Night Train Posted June 5, 2023 Report Posted June 5, 2023 16 hours ago, Doohickie said: It's shocking how quickly the Rangers turned around. Bochy is the best manager they've had since Ron Washington, and as much as I liked Wash, Bochy is probably even better. He has the track record at least. The Rangers turned over the starting pitching staff, bringing in Jake deGrom, Nate Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney, all of whom have been stellar. deGrom has missed some games due to injury and former starter-turned-reliever Dane Dunning has been lights out filling in for him. They lucked out a bit (but I think it has a lot to do with Bochy's handling of the situation) that they have some emerging players that are instantly dominant. Jonah Heim (from the Buffalo area) is one of the best catchers in baseball. Josh Jung so far is hands down the rookie of the year, 1st among rookies in all offensive stats, in the top 5 league-wide for most of them. Ezequial Duran came out of nowhere to backfill injured Corey Seager and put up big offensive numbers and solid defense. His play has been so good that Bochy has been forced to get him playing time. Fortunately he's doing well at all the fielding positions so can be used to give the regular starters time off. Grant Anderson been dominant in his MLB debut as a relief pitcher. In two appearances he's struck out 8 of 13 batters, allowing just two singles so far. Early in the season the Rangers were having trouble holding leads; their Achilles heel has been the bullpen. But recently the bullpen has been greatly improved; not only with the appearance of Grant Anderson but in general. The bullpen's recent run of scoreless innings finally broke in the 9th inning of a 16-6 laugher against the Mariners, when John King allowed 3 meaningless runs in the 9th inning. Sinve May 1st, Eovaldi and Gray have combined to go 10-0 with a 1.29 ERA. It's been forever since Texas had pitching. 10+ runs for the 16th time in 58 games. Only done once before by the 1936 Yankees. It's insane how many runs they are scoring. Hiring Bochy, pitching coach Mike Maddox and bringing in his HOF brother Greg Maddox the entire spring for instruction has paid off. GM Chris Young has turned this team completely around. 1 Quote
Doohicksie Posted June 5, 2023 Report Posted June 5, 2023 My wife complained about the late innings the last couple games where the Rangers had a reliever that allowed 3 runs in an outing. I told her: When you have that big of a lead, 3 runs is nothing. But it gives a struggling reliever game conditions to work on his pitching. A few weeks ago Leclerq was struggling that way; now he looks solid. Saturday it was King, Sunday it was Hernandez. After the bumpy outing on Saturday, King closed out the game on Sunday. Still not his best work (allowed a couple of hits) but was able to keep it scoreless in the 9th. Bochy is using the wealth of runs to enable in-game development of his relievers. 1 Quote
Sabel79 Posted June 6, 2023 Report Posted June 6, 2023 Jacob DeGrom having yet another Tommy John surgery. He might have been one of the best pitchers I’ve ever seen, when he could get on the mound. Feel for the guy, but have a feeling he won’t put another whole season together for the remainder of that very long contract he signed in Texas… Quote
Thorner Posted June 25, 2023 Report Posted June 25, 2023 Alright, a hiccup to be sure, but the Jays are back in a playoff spot outright. Roller coaster 43-36 but things may be coming together now along with Vladdy’s bat. Huge W today. 1 Quote
Thorner Posted June 29, 2023 Report Posted June 29, 2023 POSSIBLE PERFECT GAME ALERT Two outs in 8th Domingo Germán Quote
Night Train Posted June 29, 2023 Report Posted June 29, 2023 Rangers continue to just mash the ball. O is unreal. Quote
JustOneParade Posted June 29, 2023 Report Posted June 29, 2023 Thought I'd throw this in here. Lost interest in baseball many years ago (Giants fan since I was a litlle kid into adulthood). Tried to watch a Yankee/Red Sox game a few years back and made it through 1/2 inning. Painfully boring. Went to Fenway last night only because I find games are more tolerable at the ballpark. Wasn't even aware of the new clock rules until I saw them at the park. The improved pace of play was extremely noticeable. Left after the fourth inning because of incoming rain - just under one hour from first pitch. MLB absolutely got that one right. 1 Quote
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