The 2023 Texas Rangers Spring Training Thread

[Kelleyman]

He was toast near season end. Have to lessen that load. Garbed will need to step up or we need a 3rd catcher or both. Huff still in mix

 

[saddles]

He was toast near season end. Have to lessen that load. Garbed will need to step up or we need a 3rd catcher or both. Huff still in mix

I would be interested in seeing how those catchers with more innings than him, and those within 50 innings of that total, fared in the last couple of months of the season.

 

[Kelleyman]

I would be interested in seeing how those catchers with more innings than him, and those within 50 innings of that total, fared in the last couple of months of the season.

Good thought. Regardless. Have to think durability of a catcher is more challenging than any other position

 

[DT LUNA]

Good thought. Regardless. Have to think durability of a catcher is more challenging than any other position

No doubt.

 

[saddles]

Good thought. Regardless. Have to think durability of a catcher is more challenging than any other position

It definitely is. He only started 102 games at catcher though and his bat began to decline by the end of July. It just seems that there might have been more going wrong than just him catching too often.

 

[saddles]

Good thought. Regardless. Have to think durability of a catcher is more challenging than any other position

I may go into the exact numbers later, but I checked those catchers who caught more games than Jonah Heim did last year and 4 catchers who caught just a few games less than him. Of those 9 catchers that I checked, 6 of them saw their averages actually go up after July 31. The 3 that went down all had their averages go down by single digits. Heim's went down 36 points in that time.

 

[Kelleyman]

onths​

• Glossary

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
April/March	10	9	36	30	8	10	2	0	2	9	0	0	6	3	.333	.444	.600	1.044	18	1	0	0	0	0	0	.320	199	207
May	24	20	85	79	10	18	3	0	4	9	1	0	6	18	.228	.282	.418	.700	33	2	0	0	0	0	2	.246	99	95
June	21	18	78	72	7	17	4	0	4	11	1	0	4	17	.236	.269	.458	.728	33	1	0	0	2	0	0	.245	105	97
July	25	22	95	85	17	25	7	0	2	8	0	0	10	21	.294	.368	.447	.816	38	3	0	0	0	0	1	.371	136	129
August	24	19	84	71	4	10	4	1	1	6	0	0	12	14	.141	.274	.268	.541	19	2	1	0	0	0	0	.161	59	56
Sept/Oct	23	18	72	69	5	12	0	0	3	5	0	0	3	14	.174	.208	.304	.513	21	1	0	0	0	0	0	.173	46	45

 

[Kelleyman]

So yeah Heim totally dipped the last couple of months and he really does not have a track record of catching that many games.

Optimistically the overuse is the reason for the dip or maybe he just had an uncharacteristic great start. I surely don’t think he is a sure thing long term investment and back up plans are good.
Garver is a tenderfoot and Huff is unproven.

I was interested in Alfaro due to his defense. With the running game on the rise we need a catcher with a great arm but of course pitchers need to hold runners.

 

[saddles]

So yeah Heim totally dipped the last couple of months and he really does not have a track record of catching that many games.

Optimistically the overuse is the reason for the dip or maybe he just had an uncharacteristic great start. I surely don’t think he is a sure thing long term investment and back up plans are good.
Garver is a tenderfoot and Huff is unproven.

I was interested in Alfaro due to his defense. With the running game on the rise we need a catcher with a great arm but of course pitchers need to hold runners.

I will be interested to see how Cody Freeman does this year in the minors, but to me, at this point, if Huff doesn't pan out we may have to trade for a catcher or go after a free agent.

 

[saddles]

So yeah Heim totally dipped the last couple of months and he really does not have a track record of catching that many games.

Optimistically the overuse is the reason for the dip or maybe he just had an uncharacteristic great start. I surely don’t think he is a sure thing long term investment and back up plans are good.
Garver is a tenderfoot and Huff is unproven.

I was interested in Alfaro due to his defense. With the running game on the rise we need a catcher with a great arm but of course pitchers need to hold runners.

I wonder what it would take to pry Henry Davis away from the Pirates.

 

[saddles]

Here is Evan's answer to my question about the homegrown rotation.

2027: Jack Leiter, Owen White, Kumar Rocker, Mitch Bratt and Brock Porter

His answer was much longer, but this is how it finished up.

 

[saddles]

Here is Evan's answer in detail.

2023 - Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Martín Pérez, Andrew Heaney

2024 - Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Cole Ragans: Pérez is free after 2023 and not eligible for a qualifying offer, so either the sides would have to agree on a deal on their own or he’s off to free agency. I do not rule out the possibility of a longer-term deal for Pérez. He wants to be here. He fits. And maybe there is something that makes sense. But Ragans has been the star of the early portion of camp with a fastball that’s bumped up a notch or two. He looks like ready. Of course, the question is that there just isn’t any leeway for another elbow injury. So, if not Ragans, then Dane Dunning. Point is: There are options that would be significantly less expensive than Pérez. If Owen White is healthy, he’s the best pitching prospect in the system, but so far he has only 115 innings of professional experience. Dark horse: Zak Kent has great breaking stuff and is mature.

2025 - Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Cole Ragans, Jack Leiter: This timetable gives Leiter this year to re-establish his value after a rough first professional season and gives him 2024 to polish himself, perhaps getting some big league time before the end of the year a polishing season. Leiter doesn’t turn 25 until April of 2025. White would be 25 at that point, too.

2026 - Jacob deGrom, Jack Leiter, Cole Ragans, Owen White, Kumar Rocker: It gets a little trickier here because both Gray and Eovaldi are free after 2025, so you’d need two full-time graduations. I think Owen White is going to be part of this rotation as long as he’s healthy. Whether that’s in 2025 or 2026 is still to be determined. Other guys who could figure in by this point are Ricky Vanasco (if not moved to a relief role) and Dane Acker.

2027: Jack Leiter, Owen White, Kumar Rocker, Mitch Bratt and Brock Porter: For the purposes of this exercise, let’s consider that deGrom doesn’t make it to the last year of his contract. Let’s also assume that Ragans’ elbow finally goes. Let us hope against us. But for the sake of including more names, let’s assume it. So, here we insert Brock Porter, the fourth-round pick in 2022 with the first-round talent. He’d be five years into professional baseball, eligible for 40-man roster protection and approaching his 24th birthday. It doesn’t seem rushed at all. Mitch Bratt, the 5th rounder from 2021, had a great 2022 season at Class A Down East and appears to be really mature. But so is T.K,. Roby. And don’t rule out the possibility of Emiliano Teodo or Winston Santos either.

All of this is basically just guessing, but there do appear to be waves of talent on hand that, even with some attrition, should provide the Rangers rotation options. I also would encourage you not to think in terms of five-man rotations, but rather eight-to-10-man pitching pools. That’s what championship clubs need, so even if these guys don’t reach the top of their ceilings and the Rangers have to add a starter or two along the way, they should have viable depth options.

 

[Kelleyman]

Here is Evan's answer in detail.

2023 - Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Martín Pérez, Andrew Heaney

2024 - Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, Cole Ragans: Pérez is free after 2023 and not eligible for a qualifying offer, so either the sides would have to agree on a deal on their own or he’s off to free agency. I do not rule out the possibility of a longer-term deal for Pérez. He wants to be here. He fits. And maybe there is something that makes sense. But Ragans has been the star of the early portion of camp with a fastball that’s bumped up a notch or two. He looks like ready. Of course, the question is that there just isn’t any leeway for another elbow injury. So, if not Ragans, then Dane Dunning. Point is: There are options that would be significantly less expensive than Pérez. If Owen White is healthy, he’s the best pitching prospect in the system, but so far he has only 115 innings of professional experience. Dark horse: Zak Kent has great breaking stuff and is mature.

2025 - Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Cole Ragans, Jack Leiter: This timetable gives Leiter this year to re-establish his value after a rough first professional season and gives him 2024 to polish himself, perhaps getting some big league time before the end of the year a polishing season. Leiter doesn’t turn 25 until April of 2025. White would be 25 at that point, too.

2026 - Jacob deGrom, Jack Leiter, Cole Ragans, Owen White, Kumar Rocker: It gets a little trickier here because both Gray and Eovaldi are free after 2025, so you’d need two full-time graduations. I think Owen White is going to be part of this rotation as long as he’s healthy. Whether that’s in 2025 or 2026 is still to be determined. Other guys who could figure in by this point are Ricky Vanasco (if not moved to a relief role) and Dane Acker.

2027: Jack Leiter, Owen White, Kumar Rocker, Mitch Bratt and Brock Porter: For the purposes of this exercise, let’s consider that deGrom doesn’t make it to the last year of his contract. Let’s also assume that Ragans’ elbow finally goes. Let us hope against us. But for the sake of including more names, let’s assume it. So, here we insert Brock Porter, the fourth-round pick in 2022 with the first-round talent. He’d be five years into professional baseball, eligible for 40-man roster protection and approaching his 24th birthday. It doesn’t seem rushed at all. Mitch Bratt, the 5th rounder from 2021, had a great 2022 season at Class A Down East and appears to be really mature. But so is T.K,. Roby. And don’t rule out the possibility of Emiliano Teodo or Winston Santos either.

All of this is basically just guessing, but there do appear to be waves of talent on hand that, even with some attrition, should provide the Rangers rotation options. I also would encourage you not to think in terms of five-man rotations, but rather eight-to-10-man pitching pools. That’s what championship clubs need, so even if these guys don’t reach the top of their ceilings and the Rangers have to add a starter or two along the way, they should have viable depth options.

Some decent spitballing for EG. He played along

 

[saddles]

Some decent spitballing for EG. He played along

Yeah, he seemed to enjoy the exercise. I asked Newberg the same thing for his next question and answer article. I wonder if he will get into the exercise as much as Evan did.

 

[saddles]

Englert didn't fare very well in his last couple of outings. Maybe we will get lucky and he will look awful the rest of this spring and we will get him back.

 

[Kelleyman]

Englert didn't fare very well in his last couple of outings. Maybe we will get lucky and he will look awful the rest of this spring and we will get him back.

Sure there is quite a bit of pressure. We hope the best for us and secondly for him

 

[Kelleyman]

Anybody keeping up with WBC. Not able to watch anything but highlights so far

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]

With Grossman in RF I wonder if that is with the possibility of Adolis playing some CF in mind.

 

[saddles]

Anybody keeping up with WBC. Not able to watch anything but highlights so far

To be honest, the overhype about the WBC the last few weeks in my Twitter feed has left me a tad uninterested in it.