LFG!!!

It's easy to figure out what happened.

Toronto dominated the first round of voting because the whole country of Canada was voting for their guys. The US was splitting the vote between lots of different American players. In the second round, Canada still showed up to vote but most of the fans of American teams voted for Texas rangers players over Toronto's guys.

Congrats to the all stars! They deserve it after putting up a good half of the season.

Great to see a lot of Rangers be apart of the all star game again!

This infield is going to be awesome to watch.

I grew up in LA in the '70s watching the Dodgers. The Rangers IF could parallel them.

DallasAg 94 said:

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Can't say enough positive about Bradford.

The numbers don't tell the whole story. He came in and chewed up some innings and kept the team in the game. He started off shaky (2 W in 1st inning), but mowed down 8 SO of the 13 outs.

He still has some work and development to go... but appreciate his efforts so far.

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It's looking like he'll develop into a solid #4 or #5 starter if he keeps this up. Which would be great. Can't get our whole staff from free agency / trades. Need to develop some.

Thanks for putting that together.

With Injuries and people who will opt-out... I think it could open up a few spots. Like you, I still don't think Taveras makes it, although deserving.

With P, I know sometimes a P who throws in the last game before the break often opts out. I mentioned Bradford's start yesterday pushed the Rangers back a day which means Gray won't pitch the last game before the break like he was scheduled.

What I'm curious about is... can a player on the IL be named to the ASG? If a team's only representative is on the IL or opts-out... does his replacement have to come from the same team?

On the NL, Kershaw would seemingly be headed to the IL, but the Dodgers are trying to "avoid" it. IMO, it sounds more like they are waiting for him to be named an AS and then he will opt-out and land on the IL.

McClanahan with Tampa feels the same way. He is scheduled to pitch tonight, so we'll see if he makes it. Also curious to see how they handle his "back injury."

I know if they opt out you get nothing. Happened to us several years ago when Yu was was our only rep and he decided not to play.

bmac_aggie18 said:

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Wouldn't it make more sense to punt a game away against a good team like the stros where we don't have as high of a chance at winning?

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In one sense, all games are equal and a W or a L counts the same. I agree in that sense, just take the easy W against a weaker team.

I would contend, not all Ws and all Ls matter the same. This series is really about where you are in the season and how well do you matchup if you plan to make a run.

I think Bochy and the Rangers wants to make sure there isn't any uncertainty about where we are and how we match up with the Astros.

And you want to know what I would NOT do on the eve of this series?! Tell all of my OFs that they are on the trading block. It certainly tells THEM where you are as an organization.

Radio said every game was a sellout.

The atmosphere will be juiced.

Also, another point is... if you are the best team... it may be that the Astros don't lose against their throw-away opponent, which makes our W a wash. By beating them, you ensure not only that you get a W... but that they get an L.

I understand the logic of throwing away an easy game to be healthy for a tough division rival but I still think you gotta try everything to get those easy wins. I doubt anyone would feel differently about the projection of this team if we lost or split the series this weekend. We tried this method with Tampa and it didn't work. Hopefully it works this time.

With this series you could at least argue wins are slightly more important because it's your primary division rival. You could gain/lose 2 or 4 games this weekend.

With Tampa, it made no sense to punt a game against STL considering Tampa is not in our division.

For those interested... 3 of the 4 games will be day games.

Matchups:
Gray: 14GS, 2.89, 1.05 WHIP, 81.0 IP, 69 SO
White/Blanco: 4GS (13G), 4.63, 1.51 WHIP, 35.0 IP, 37 SO

Eovaldi: 16GS, 2.82, 1.00 WHIP, 105.1 IP, 101 SO
Brown: 15GS, 3.62, 1.20 WHIP, 87.0 IP, 97 SO

Heaney: 15GS, 4.38, 1.31 WHIP, 78.0 IP, 81 SO
Valdez: 16GS, 2.49, 1.05 WHIP, 105.0 IP, 110 SO

Perez: 16GS, 4.28, 1.42 WHIP, 90.1 IP, 60 SO
Javier: 16GS, 3.72, 1.17 WHIP, 87.0 IP, 78 SO

In an ideal world, we'd flip Gray and Heaney.

Yeah if it works it's a great idea. But if we are the contenders some in here think we are then we shouldn't be throwing away games before a home series with the Astros. We should have won the series vs Detroit then smash the Astros over the weekend cause that's just the kind of team we are. The whole resting players before the Astros is telling of where this team really is.

Water Boy said:

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Yeah if it works it's a great idea. But if we are the contenders some in here think we are then we shouldn't be throwing away games before a home series with the Astros. We should have won the series vs Detroit then smash the Astros over the weekend cause that's just the kind of team we are. The whole resting players before the Astros is telling of where this team really is.

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Well, we scored 5 Rs without Seager and Heim, so from an O perspective, I think it was a good move and should have worked.

From a pitching perspective, it really went well from Bradford's perspective. Aside from lining up Gray for Houston, it also gave the entire staff an extra day of rest... which I think was a good thing even if we weren't playing Houston.

We also knew that Detroit was very thin at RP. The guy they had in likely continues to go until they lose.

The real loss yesterday came by bringing in Barlow, who has shown worthy who couldn't get anyone out. That move was a good move that for whatever reason didn't work. After that, King came in and Bochy stayed with him longer than he should have. I don't think anyone expects him to go 2.0 IP. It could have spiraled and chewed up our BP. Even if we tie it up and go extra ... that could have created a problem.

Win the series and those moves were genius. Astros played all their stars last night and will be without their best offensive weapon. They also played at night and will be coming from the road so we have the big advantage there also. Need a series win with all those advantages!

Grapesoda2525 said:

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DallasAg 94 said:

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Can't say enough positive about Bradford.

The numbers don't tell the whole story. He came in and chewed up some innings and kept the team in the game. He started off shaky (2 W in 1st inning), but mowed down 8 SO of the 13 outs.

He still has some work and development to go... but appreciate his efforts so far.

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It's looking like he'll develop into a solid #4 or #5 starter if he keeps this up. Which would be great. Can't get our whole staff from free agency / trades. Need to develop some.

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I'm just hoping he develops into a nice trade piece.

If Dunning continues to settle in, and Eovaldi and Gray remain where they are and healthy... I think it would be controversial... but I think trading Heaney and/or Perez would be an outstanding move. If we could get trade pieces from them that would in turn be included in a flipped for Scherzer, or Ohtani....

Bradford would be a trade piece for 2024. Especially as deGrom comes back and someone like White or Otto emerges.

Proposition Joe said:

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Late Monday afternoon our division lead could be as low as 1 game, or as high as 9 games.

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I'll take the 9 games.

I would have to believe a 4G sweep of the Astros right before the ASG would likely shut their FO down. If Brantley and Yordan don't show being close to returning, it could be lights-out.

Especially if we light up their SP.

I'll be at Texas live on Saturday watching the game with my friend who's an Astros fan so definitely need to win that day!

Water Boy said:

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Win the series and those moves were genius. Astros played all their stars last night and will be without their best offensive weapon. They also played at night and will be coming from the road so we have the big advantage there also. Need a series win with all those advantages!

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Agreed.

The pitching matchup favors us tonight and then it is a day game tomorrow (3:05, IIRC). The matchup favors us and Houston will not have had a chance to settle in.

Just bought tix and bringing the whole family. Cant wait

LeagueCityAg said:

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Astros fan wife and I are going to the game Monday. Hope the good guys win!

Probably gonna watch tonight's game at a bar in Houston wearing my Rangers gear, so wish me luck.

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Thoughts and prayers.. also, I feel for you with the Astro fan wife.