2024 Texas Rangers

Rangers end 3 game losing streak with WIN Wed. vs. Oakland: 6 - 2.

Season record: 7-5

Astros lose to KC today: 11-2 to go 4-9 on the season....

 

Cody Bradford continues his hot start to the season and I definitely think it will be Heaney or Gray who gets replaced by Lorentzen in a few days in the rotation as Cody is on way too hot a streak to be put in a bullpen role. The Rangers need to get the series win today against the A's and then head down to Houston for another big series. The Astros have struggled out of the gate but they are too good for this to continue much longer and the Rangers need to take advantage of their early season issues.

 

Friday night: Rangers up 12-8 B 9th.... bats were ALIVE tonight!!@

Yates in to close the door in the 9th. Bochy has had enough of Leclerc and so have I !!!

 

Final:

Rangers 12
Astros. 8

 

Yates may be the closer going forward!

Giddy up !!!

 

WorsterMan, you may be right. I'm not sure it's Yates - but I'm pretty sure it isn't Leclerc. And BTW - looks like Brock Burke needs to go back down to AAA to sort out his issues - he's not helping the Rangers one bit.

 

Burke is on DL after punching a wall Friday night. Fortunately, it was his non-throwing hand but still a pretty stupid move. The Rangers miss an opportunity Saturday as they implode in the seventh leaving the bases loaded in the top of the inning and then giving up a seven spot in the bottom of the inning. The Rangers still have a chance to take the weekend series in Houston today and coupled with last weekend take the seven-game early season set against the Astros. With Eovaldi on the mound today the Rangers have their ace so hopefully that sets up well. Houston has 3/4 of its starters on the DL and Texas really needs to take advantage of that because the Astros will not stay down long and every game here early is more rope for later in the season when Houston gets back to full strength but also when the Rangers may look very different as well with Scherzer, Jung, Lowe et al back in the rotation and back in the line-up.

 

^Great post, FWHORN. Sorry to hear Brock lost it and broke his hand, but IMO he was about to get sent back to the minors to work out his pitching issues. I agree - the Rangers really need to build a huge lead on the Astros in the standings. The Astros won't suck the entire season - they will come back. I'm not very concerned about the Angels - they won't be able to maintain their pace much longer. The Mariners are still a concern - if they can ever start hitting. But IMO the Division is there for the Rangers to take - and now is the right time to stake their claim.

 

Rangers drop the rubber match in Houston today and also lose the seven game early season set 4-3. Being as I am still riding that October/November high I will admit that all in all it was better to win the 7 game set last fall and lose this one than for it to be the other way around and that is the consolation I take tonight. More bad news on the injury front as Bradford felt soreness in his back and is now on the DL too. Lorentzen will slip in to his next start this week in Detroit. Long season ahead but wow are the injuries piling up. 146 games to play!

 

Dayum, Bradford to the DL!!! Hell he was in a groove and had a 3-0 record. Injuries are indeed piling up EARLY!

I'm hopeful Scherzer can be back by late May. He is ahead of rehab schedule that predicted sometime in June.

Guess Lorenzen coming into the starting rotation is very good timing with Bradford going to the DL. However, he must get it done.

 

Whew! Monday night:

Rangers 1
Tiggers 0

 

After losing 1-0 last week to the A’s, the Rangers turn the tables tonight and get a 1-0 win over the Tigers. Lorentzen with a quality start of five innings followed by two scoreless for LeClerc who is settling in to his middle reliever role and then the typical scoreless innings for Robertson and Yates to close out the game. CY absolutely hit the jackpot on Robertson and Yates in bullpen roles when it came to off-season acquisitions. You also have to think that if Lorentzen shows the rest of the year what he showed tonight the Montgomery decision will look better and better.

 

Was not able to watch but very pleased to learn Lorentezen pitched very well thru 5 innings! He is NOW part of the starting rotation....

Maybe Leclerc mid innings with Robertson / Yates as the closers are the tonic! We will see

In Bochy I trust!

 

The Leiter spring watch showed that he was ready for some action with the big club and Thursday he will get his first MLB start. When he was selected number 2 we all had high hopes, hopes that for two years seemed like forlorn hopes. But this immediate past spring training and his early Triple A starts this year have impressed and maybe just maybe that pick will actually pay dividends.

Rangers calling up Jack Leiter, No. 2 pick in 2021 MLB draft, for Thursday start

 

I hope so, but we will only know if they leave him in the rotation for 3 or 4 starts.

 

And even when the starting pitcher performs well, the bullpen has to be capable of holding a lead and closing it out. So far the bullpen is not delivering - I expect to see some moves in the bullpen pretty soon.

 

Yup, winable game today. Instead a 4-2 loss to the lowly tiggers.....

 

Rangers and tiggers 1-1 with 2 games left in the series.

 

The Rangers bullpen is actually much improved over last year but when the Rangers are just not scoring there will be days like yesterday where a 2-1 lead ends up in a 4-2 loss. The bats have to come alive and give some run support beyond 1 or 2 runs. I am excited to see what Leiter does Thursday and the news that Scherzer could be doing rehab assignments by early May and pitching well before Memorial Day means that the starting rotation could look very different very soon. Eovaldi, Dunning, Lorenzen, Bradford when he comes back, along with Scherzer, is a more than capable rotation with Heaney and Gray back into long reliever and spot starter roles. LeClerc has also shown well in his two appearances in his new middle reliever role. The Rangers lead the AL West because everyone else is struggling too but if the bats would just come alive they could be getting some distance in the standings. Houston lost again yesterday to fall to 6-13 but I keep saying that is not going to last and the Rangers need to make some hay now before the Astros wake up.

 

WHEW! Rangers squeak out a gritty 5-4 win vs. tiggers and miss the predicted rain for the game.

Kirby Yates closes the door in the 9th and gets his second win. Garcia and Heim hits get 3 runs in the 4th or 5th? Josh Smith hit in the top of the 9th gets the winning run home.

Ranger 10-9 on the season.

Thursday - Pitcher Jack Leiter makes his MLB debut vs. a pitcher named Kenta Maeda (0-1) for the tiggers.

 

The Robertson/Yates 8th and 9th inning rotation has been nails even with the first surrendered run of the season by those two in hold/save situations today and that strategy gets it done again today with some help from a ninth inning run to get the Rangers the 5-4 road win. Houston lost its third in a row and is now 6-14. I keep saying the astros will eventually awaken from their early season slumber but the good news is they haven't yet and Seattle has started slow too keeping the slow start for the Rangers from creating a hole they would have to climb out of. Another noon start and Leiter on the mound tomorrow means another afternoon of constantly checking updates from my desk.

 

Yeah, Astros got swept by the Braves today.

Astro record of 6-14 is getting to be a big hole to dig out of. Meantime Ranger bats need to come fully alive and get some wins!

 

The Rangers will highlight their movement today with Leiter starting and Carter, Langford, and Wendzel potentially in the lineup. That means they could have four rookies on the field at the same time. More significantly they have five recent first-round draft picks on their roster which is some evidence that they have been getting it right at the top of the draft the last couple of years. There were some petty articles last year saying the Rangers bought their World Series and while Texas did undeniably spend big it also has some homegrown talent and a mix of free agents and homegrown talent has always been the recipe for long-term success and not just a one year flash in the pan.

The Windup: Jack Leiter latest Rangers prospect to debut; Miguel Rojas’ response to a changed role

 

Well, Rangers lite up Maeda today for 4 runs to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead T2.

Leiter has 3 strikeouts so far, however he is struggling B2 as the tiggers have tied up the game 4-4. There is action in the bullpen. Suspect Bochy will give him at least another inning maybe 2 to see if he settles down and how he handles the adversity.

Meantime Garcia gets a solo HR to help retake the lead 5-4.

 

Bats came alive and the Good Guys get a wild 9-7 vicktree over the tiggers to take the series 3-1 and stay in first place in the AL West at 11-9.

Home runs from Semien, Garcia & Heim with Langford & Taveras having very productive games.

I missed what struggling Leiter did after the 2nd inning. Urena came in for 3 solid innings in relief of Leiter. Leclerc gets the W. Kirby Yates gets the save.

Now on to Atlanta for 3 games. They are playing well - 12-5 and in first place in their division. They swept Astros in 3 the other day.

 

This afternoon, Leiter went 3 2/3 in his MLB debut giving up 7 runs but the Rangers bats come alive and Texas gets the 9-7 win. Urena came on for three innings of work and LeClerc in his middle reliever role actually shifted back an inning and pitched the last out of the seventh and two outs in the eighth to get the win. Yates who seems now firmly set as the closer then got a 4 out save.

For those disturbed by how rocked Leiter was, remember that last year Cody Bradford's first couple of starts were even more rocky, that is what happens when most rookie pitchers face major league batters for the first time. Leiter hopefully will show the same trajectory as Bradford did last season and improve with each new start and be the pitcher we all thought Texas was getting with the number 2 pick in the '22 draft.

On to Atlanta for three starting tomorrow.

 

BTW, Taveras missed a catchable deep ball that would have ended the inning but it gave Detroit 3 runs that were charged to Leiter. The catch would have kept the score 7-4 and likely given Leiter more time in the game and a much better look overall.

 

So you are saying Leiter is undefeated in his MLB career?? #GoRangers!!!

 

Good point, WM. That play is one that Taveras makes 99.9% of the time - today was the outlier. If he makes the play, Leiter is out of the inning - and his pitch count gains some breathing room.

 

Sunday night Rangers win 6-4 over the Braves!!! Yates closed the door in the 9th. Rangers still in 1st place in the West.

Astros lost, again, to Washington to go 7 -16 on the season.

Was not able to watch. Had to track on the phone.