What We’ve Learned: 10 Observations From Rangers Spring Training
With only one week until the Texas Rangers break camp, it seems like the perfect time to do some reflection.
Whatever your expectation level was before the pitchers and catchers had their first workouts back in February, the Rangers have done plenty in camp to exceed a good amount of them.
Does this mean the Rangers will be a playoff contender? Probably not. Does it mean they'll finish at or over .500? Getting a little warmer, but still not likely.
But if we've learned just one thing from the Rangers during spring training this year: Don't tell them can't do all of the above or more.
Fortunately, we have learned more than just that over the past four-and-a-half weeks. Not only about the culture of this club, but we have a clearer picture of what the big league team will actually look like in a week's time.
1. The Rangers preached competition at the beginning of camp. That's exactly what we've seen this spring. So much so, with just a week until the Rangers head back to Arlington, we still don't know who's earned jobs at the following positions:
- First base: Nate Lowe or Ronald Guzmán?
- Third base: It sure looks like Rougned Odor will win the job, but Charlie Culberson and Brock Holt have had solid camps.
- Center field: Leody Taveras certainly hasn't had a bad camp, but Eli White has pushed so much with a great camp that it's a neck-and-neck race.
- The four spots in two tandem roles in the starting rotation: see No. 2 on this list.
- The bullpen: see No. 4 on this list.
In addition to not knowing who will start in what spots, there are several non-roster players who have done plenty to be legitimately considered for a roster spot.
If you look back at last spring (before COVID-19 shut everything down), we didn't know who was going to play first base, but because neither Ronald Guzmán nor Greg Bird grabbed the job by the horns. What ended up happening is Isiah Kiner-Falefa forced himself into the lineup at third base and Todd Frazier shifted across the diamond to fill the empty void at first base.
It's the opposite this year. We don't know if Guzmán or Lowe will be the everyday first baseman because both players have had strong camps. This is exactly what the Rangers wanted across the board. For the most part, that's what they've gotten.
2. The Rangers pitching staff, primarily the starting rotation, may be better than most would expect (feel free excuse the past three spring games where Mike Foltynewicz, Kyle Cody, and Wes Benjamin were all hit hard).
Listen, very few people expect the Rangers to dominate hitters in the American League this year. Kyle Gibson — the Rangers' Opening Day starter — is considered a back-of-the-rotation starter throughout the league, Kohei Arihara has to adjust to the North American game, and Foltynewicz has some proving to do. In addition, and this is an important question, how successful can two tandems be for the remaining slots in the rotation?
Here's the silver lining. Of the eight remaining pitchers competing for four spots in the two tandem roles, just about all of them have received positive marks from management, and most of them have seen positive results in Cactus League games:
- Kolby Allard
- Wes Benjamin
- Kyle Cody
- Dane Dunning
- Taylor Hearn
- John King
- Jordan Lyles
- Hyeon-jong Yang
I don't need to tell you Cactus League games are not the same as when the lights are on, the ballparks get bigger, and the games count in the win-loss columns. But it's a very good thing that there are pitchers like Yang, who's pitching very well and in camp on a minor league contract, might not make the roster because the Rangers simply can't afford to cut ties with any of the remaining candidates.
Who knows how many of these pitchers can sustain success when they're facing each team's "A" lineup, but having a dozen reliable options for the rotation, regardless of service time, is a very good problem to have. You can never have too much pitching.
3. It wouldn't be Rangers spring training without a key player going down with an injury.
This year, two significant players were bitten by the injury bug. Jonathan Hernández suffered a low-grade UCL strain, and a return by June was described as his "best-case scenario" by president of baseball operations Jon Daniels on Saturday. I think we all know what the worst-case scenario would be when it comes to UCL injuries.
Also announced Saturday was Josh Jung's foot injury — a stress fracture that requires surgery and a 6-to-8-week recovery until he's 100 percent.
Hernández was set to be the anchor of the Texas bullpen this season, while Jung — the organization's top prospect — was on the fast track to the big leagues at some point this season. Fortunately for Jung, he will likely only miss the first couple of weeks of the minor league season, and Daniels doesn't feel the injury will drastically impact his timeline to the show.
4. Rangers manager Chris Woodward said near the start of camp that they may not have a traditional closer. As a just a couple days ago, that notion remains intact.
Woodward has said he needs to see more from José Leclerc, who was looked at as the most obvious candidate to fill the role after Jonathan Hernández went down. However, non-roster invitees Ian Kennedy and Matt Bush have both looked very good and are being considered for innings in the back end of the bullpen.
Woodward does admit the final three outs are always the most difficult outs to get. After 10 painful years, Rangers fans know that all too well. However, we may be a month or two into the season before we see any consistency in the ninth inning.
READ MORE: Who Will Be the Rangers' Closer?
5. Let's set the record straight: Joey Gallo hasn't had a strong spring training because of new bats.
Yes, he worked with Marucci to get a more evenly balanced bat, and he has them in camp. However, his impressive five home runs in six games at the start of Cactus League play was done using his previous top-heavy bats.
Even as recently as this week, Gallo confirmed with InsideTheRangers.com that he has not used the new bats in a game. He has used them in batting practice, but after the start he had with his old bats, he wasn't going to stray from them.
Gallo also told us that the Marucci bats could play a role during the season when the team is in a long stretch and could be easier to swing a lighter bat.
6. Speaking of bats, Isiah Kiner-Falefa is using an axe-handle bat, a trend growing among major league players.
However, he got the idea from swinging an actual axe back home in Hawaii. It's not a completely farfetched idea, but it's kind of cool to see how it plays out.
7. David Dahl has trained with virtual reality this spring. Nothing says new age in baseball more than virtual reality. And he went 3-for-3 after using it to train for Johnny Cueto, so ... it may not be going away either.
READ MORE: New Age of Baseball: Rangers' Dahl Experiments With Virtual Reality
8. While we're talking about hitters, we know what the top-third of the lineup is probably going to look like at the start of the season:
- SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa
- LF David Dahl
- RF Joey Gallo
After Gallo, Khris Davis could provide the right-handed thump in the middle of the order the Rangers have needed for a while. Rougned Odor could possibly hit cleanup, along with Nate Lowe or Nick Solak. All of these candidates have batted fourth this spring at some point, so Woodward may play around with the spot for a while if nobody claims it outright.
9. Rougned Odor can play third base. That's not in the context of you know, he's not bad for a second baseman. He's looked very natural there.
He's made the diving plays in the hole. He's made the plays where he has to charge the ball and barehand it to get the out. Chris Woodward has said his skill set fits third base.
In addition, he's bought into playing third base. He didn't seem too enthused about playing at the hot corner at the beginning of camp, but he's sunk his teeth into learning how to succeed there.
Questions may still remain about his bat. But from what we've seen in spring training, Odor has shown plenty that he can be an above average big league third baseman.
READ MORE: 'Unstoppable'? Rangers' Odor Has 'Fully Embraced' New Job
10. Rangers games might be long this season.
For the most part, the Rangers have done a pretty good job of working at-bats, forcing pitchers to throw more pitches than they want. The best example of that came from last week, when they forced Giants' pitching to throw more than 100 pitches in the first four innings of the ballgame.
I believe the best term for that type of baseball is called a war of attrition. However, that won't please the pace-of-play crowd. So, if you're watching a game this year from your couch or in your seat at the ballpark, gird yourselves for a longer game if the Rangers execute their gameplan.
Promo photo: Kelly Gavin / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers
READ MORE: Rangers Top Prospect Josh Jung To Miss Time With Injury
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READ MORE: ‘I’m a Totally Different Player’: Rangers' Guzmán Pushing Hard for Roster Spot
Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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