Rangers at Astros Pre-Game Notes: Woodward Happy to Still Have Lynn, Impressed with Guzmán's Performance

Two of baseball's marquee pitchers will face off on Thursday afternoon in the rubber match between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Two of baseball's marquee pitchers will face off on Thursday afternoon in the rubber match between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.

Texas Rangers (13-22) @ Houston Astros (20-15)

Thursday, September 3, 2020
1:10 p.m. CT
Minute Maid Park | Houston, TX
Roof Closed

Probables
TEX: RHP Lance Lynn (4-1, 7.52 ERA)
vs
HOU: RHP Zack Greinke (2-0, 2.68 ERA)

Broadcast

Texas Rangers
TV: FOX Sports Southwest, MLB Network
Radio: 105.3 The Fan, KFLC

Houston Astros
TV: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Radio: KBME

Texas Rangers Starting Lineup

1. CF Leody Taveras
2. 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa
3. DH Shin-Soo Choo
4. 2B Nick Solak
5. RF Joey Gallo
6. C Jose Trevino
7. 1B Ronald Guzmán
8. SS Elvis Andrus
9. LF Eli White

Houston Astros Starting Lineup

1. CF George Springer
2. 2B Jose Altuve
3. DH Michael Brantley
4. 1B Yuli Gurriel
5. LF Kyle Tucker
6. 3B Aledmys Díaz
7. RF Josh Reddick
8. C Martín Maldonado
9. SS Jack Mayfield

Injury Report

10-Day IL

• Joe Palumbo (ulcerative colitis flare-up): eligible August 14
• Willie Calhoun (strained left hamstring): eligible August 30
• Jesse Chavez (left big toe sprain): eligible September 2
• Danny Santana (right elbow sprain): eligible September 6
• Rougned Odor (right eye infection): eligible September 7

45-Day IL

• Brock Burke (left shoulder surgery): eligible May 27
• Corey Kluber (torn right teres major muscle (shoulder)): eligible September 11
• José Leclerc (torn right teres major muscle (shoulder)): eligible September 13
• Edinson Vólquez (right oblique strain): eligible September 27

Chris Woodward Pre-Game Quotes

First conversation with Lance Lynn after trade deadline:

“Yeah, it was more of a joking conversation like, ‘Hey, man, you're still here.’ It was kind of one of those things. There wasn't much said, to be honest with you. I think it was. We haven't had that much dialogue since then. It was just more of like, *knuckles* and ‘Hey, man. Glad you're still here.’ We've had so much dialogue before that, it was just a relief for both of us that he was still here. He's older, he's been around. I'm not worried about him. It was more of the younger guys, maybe Joey [Gallo], guys like that, who were just making sure their mental state was okay afterwards.”

On Guzmán's hot start since being recalled:

"Yeah, he looks a lot better. I think a lot of it was timing, honestly. Talking to Cody Atkinson, our hitting coach on the alternate site, some of it was timing when he gets ready. You can see he gets ready early. Some of his positioning with his hands, with his bat, puts him in a better position to fire. I think his pace through his swing is much better. It's not as forced. That has a lot to do with timing, because before he was kind of late and he would have to be really quick through the zone, whereas now he has a little more length to kind of let his swing play. So, swing mechanic-wise, it's smoother because of the pace, because of the timing. He's on it. He's got a cleaner path for the ball, which allows him to ride through. He's on time for a fastball. You could see yesterday he was on time and he hit forward hard. The other day he hit changeup out front, but he still was able to hit a line drive. So, those are things that allow him to have more success. Before it was a little bit rushed at times. His timing was off. His path was a little off at times, so he just mis-hit balls, he was swinging and missing, and everything was just really rushed. So he looks a lot better right now. We're just trying to keep him consistent with them."

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