One of those nights. Quite a bit of solid contact right at people.

We were swinging at junk that last inning. Bautista has good stuff. We are set up nicely to rebound tomorrow. Wells was supposed to start.

Wasn't able to watch the whole game but it seemed like our pitching more than did their part. Let's get the bats going tomorrow

Tksymm7 said:

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Just so everyone knows, we're basically getting no-hit. That hit by Jung is an error in my book. We've been very unlucky, but still not good.

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Eh. That would have been close even if the throw was on target.

Jason Robertson just got his 100th point, the first in Dallas history!

Can someone tell me what happened in the bottom of the second tonight?

We had an infield single, then a walk, then a line out to the pitcher but our runners advanced to 2nd and 3rd. Then they changed pitchers.

Sorry, trying to figure out how they pulled their starting pitcher so early.

Liner back up the middle that hit the pitcher and directed to 1st baseman who got the out at first

We hit a ball off his foot and he left the game.

Thanks.

Can't believe how bad the offense tonight was against at best mediocre pitching.

Grapesoda2525 said:

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Can't believe how bad the offense tonight was against at best mediocre pitching.

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It wasn't exciting to be sure, but it happens. If it continues to happen then I'll worry.

In the same way I didn't get too excited about sweeping the Phillies, I'm not too worked up about one loss to the Orioles.

So now the return of Taveras is vitally important. I think he can be added after this weekend?

I guess Duran is now the backup infield help as well. Acuna is on the 40 man roster, as well as Dustin Harris.

Baseball is so strange. Win 12 in a row vs the Phillies and have now lost 7 in a row to the Orioles.

It may even be sooner than that because the 10-day IL begins a few days before rosters are finalized, I believe. That being said, Taveras is definitely an important part of this outfield, but let's not forget that he has really struggled at the plate at the MLB level. He's also prone to quite a bit of swing and miss/strikeout stuff himself. Now, he brings more tools to the plate than Bubba Thompson which is why he's the starter, but I don't think Taveras is really an answer either unless everything magically clicks for him this year. I'd even go so far as to say Zeke Duran is probably the better hitter out of those two. I'll also be curious is Smith goes on the 10-day IL or not if there's no structural damage.

According to Bochy, Smith's tests "came back clean". If that means no broken bones,then a 10 day is probably warranted to let bruising, etc heal.

Not sure I agree with your assessment of Taveras. He hit .261 in 99 games last season. That's not a bad average for a bottom of the order hitter with legit speed on the base path and in the outfield. Definitely needs to work on getting on base more but I expect that to improve as he matures.

True, but his OBP, SLG, OPS and OPS+ were below average to well below average (.309 .366 .675 93+). He doesn't need to be the next Andruw Jones or even Michael Harris II from last year, although if he wants to be then come on down, but he's got to get those specific numbers up, he has too. I get that he's a bottom 3 guy in the order, and I hope that helps him, but we really need another outfielder to go this year if we want to truly push in the division and wildcard.

duck79 said:

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Tksymm7 said:

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It's nice to see him walk that off, but I'd be shocked if he didn't have some sort of fracture. That was flush.

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Good Friday is the 1 year anniversary of me catching one in the exact same spot. We were feeding balls into a pitching machine before the kids practice and one of the coaches hit it straight back and got me in that exact spot. I had 5 facial fractures and a nice ambulance ride but was released that night. I know, cool story bro. Seeing a sight like that gives me chills.

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The things we do for our kids! Glad things turned out ok for you. I got stitched up once from a kid baseball practice... it happens.

fc2112 said:

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According to Bochy, Smith's tests "came back clean". If that means no broken bones,then a 10 day is probably warranted to let bruising, etc heal.

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I would say so, plus he could likely use a bit of a mental break as well. Then work his way back into it in a few days.

I didn't get to see the game last night, but saw the replay clip on Twitter. Always nasty to see something like that, glad he is doing well.

Well, the other options are Evan Carter or Dustin Harris, and I think Taveras is the better MLB option right now.

If Evan Carter has a massive year he maybe could see time at the end of the season, but I would lean towards him likely not. So yes Leody is the best guy for the job right now.

If the Rangers can win tonight and continue to pitch well, this would be a 4-1 record through the rotation with deGrom having by far the worst start of the bunch. Last year it felt like we would do well to go 2-3 or 1-4 during a full turn of the rotation. Yes we need to win series, but I also look at baseball in five game stretches because of the pitching staff, and winning 3 and 4 games each turn through your staff is a recipe for serious success.

As I usually do, I like to track some of the minor league pitchers. Mostly SP, but notable performances or pitchers.

I haven't seen the official rotation for the affiliates. Last year, I believe they went with 6 in the rotation. Japan plays a 6 game week uses a 6 person rotation. Last year, I believe MiLB went with 6 game weeks. This was done to reduce travel time/cost as teams took ownership of the affiliates.

Here is what I have so far. The level in parenthesis is their 2022 level for reference:

Round Rock (AAA, 1-2)
Winn (23-RHP, AAA): 1GS, 3.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB, 7.36 ERA, 1.64 WHIP
- King (28-LHP, MLB): 1GP, 0.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB, 40.50 ERA

Bradford (25-LHP, AA): 1GS, 5.1 IP, 2 H, 6 SO, 2 BB, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP
- Latz (27-LHP): 1GP, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA <- Struck out 3 of 4 faced.
- YRog (25-RHP): 1GP, 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA

Dugger (27-RHP): 1 GS, 0.2 IP, 4 H, 1 SO, 2 BB, 67.50 ERA, 9.00 WHIP <- Disaster

Kent (24-RHP, AAA) today's SP?


Frisco (AA)
Leiter (22-RHP, AA)
White (23-RHP, AA)
Krauth (23-RHP, A+)
Roby (21-RHP, A+)

Hickory (A+)
Rocker (23-RHP, X)
Collyer (21-RHP, A+)
Stephan (21-RHP, A+)
Santos (20-RHP, A)
Bratt (19-LHP, A)

Down East (A)
?

Just an FYI in case you missed it. Hickory and Down East swapped levels after 2019.

DallasAg 94 said:

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As I usually do, I like to track some of the minor league pitchers. Mostly SP, but notable performances or pitchers.

I haven't seen the official rotation for the affiliates. Last year, I believe they went with 6 in the rotation. Japan plays a 6 game week uses a 6 person rotation. Last year, I believe MiLB went with 6 game weeks. This was done to reduce travel time/cost as teams took ownership of the affiliates.

Here is what I have so far. The level in parenthesis is their 2022 level for reference:

Round Rock (AAA, 1-2)
Winn (23-RHP, AAA): 1GS, 3.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB, 7.36 ERA, 1.64 WHIP
- King (28-LHP, MLB): 1GP, 0.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB, 40.50 ERA

Bradford (25-LHP, AA): 1GS, 5.1 IP, 2 H, 6 SO, 2 BB, 0.00 ERA, 0.75 WHIP
- Latz (27-LHP): 1GP, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA <- Struck out 3 of 4 faced.
- YRog (25-RHP): 1GP, 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 SO, 0 BB, 0.00 ERA

Dugger (27-RHP): 1 GS, 0.2 IP, 4 H, 1 SO, 2 BB, 67.50 ERA, 9.00 WHIP <- Disaster

Kent (24-RHP, AAA) today's SP?


Frisco (AA)
Leiter (22-RHP, AA)
White (23-RHP, AA)
Krauth (23-RHP, A+)
Roby (21-RHP, A+)

Hickory (A+)
Rocker (23-RHP, X)
Collyer (21-RHP, A+)
Stephan (21-RHP, A+)
Santos (20-RHP, A)
Bratt (19-LHP, A)

Down East (A)
?

Just an FYI in case you missed it. Hickory and Down East swapped levels after 2019.

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Channeling my inner Scott Lucas... I came up with the following:

AAA -- ROUND ROCK EXPRESS

Pitchers
Grant Anderson
Joe Barlow
Jacob Barnes
Cody Bradford (27)
Kyle Cody
Robert Dugger
Bernardo Flores
Lucas Jacobsen
Zach Kent (22)
John King
Jake Latz
Chase Lee
Dominic Leone
Zack Littell
Fern Ozuna
Daniel Robert
Yerry Rodriguez
Cole Winn (14)

The rotation has three top-30 prospects topped by Winn, who'll try to rebound from a semi-lost 2022. Any of four homegrown relievers (Anderson, Jacobsen, Lee, Robert… and maybe Ozuna as a fifth) has a shot at an Arlington debut, and four more (Barlow, Cody, King, Rodriguez on his last option) are looking to get back. The nature of relief pitching in the 2020s insists that a decent number of these pitchers will log some innings with the Rangers. It's just a question of who's hot and giving the appearance of consistency at the particular time of need. I'm stretched to find six starting pitchers in this group, but we'll see. Sometimes, Texas's AAA and AA squads would shift to a five-man rotation, but in general the weekly six-on, one-off schedule fosters a six-man rotation.

AA -- FRISCO ROUGHRIDERS

Pitchers
Marc Church (20)
Ricky Devito
Ryan Garcia
Antoine Kelly (24)
Nick Krauth
Jack Leiter (5, 78th in MLB)
John Matthews
Theo McDowell
Triston Polley
Tekoah Roby (12)
Justin Slaten
Alex Speas
Nick Starr
Owen White (3, 66th in MLB)
Grant Wolfram

My guess at the rotation is Garcia, Krauth, Leiter, Roby, White, and… I'm not sure. One among Devito, Kelly, Slaten, and Wolfram, all of whom have starting experience? A bullpen day? Leiter's second full season is a big one for him and organization. While there's no rush to get him to Arlington, he does need to make forward progress after an occasionally disquieting 2022. White just needs to stay healthy. Up from high-A, TK Roby pitched better than his 4.64 ERA and in particular has better control than the average starter, but homers sometimes troubled him.

Church is the marquee reliever. The slider is a Major League pitch, and the fastball works well, too. Kelly will try to improve last year's woeful control. Nick Starr was Frisco's go-to in high-leverage situations last year.

HIGH-A HICKORY CRAWDADS

Pitchers
Robby Ahlstrom
Mitch Bratt (17)
Michael Brewer
Gavin Collyer
Larson Kindreich
Eudrys Manon
Yohanse Morel
Spencer Mraz
Kumar Rocker (10)
Andy Rodriguez
Winston Santos
Josh Stephan (30)
Leury Tejada
Emiliano Teodo (21)
Bradford Webb

Bratt, Kindreich, Rocker, Santos, Stephan, and Teodo would appear to be the rotation, although several others have experience and could be used in tandems. They would also appear to be the deepest rotation of the four squads, with four top-30 prospects, another who probably should be (Santos), and yet another on the cusp (Kindreich). Rocker's assignment feels right, and not just as a cautious response to Leiter's 2022. He had a lot of down time, and he's kind of a two-pitch guy right now, at least based on what I saw from the AFL and in Surprise last week. Ramping up at a lower level and in a more isolated environment makes sense.

LOW-A DOWN EAST WOOD DUCKS

Pitchers
Matt Brosky
Seth Clark
Jose Corniell
Aidan Curry
Josh Gessner
Jackson Kelley
Jackson Leath
Dylan MacLean
DJ McCarty
Damian Mendoza
Joseph Montalvo
Ivan Oviedo
Brock Porter (6, 94th in MLB)
Luis Ramirez
Adrian Rodriguez
Kai Wynyard

Four 2022 picks will make their pro debuts in low-A: Brock Porter (4th), Luis Ramirez (5th), Matt Brosky (a money-saver 8th-round pick), and Jackson Kelley (12th). Undrafted Seth Clark out of Georgia State is also new to the pros.

it is remarkable. I thought for sure he'd have fractures and maybe missing a couple of teeth

Welp gonna need the bullpen tonight