sburg2007 said:

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Any pop on the infield should be ordinary.

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Yep. All players are required to be on the infield dirt. Shouldn't be that difficult to make the play.

Well, as a kid, I sure didn't go into a game going "Geez, I hope I just don't strike out every at-bat."

The A's are playing better ball than the Astros, right now. I think a sweep is likely.

But I WAS the kid who thought we could still come back down 10Runs in the last inning with 2 outs. Guess I'm just an optimist in a game noted for its failure.

Should'a could'a would'a.

I start the season expecting the Rangers to go 162-0. So, sweeping a series is a given.

The A's really aren't that bad. Their lineup isn't good, but they have some young promising players, and as we saw today their pitching is turning a corner.

Anybody going to be at the games this weekend? I'll be at the games Saturday and Sunday.

A's have some pitchers. They are better than advertised this season, a different team from last year. And they probably have the best young closer in baseball. Miller is ridiculous, looks unhittable.

I liked Lance Lynn when he was here. Always felt like he gave you everything he had each time he was out there.

He fell off a bit after leaving Texas, started giving up a bunch of bombs. Hopefully he is doing better in St. Louis. That is back where he started off at when he first got to the MLB.

I think the reason Huff isn't in the bigs has less to do with his bat and more to do with his defense. He's adequate behind the plate, but I think they just want to get him more innings as a catcher on a daily basis rather than sitting on the bench backing up Heim. Based on stuff I've heard from various sources.

Not sure about any of you, but this was how I grew up:

Jackson Holliday's home setup is every baseball player's dream 🤩 pic.twitter.com/aoGfd4vmw0

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) April 10, 2024

Yeah I would agree with you here. He's an average catcher that probably needs to play more.

Objectively, Huff is the better player.

Huff has played in far fewer games than Knizner (71% fewer) and has a higher batting average, OBP, SLG, OPS, and OPS+ than Knizner.

I understand the defensive aspect but did we really sign Knizner for his defense?

The good think is that he is on a one year deal and will.probably only play in about 40 games this season. He is a black hole in the batting order. Worse than Hedges but at least Hedges is a great defensive catcher.

I tend to comment more on P, so I don't have anything to say on Huff.

Regarding Leiter. He gets the GS today in RR.
5.0 IP, 2ER, 2H, 0BB, 9SO; 66PC-47ST <- Relief appearance
3.1 IP, 1ER, 3H, 3BB, 6SO; 78PC-43ST <- GS

He came into the 1st game probably for no other reason than we have a bunch of SP hopefuls to begin the season. Common in Minors, as most know. I say that only to say a hitter's prep is different for the SP role.

I'm not sure when he gets a look. We need to insert Lorenzen. Looks like Bradford has officially been put in the projected SP rotation, which I indicated had been <blank>. Glad to see Bochy is keeping him in.

So, what now for Lorenzen? I'm sure he is happy to have gotten signed. He seemed to have indicated his expectation was SP for the Rangers. He transitioned from the BP to the SP role a couple years ago and just now getting fully developed. I doubt he wants to go back. He is working to get a multi-year SP role. Scherzer is due back in May. 3-4 weeks?

Gray seemed to have made the necessary adjustments.

Bradford: 3GS, 1.40 ERA, 6.1 IP/GS
Eovaldi: 3GS, 1.45 ERA, 6.1 IP/GS
Gray: 3GS, 4.38 ERA, 4.0 IP/GS
Dunning: 2GS, 4.15 ERA, 6.1 IP/GS
Heaney: 2GS, 7.56 ERA, 4.0 IP/GS

We go Dunning, Heaney, Eovaldi, so a couple looks (Dunning & Heaney) in Houston.
Then, off to Detroit: Bradford, Gray, Dunning. Maybe Lorenzen gets the back of Heaney if he struggles?! Personally, I think Heaney will have a great outing.

OH... and Urena is probably ok on a MLB as a RP, but I suspect he'll not want to be a RP having been mostly a career SP.

I believe the competition will push each to be better. I know the roster generally works itself out, but we are in a pretty solid place with a potentially growing surplus at a role (SP) in a sport (MLB) that seems to be struggling.

And then, as you state, Winn, Church, Tinoco, and Hernandez are all approaching a good spot in the RP depth. Sure, they won't be Closer or Setup guys early, but getting some IP will be important.

Heaney, Urena, Lorenzen, and Scherzer are all FAs after 2024.

In regards to Leiter, I honestly don't think he'll get a look as a SP this year unless he goes on an other worldly heater where he basically forces the Rangers hand. I just don't think there's a spot for him in the rotation unless we just completely implode and guys like deGrom, Scherzer and Mahle can't manage to get healthy or stay healthy. If we see Leiter this year it will be as a RP, imo.

Furthermore, I think we make more moves this year for players and pitchers as long as we are in the playoff hunt. I honestly don't know who would or could be traded, but I feel comfortable saying we have a surplus of pitchers that we can't get enough innings to, especially when deGrom comes back, and could see us trimming the pitching quite a bit.

As crazy as it sounds, I could almost see the Rangers being "sellers" at the trade deadline more than buyers. By that I mean trading away a couple of pitchers that can't get innings for prospects. There is a surplus right now with reinforcements on the way.

As far as the lineup, once Jung and Lowe return, who would you replace in the lineup? Infield and catcher might be the best in the league. Garcia, Carter and Langford are going nowhere. If you trade Taveras, what type of MLB player do you want in return? Your likely outfield, barring injury, are the three listed and Jankowski is the fourth. The infield is set and there is an abundance of pitching.

I could see the Rangers sending a package out for a highly regarded SP prospect 1-2 years out from contributing. But I actually expect them to not do much of anything. They have a very good roster as is, as evidenced by that World Series trophy they currently possess.

Yeah when I say trade, I mean strictly acquire proven bullpen pieces. Thats about it. Perhaps they could make a swing to bring in some prospects, as the farm is about to take a big dive, but that's pretty rare for a winning team.

I agree. It would be the first time that I can think of for a contending team to trade MLB players for prospects.

Would be nice to get a couple of back end relievers, but the teams that have those would either want them for their own run or aren't interested in rentals, which the Rangers would offer.

It will be interesting, for sure.

They need to go after that Mason Miller kid as hard as possible

Kid is a F.R.E.A.K.

There have been playoff contending teams that have swapped MLB players, where maybe you have an extra OF and another team has an extra SP and they swap MLB players, but I agree... can't really think of a team trading off a productive player for prospects. If we can do that, we can extend any window we might have.

In the case of Walsh, he has another year of team control so it opens up teams, IMO.

Ps who will be a FA like Heaney, Urena, and Lorenzen could get us a return.

I'm keeping an eye on (in order): LAD, NYM, and SDP. All of those are NL teams who tend to be reactionary and frivolous with some minor league talent.

I'm keeping an eye on Glasnow, Stone, and Miller. The moment Glasnow shows a twinge, I'm all like, "Hey...want to chat?" Dodgers have a thin margin on legit MLB SPs for 2024, with most of them being 2025 guys. Like Pepiot traded to Tampa, Stone and Miller are on the bubble like Bradford.

I'm still convinced Preller got Cease to flip him at/near the trade deadline. They know it is only a matter of time until the Dodgers get desperate.

Of course, all of that changes quickly, but fun to speculate right now.

Response I got from the club when I asked why the roof was closed yesterday. Thank God someone is looking out for our safety! The dreaded dew point!

Agree re Leiter. If he can keep it up be a nice add to the pen down the stretch. Rocker comes back at some point as well but not sure where he will be. Maybe a relief option next year unless they plan to keep him as a starter.

I have heard it explained somewhere before.. as silly as it sounds, when the dew point and humidity isn't right, it creates some very slick conditions on the concourses I would assume with the AC. Allegedly at least.

PV=nRT, baby. Live it. Love it.

Let's see how much I can recall...

Humidity is the amount of moisture in the air.
DewPoint Temperature is the temerature in which Relative Humidity (RH) reaches 100%, which causes condensation.

Think about a glass of ice water (or beer) and the outside of the container starts to have moisture on it. There is a chart, called a psychometric chart, but this calculator will work:

http://www.dpcalc.org/

If the outside temperature is say, 93F and the RH is say 51, then a drink at a temperature of 72F (and thus the outside of the container) will cause liquid to form on the outside of the glass.

Another example is the morning dew. As the air starts to warm, the grass and ground warm more slowly. So, at the right RH, you'll see dew on things in the morning. Cold enough and it freezes.

Concrete with a little moisture can become very slippery. The fact they either didn't take into account potential moisture... or didn't care, is another example of how poorly this stadium was designed. They probably shouldn't have added the cost to be retractable. Don't buy a removable hard-top Jeep or car, if you are never going to remove the top. Don't buy a removable soft-top if you don't want your hair messed up or live in Alaska.

An AC is really a glorified dehumidifier. It uses what is called a "web-bulb temperature." It squeezes the moisture out of the air and thus lowers the temperature. If you enter a Temperature in this calculator and then adjust the RH... you can see how it changes the wet-bulb Temperature (and dew point temperature).

It has been 30 years since I played with my ChemE.

It's still early in the month.

Rangers lineup for April 12, 2024 at Houston. pic.twitter.com/CxpmYP1Bhn

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) April 12, 2024

KT 90 said:

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Rangers lineup for April 12, 2024 at Houston. pic.twitter.com/CxpmYP1Bhn

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) April 12, 2024

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How much money could you have won in a friendly wager during ST on Josh Smith batting 5th in the starting lineup for the Rangers on April 12th??

Flounder Dorfman said:

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I have learned more in that one post than I have everywhere else combined this month.

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Yeah, that kind made my head hurt reading all that science stuff it's a challenge enough getting up to speed on the "modern" baseball stats they keep throwing at us, we don't need science class breaking out on us in the middle of the Ranger thread