitely got fun

Interesting note by The Dallas Morning News on Rangers prospects going into the fall. It is rumored that Kumar Rocker could be the Rangers designated "priority pitcher" in the Arizona Fall League (AZFL). In the AZFL each organization is allowed to select four pitchers and four hitters to participate. As a part of selecting those eight players, each organization is allowed to designate one hitter and one pitcher as their priority in the AZFL. This means that those two players selected will likely get more innings or more at-bats/time in the field.

I am still disappointed that they did not elect to put Rocker in high A or AA because I think he needs to be stacking innings after not pitching much last year. I can understand an organization not wanting a high school or college pitcher to throw in the fall if they are coming off of 100+ inning campaign with their prior teams. But Rocker pitched in a handful of independent league games, not highly competitive college baseball. That being said, if they do make Rocker their priority pitcher in the AZFL, I think that it is a really good decision to have him throw this fall.

In the same article about Rocker, there was and interesting tidbit thrown in at the end. Apparently Jack Leiter will be shut down again as soon as Frisco is done with their season and will return to Vanderbilt to continue getting his degree. First, good on him for going back to Vandy during the fall to continue to get his degree! Second, this means that he will undoubtedly finish the year with Frisco after an up and down first season. Lastly, he is at 79 innings pitched for the year.

Have a great Monday everyone, and it's game week! btho SHSU!

They're clearly being cautious w Leiter, but I think it's overkill. He pitched more innings at Vandy last year than he will with Frisco this season.

Athletic article from earlier in the year about how many MLB players train at Vandy over the winter. They have an alumni locker room but has evolved to where not all of the guys there are former Vandy players.

https://theathletic.com/3123017/2022/02/16/jack-leiters-vanderbilt-offseason-and-the-short-gap-time-to-the-big-leagues/