Texas Rangers Home Opener vs Los Angeles Angels...on MLB The Show 20
Tuesday, March 31 was supposed to be the Texas Rangers home opener at the beautiful new Globe Life Field against the Los Angeles Angels. The coronavirus pandemic has taken this experience away from us all for now, and it doesn't help that the weather in north Texas was absolutely wonderful.
Unfortunately, we were robbed of baseball in the beautiful weather today, but thanks to the virtual world of video games, we can still visualize what the day would have been like.
HIGHLIGHTS from our simulation of the Rangers vs Angels on MLB The Show 20 are in the featured video above.
I set up a franchise mode with the Texas Rangers on MLB The Show 20, the newest edition of the popular Major League Baseball game made by Sony San Diego Studio. I set the roster for what I predicted the Opening Day Roster would look like and played on dynamic difficulty, which has already made its way to Legend difficulty on the hitting side on my own free time.
My Opening Day Rangers roster looked like this:
Starting Rotation (5)
Mike Minor
Lance Lynn
Corey Kluber
Kyle Gibson
Jordan Lyles
Bullpen (8)
Jose Leclerc
Rafael Montero
Jesse Chavez
Joely Rodriguez
Nick Goody
Brett Martin
Jonathan Hernandez
Luke Farrell
Catchers (2)
Robinson Chirinos
Jeff Mathis
Infielders (6)
Ronald Guzman
Rougned Odor
Elvis Andrus
Todd Frazier
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Matt Duffy
Outfielders (5)
Joey Gallo
Danny Santana
Shin-Soo Choo
Nick Solak
Scott Heineman
I have Willie Calhoun absent, as he'd still be recovering from his fractured jaw. Actual good news with him is he has begun baseball activities again.
In the first four games in Seattle in the franchise mode, the Rangers took three out of four games, with the rotation order going Minor, Lynn, Kluber, and Gibson. Despite a quality start, Lynn earned the lone loss in Seattle.
The Rangers then took a 3-1 record back to Arlington to take on the 2-2 Los Angeles Angels. With the day off between Sunday's finale in Seattle and Tuesday's home opener, the rotation skipped Jordan Lyles' start, giving Minor the start for the home opener.
When it comes to the lineup for the home opener, I went with the information we gathered from Chris Woodward on where certain hitters would be in the lineup, along with a couple of my own instincts.
Texas Rangers Lineup
DH Shin-Soo Choo
SS Elvis Andrus
RF Joey Gallo
3B Todd Frazier
CF Danny Santana
2B Rougned Odor
LF Nick Solak
1B Ronald Guzman
C Robinson Chirinos
In the simulation (where I controlled the Rangers, of course), Minor allowed a run in the first inning, but the Rangers answered in the bottom of the first. Elvis Andrus recorded the first Rangers hit in Globe Life Field's history off Angels starter Dylan Bundy. On the very next pitch, Joey Gallo recorded the first home run hit in the stadium's history, belting a 415-foot two-run home run over the Rangers bullpen in right-center field.
Gallo wasn't done. In the bottom of the third, Gallo came up with two on and two out and sent another moonshot to straightaway right field to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead.
Minor went six innings. He tried to go into the seventh, but after allowing two singles to start the inning, Jesse Chavez came in to relieve Minor. Chavez allowed a run to score, but was able to keep a three-run lead intact.
Rafael Montero pitched a perfect eighth inning, paving the way for Jose Leclerc to close out the game for the Rangers. After allowing a two-out single to David Fletcher, Leclerc got Anthony Rendon to fly out to Joey Gallo in right field, securing a win for the home opener at Globe Life Field.
One day, I'll get to write about the actual home opener at the new home of the Rangers. For the time being, escaping to a virtual fantasy isn't so bad when trying to salvage our impatience for the baseball season to get underway.
Follow Inside The Rangers on SI on Twitter: @SITexasRangers
Like Inside The Rangers on SI on Facebook: facebook.com/SITexasRangers
Follow our Rangers insider Chris Halicke on Twitter: @ChrisHalicke
Click the "follow" button in the top right corner to join the conversation on Inside The Rangers on SI. Access and comment on featured stories and start your own conversations and post external links on our community page.
