Latest / Foul Territory / Manager Skip Schumaker and P Tyler Alexander join FT @Rangers camp + Rangers 2026 Season Preview

Transcript

Manager Skip Schumaker and P Tyler Alexander join FT @Rangers camp + Rangers 2026 Season Preview · Foul Territory

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Here with the Rangers manager Skip Schumacher. It's just such
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: an easy thing to call you Skip because you're the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Skipper and that's your name. When your parents named you,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: did they know that this was going to be your profession,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: so they figured to just make it easy on everyone.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Actually, no, my dad didn't love the name, I think initially,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: and so there was a few Jared's on my t
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: ball team.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: And I could do a lot of.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Things athletically, but I couldn't Skip, And he thought it'd
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: be funny if that happened, if you nicknamed me it.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: And here I am, so my mom calls me Jared.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Still, any of your players call you Jared? Any of
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: your players know that's your name?
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: I bet you half of them have no idea.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Any idea.
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: So here we are.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: So we're gonna start calling you Jared. I just like Jared.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: But then then I'll still call you Skip, So it
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: won't it won't make any sense. What's the transition been
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: like you were you were obviously a manager and then
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: you went kind of into a front office role. What
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: was the transition like back to the field? Good?
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: I mean, I mean, I was very fortunate to have,
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: you know, the see why, gave me the opportunity to
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: kind of learn the organization. Got to watch Bruce Bochi
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: do his uh you know, obviously a Hall of Fame
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: manager go about his work.
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: Got to learn from him.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: But they're very like welcoming as far as the front
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: office into the major league clubhouse, the minor league clubhouses,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: and I got to take a break and kind of
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: you know, look back and see what I could do better, uh,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: you know, the first time around. And I feel like
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: you're always better your second time around in anything. And
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: so hopefully, hopefully, I you know, we'll see what happens here.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: But very grateful for this opportunity.
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: SKIP give us the field coming into in the camp.
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: I mean, you got a team coming off a World
• 1:48
  Speaker 4: Series not too long ago and then kind of a
• 1:51
  Speaker 4: down year last year. Uh you a big voice in
• 1:54
  Speaker 4: Marcus Simeon gets traded away, but there's still a lot
• 1:58
  Speaker 4: of really big time talent on the team. And how
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: how's the how's the feel of the group coming into
• 2:04
  Speaker 4: twenty twenty.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: Six clubhouses is awesome? Right now? You know, it's a
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: it's still early.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: We have what ten gay ten days and lost their
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: game to have lost anything it's been been a lot
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: of fun. I think everybody has their hopes high still
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: of not only what the season could be, but as
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: far as a team aspect, but their individual seasons. There's
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: a lot of motivated guys in there. You know, obviously
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: there was a it was a tough year last year
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: and we didn't get into the playoffs, and I think
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of expectations to get into the playoffs
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: and make a deep run in it at it so
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: you know, with Jake Berger and JJ and Jack Peterson
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: and a lot of guys are are ready to get
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: this season going and and try to prove what happened
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: last year wrong. And motivation is a dangerous quality to
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: have in an offseason because as a manager you're trying
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: to always find that motivation, and when they already have it,
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: it's it's kind of nice entering a spring training because
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: they're ready to go.
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: Skip.
• 3:00
  Speaker 6: You talked a lot about, you know, wanting to change
• 3:02
  Speaker 6: what happened last year a bit. You know, the team
• 3:05
  Speaker 6: finished right around five hundred, but what has to change
• 3:08
  Speaker 6: in order for this team to get back into contention.
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: We know that you have one of the most talented rotations.
• 3:14
  Speaker 5: You know in baseball.
• 3:15
  Speaker 6: But if you were to pinpoint one thing that needs
• 3:17
  Speaker 6: to change to get back to where you want to be,
• 3:19
  Speaker 6: what would it be.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Well, I think our our offense has to to get going,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and I think the we have the type of lineup
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: for a really good offense to happen. During the season
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: during at least one sixty two, we had some guys
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: that were hurt or injured throughout the season that just
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: couldn't get back on track.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: And I think that was probably the biggest, uh, you know,
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: outlier last year.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: And I think we're hoping just to get these guys
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: back on track to their career norms and I think
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: there will be a lot a lot different outcome, but
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: you know, staying healthy obviously with the pitching staff, Evo
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: and de Grom at the top at Kenzie or what
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: a great addition he is, you know, I had him
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: a little bit in the San Diego days or you know,
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: early on, and just.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: A perfect fit here.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Great kid, hard worker and can only get better, you know,
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: being around to Grom and Evo and then obviously Lighter
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: had a phenomenal year last year. You know, seeing what
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: his sophomore season is going to look like, but if
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: our pitching and defense is what it was or similar
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: to what it was last year, I still believe in
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: pitching and defense. But if our offense clicks, like we
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: know it can, you know, we should be right where
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: we want to be.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Well, how do you make the offense click? Because the narrative,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: it's been two years now. Can't hit the forcing fastball, right,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, it's been the thing which is usually if
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: you don't hit that, you usually struggle offensively. So when
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: you went up to the front office and you got
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: to know everything that was going on, how do you
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: bring that back down and say, man, guys, we can
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: hit the forcing fastball. What adjustments do you make?
• 4:52
  Speaker 7: Yeah?
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: I think you find different ways to win. And I
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: think we kind of we're hoping for the three run
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: home run a lot. We kind of got exposed a
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: little bit, and I think the you know, having Brandon
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: here maybe at the top of the lineup, hopefully at
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: the top top of the lineup, will provide that. On
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: base I know he's slugged a lot the last couple
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: of years, but when he's been in that leadoff spot,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: he's been kind of an on base machine. And I
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: think He's been really good for our young guys, talking
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: about you know, kind of the approach and not just
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: slug but like real approach with Evan Carter and with Wyatt. Obviously,
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Corey's your aircraft carrier, you know. I've heard that, you know,
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: saying before, but he is a real aircraft carrier. If
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: we can keep him healthy for you know, one fifty plus,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: we'll also, I think, be really good.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: But you know, we have some ideas in that cage.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: I think everybody, every hitting coach has an idea of
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: you know, looking back on it, reflecting and trying to,
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: you know, see what they can do better from what
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: happened last year with JV and Centrone here. You know,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: we got him from Houston. We were hoping to get
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: back on track with hitting the fastball, especially at the
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: top of the zone, and I think we're working hard
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: to get there.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Cintron, if you felt like a trader, by the way,
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: sounds like you've been in Houston basically your whole coaching career.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Now you switch sides in the riv where do you
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: feel like a trader? And he just kind of laughed
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: at me. So I don't know if that was a
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: yes or no.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, he's a beauty you're lucky to have.
• 6:20
  Speaker 8: And now let's talk about the number one rated ticketing app.
• 6:24
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• 6:26
  Speaker 8: here each day is just run through a few reasons
• 6:29
  Speaker 8: why you should be checking out tickets for spring training guys.
• 6:32
  Speaker 8: So again, today's Tuesday for Tuesday show, but I'm looking
• 6:35
  Speaker 8: at Wednesday games. So tonight you can go and find
• 6:38
  Speaker 8: Paul Skins pitching actually against the Braves on Wednesday. That's
• 6:42
  Speaker 8: probably the one start, and then you go on to
• 6:45
  Speaker 8: Team USA and the World Baseball Classic. Kratz is Boy,
• 6:48
  Speaker 8: I know the ticket you're getting. Krats. Johann O Viedo,
• 6:51
  Speaker 8: your favorite pitcher in baseball. I think it's making his
• 6:53
  Speaker 8: spring training debut for Boston against the Twins on Wednesday.
• 6:57
  Speaker 8: Cody Ponce making his debut for the Blue Jay, signed
• 7:00
  Speaker 8: for thirty million bucks this offseason, Casey Miz pitching against him,
• 7:03
  Speaker 8: Hunter Brown making his spring debut, Nico Lodolo as we're
• 7:06
  Speaker 8: at Red's camp, he's gonna pitch on Wednesday. And Roki
• 7:09
  Speaker 8: Sazaki for the Dodgers. So a lot of good pitchers
• 7:12
  Speaker 8: to look at and you can find them in Arizona
• 7:14
  Speaker 8: or in Florida in those spring training games and also
• 7:17
  Speaker 8: aj of course World Baseball Classic around the corner. So
• 7:21
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• 7:23
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• 7:25
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• 7:27
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• 7:29
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• 7:31
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• 7:35
  Speaker 9: You got to kind of figure out your drive. You
• 7:38
  Speaker 9: can go through the schedule of when, where all the
• 7:41
  Speaker 9: games are, where you'll be sitting, because in Florida you're
• 7:44
  Speaker 9: you're a Northerner.
• 7:45
  Speaker 5: You sit there and you.
• 7:46
  Speaker 9: Go, ah, I don't want to be out of the sun.
• 7:48
  Speaker 9: You'll know which side of the stadium during that game
• 7:51
  Speaker 9: time has that and you have a little shade if
• 7:53
  Speaker 9: you want it, or if you want the sun, you
• 7:56
  Speaker 9: get it.
• 7:58
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• 8:00
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• 8:08
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• 8:11
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• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: See Keek Skip what's it?
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: So?
• 8:16
  Speaker 4: Walk me through what it's like. What is going to
• 8:19
  Speaker 4: be like managing this team versus managing in Miami. You
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: got a lot kind of a different dynamic with Miami.
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: You hat a lot of young players coming up and
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: here you got a lot of a lot of older
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: guys that have done it and have been through it all.
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: Is there a way that you're going to go about
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: it differently or is it just you're going to manage
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: how you manage?
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: You know, at the end of the day, it's about relationships,
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: and I'm trying to build them as quick as I can,
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: as organic as I can, and not force them. You know,
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: as you've been in the clubhouse with different clubhouses, it's
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: all about the culture that is in that clubhouse. That
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: can change at the direction of a club, either good
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: or bad. And so I'm trying to do the best
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: I can with some of our staff that was here
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: last year and then some new guys that we brought
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: in to create a fun work environment. And it's all
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: about people. If we can get them on board and
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: get our best players, you know, to be leaders, which
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: I know they are, we can move this thing in
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: the right direction pretty quick.
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: But as far as changing.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Man, I love being in a big league clubhouse. Grateful
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: to be here, grateful to you know, lead that group
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: of those group of players inside that club clubhouse, and
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: so that the change isn't much different. I think it's
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: just trying to build these relationships as quick as I
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: can skip.
• 9:34
  Speaker 6: You mentioned watching Boach a lot and what he did
• 9:36
  Speaker 6: with this group last year. Obviously we all all know
• 9:39
  Speaker 6: that you're following a future Hall of Famer, But how
• 9:41
  Speaker 6: do you balance that by watching what he did with
• 9:44
  Speaker 6: the previous culture and then also kind of making this
• 9:46
  Speaker 6: team your own.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously this group had Boach for three years. One
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: with Boach won World Series. A lot of these guys
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: one with with Boat here, and again, I mean, is
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: there a better guy that to learn from than Bruce Bochie?
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: So I try to do whatever I could to take
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: bits and pizzas from him and try to make it
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: your own, because you want to be authentic. You know,
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: it's a copycat league to an extent, and certain drills
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: and you know that type of thing. But what Boach
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: was really good at was relationships. He was good at
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: the end game stuff. Maybe the best ever, you know,
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: as far as you know managing a bullpen and that
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: type of thing, and you know, talking to him postgame
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: and wondering, you know, how his mind work and what
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: he did with analytics, but also trusting his gut and
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: going a different way sometimes when it worked and why
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: he did what he did. It helped me, you know,
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: keep sharp and try to get my brain working as well.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: But you know, again, I think it's about being authentic
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: and being who you are, because you can lose a
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: clubhouse quick if you're not you know who you say
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: you are right, and you'll never get it back. So
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: I'm just trying to make sure I am the same guy,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: but also learn from previous experiences and grateful again for
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: for Boach.
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: Make a suggestion on a nice Bouch tribute that I
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: think you should do game one is just to grab
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: one of his old hats and wear it in the
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: dugout for game one.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: It would go down to my neck, Yeah.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: It would cover the you'd have to move. Do you
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: have to take Global Life roof and open it so
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: you could get it on your head? So position battles
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: in camp second base probably fifth starter ish, yeah, or
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: the main two that you guys are probably looking at
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: right now.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: Definitely.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: I think, you know, smith has been Smithy has been
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: great at second base so far. You know, last year
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: he had a really good first half. His second half,
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: you know, stumbled a little bit. And I think, you know,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: just talking with him, just getting back to being a
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: baseball player, chase winning, don't chase anything else. And I
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: think when he does that, he's a really good baseball
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: player because he's a you know, really good fit in
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: the clubhouse.
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: He can play all over the infield.
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: But I think if maybe if you put him at
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: one spot, you know, you might see those numbers is
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: really trend the right direction. But yeah, there's a couple guys,
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: you know, you got Duran and Freeman, guys that are
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: battling it out over there. Freeman just got hurt, you know,
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: with the back injury. So we still have a couple
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: of guys battling there. The fifth spot in the rotation
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: is gonna it be fun to watch in spring training.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: You know, you have Lats and Rocker and Gomber and
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: con and Quantrill who just you know, Cal is pretty
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: upset about the loss in there with you know, Canada.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: So he's you know what they say, suck at Canada.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: You said it.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Yelling at Quadrille and our pitching coach, Yeah.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: Seeks is pretty upset that Canada Jersey.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Right off we took and now we've taken hockey from
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: what else? What else is left?
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: So so that started. That will be a battle and
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: will also really affect how the bullpen.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: But you're one, two, three, four is obviously to Graham,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Valdi Gore lighter. Yes, would be the four that are
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: penciled in, and that's a pretty good way to start.
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: It's a great way.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: You know, you enter every series hoping for a fighting chance,
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: right and you feel really good about three guys going,
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: which I think will have every every single series.
• 13:12
  Speaker 6: Skip wanted to ask about Mackenzie Gore. You mentioned him
• 13:15
  Speaker 6: a big, big addition for you guys this offseason. How
• 13:17
  Speaker 6: do you see him fitting in it and what have
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: you seen from him so far in spring training.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: McKenzie is a pro. It's the best way I can
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: explain it. Every drill he has or he does is.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: With intent, whether it's the bullpen, the weight room, the
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: training room, and he's sitting right next to de Gram
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: and Evo inside that clubhouse which goes a long way.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: As you know, the clubhouse, the way it works, it's
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: you know, you can have really good coaches around, but
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: when you have superstar, potential Hall of Fame players sitting
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: right next to you kind of in your same department,
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: that goes a long way. I saw at firsthand, you know,
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: when I was growing up in the Cardinal system with
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: you know, Wayne Wright and Carpenter and kind of you
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: know how that went. And I can see it happening
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: right now with you know, how they're put in their
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: arm and well they did that last year with with
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Lighter and and and Latsie and hopefully you know, Rocker
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: this year. And then obviously with Mackenzie, I think is
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: only going to go, uh, go in the right direction.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: But Mackenzie I had him a little bit in San Diego.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: He's a freak athlete, you know, obviously with the left
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: handed starter that we really needed uh in the rotation.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: But I, I just I have no idea what it's
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: going to be like.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: But I'm assuming it's going to be really good because
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: he is learning from some of the best in the game.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: Skippon to ask you about an old college teammate of mine,
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: Jordan Montgomery, who's not too far off from being absolutely
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: nails with Texas. You know, a couple a couple of
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: things happened in Arizona that kind of, you know, maybe
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: set him back, But I don't feel like he's too
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: far away from being the money that he was. But
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: when he was in Texas and now he's back at
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: a familiar, familiar spot, what's the what's the plan for money?
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: I agree with you.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: You know, we're really lucky to have him kind of
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: a late sign in spring training or in the off season,
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: I should say. You know, I had Monty when I
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: was the bench coach in Saint Louis and he was
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: absolutely dominant for us, and then we traded him to
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: Texas and they won a World Series with him.
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: So that wasn't real.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: Surprising just because of you know, who he is, strike thrower,
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: ground ball pitcher. He's got some edge to him, and
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: I think he's excited that he's back here a familiar
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: place after a you know, pretty tough, uh, you know, injury.
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: Riddled last couple of years.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: But he should be back in you know, June July,
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: you know that type of one of those months and
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: you know he's fired up, really good shape and can't
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: wait to get out there. So yeah, we're lucky to
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: have them. It's all about depth. You need depth starting pitching.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: Depth. And so he's he's not far away.
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: He's skinny, by the way.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: He looks good, doesn't he Yeah.
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: Sam good, he's he's skinny. Yeah. Before I let you go,
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: you have a son that's a senior in high school.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: We've talked about it. He's committed to TCU to play baseball.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: How do you deal with missing your family's games? Like,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: I'm lucky my son's in college, so I can watch
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: them on you know, the apps and stuff. But your
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: son's in high school. Do they set up a special camera?
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: Does your wife have to film every game and then
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: send you every bat?
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, luckily they have different cameras set up at the
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: home field, the road.
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: And my you know, my wife is like one of
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: the you know, on the fence line.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: She's one of those people. Now I want to see it, yeah,
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: you know, I get it.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So you know, I'm very grateful for this year
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: and a half to be able to watch.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: So many games of his.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: And then my daughter also plays soccer, so as you know,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: the toughest part of this job is is missing on
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: those you know, special moments where there's games or proms.
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: Or whatever it is.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: But I got that reset in my life and I
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: got to see him play so many games this year
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: and my daughter that you know, now, my cup is full, man,
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: and I'm so grateful for it.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: But I get to see it.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: I still talk to him every day, and the most
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: important part is you want to be present. You want
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: them to feel like you are still a part of
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: their lives. And so every phone call I pick up,
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: every FaceTime call I pick up, and just to make
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: sure that they know I'm still still there for him.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: It's hard, yeah, but I'm grateful for that.
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: Does your does your wife? Is your wife a good filmer?
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Because mine's stunk at it and she knew she's stunk
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: at it, right, so she would get the fence sometimes
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: to be focused on the fence instead of the hit air.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: The opposite direction.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: Yes, sing in the back, Yes, yeah, I prefer one
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: of my buddies to film it, but that's what I have.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Then I'll take it and pluse whoever he gets a
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: hit just filming. Then you want them to film instead
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: of the other.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: Person right, exactly right.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: They punch out. You're like, no, no, you can't go.
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: Any audition still is still happens in high school?
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Okay?
• 17:36
  Speaker 6: Yeah, Skip Schumacher a family man first.
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: We love it. Skip, Thank you so much for joining
• 17:42
  Speaker 5: us today on Found Territory.
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: Congrats on your Indiana championship.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: We don't bring that up. We don't.
• 17:52
  Speaker 5: Is so mad right now that you just mentioned that.
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: Skip, But it makes my show. I watched the show
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: all the time, so I knew I had an in it.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: There were you.
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: Were you cheering.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: For I'm sorry?
• 18:12
  Speaker 5: Were you cheering for Ieu? In the natty?
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: I was.
• 18:17
  Speaker 5: Come nager cheers for Iu over the U. We love it.
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: Name see you guys, Thank you.
• 18:32
  Speaker 6: All right, Let's get to our season preview of the Rangers.
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: Let's take a look a little bit about their additions
• 18:42
  Speaker 6: and their losses on the season. Right, we talked a
• 18:45
  Speaker 6: lot about that with with Skip Schumacher and what they've
• 18:49
  Speaker 6: gained as opposed to what what they kind of did
• 18:53
  Speaker 6: away with. Guys, when you look at what they have gotten,
• 18:56
  Speaker 6: right with Mackenzie Gore and Brandon Nimmo and Jordan Montgomery,
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: and what they've lost, what are your thoughts on on.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: That, Well, I think I think the McKenzie Gore acquisition
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: is huge. I mean, I he in my opinion, while
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: he isn't quite as polished as Schooble, uh, I think
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: he has the second best stuff of any left hander
• 19:21
  Speaker 4: in the league, at least that I faced. I think
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: it's Scooble one and him two. Obviously, Scooble has figured
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: out how to put it all together for an entire season,
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: and he's just taken off and he's light years away
• 19:30
  Speaker 4: from anybody besides maybe, but uh, McKenzie has that raw
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: ability in the tank. His stuff is unbelievable. And to
• 19:40
  Speaker 4: to put that into a rotation with de Gram, I mean,
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: it's that's huge and so hopefully hopefully he can find
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: it in Texas and that's a I mean, that's about
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: a good of one two threes you can find.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but the bullpen, the bullpen obviously is a little
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: bit of word worrisome, just because you gotta figure it out.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: Skip's gonna have to figure that kind out. I know
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: they brought in some new guys here, uh to try
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: to help that out, but it's a little bit it's
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: kind of been their Achilles heel and then can they
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: hit enough? I mean, I know they they traded Simmy
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: in for a Nemo. They need Langford to finally take
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: that next next step a couple of years in secret
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: needs to stay healthy. Can Higashioka and Casey Jansen or
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: Danny Jansen Sorry, I filled the catching role void left
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: by Jonah him who wasn't great the last couple of years.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: That doly S Garcia isn't here anymore. So do they
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: have enough offense? That's kind of been the thing with
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: the Rangers last year. If you look, they actually pitched
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: really well, they just couldn't score any run. So can
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: they figure out the offense? Can Skip Schumach or Alexon
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: tro On the new some of their new hitting guys
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: figure out this offense and help them score enough runs
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: because in globe life, Globe life is a pitching part,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: but you also have to be able to score more
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: than the other team. And if you don't do that,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: it's gonna be it's gonna be trouble.
• 20:57
  Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely, Aj you mentioned the offense. We talked a
• 21:00
  Speaker 6: lot about the offense with Skip Schumacher earlier, but when
• 21:04
  Speaker 6: you look at that projected starting lineup, We talked about
• 21:07
  Speaker 6: Brandon Neimo stepping into that leadoff role, and and and
• 21:11
  Speaker 6: you look at these guys and you think, okay, there's
• 21:13
  Speaker 6: a lot of there's a lot of talent there. But
• 21:16
  Speaker 6: that was their their weakest link last year was their offense.
• 21:20
  Speaker 6: What what do you think of this starting lineup?
• 21:23
  Speaker 7: Well, it's just about.
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: Oh sorry, I think it has potential. But you need
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: John Peterson. He had a terrible year last year, Right,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: got off to a terrible start. Nemo at the top
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: is nice. Why Langford again needs to take the next step.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Corey Seager needs to be healthy. Josh Young needs to
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: be healthy. Right, there's a there's a there's some question
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: marks here. Josh Smith, there's been an All Star. Can
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: he do it on an everyday basis only playing second base?
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Like Skip Schumacher talked about, I think this offense has potential,
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: but again, they got to prove it, and they gotta
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: and they got to figure out how to hit the
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: four seam fastival. That has been a thing for two
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: years with this Texas Ranger Team White. Why can't they
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: hit the four team fastball? That's the one pitch everybody
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: is supposed to be able to hit.
• 22:05
  Speaker 4: I will say, you know who can hit the four
• 22:07
  Speaker 4: steamed fastball is the guy that got behind the plate,
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: the four eyed, the four eyed Grindy, Danny Jansen that
• 22:13
  Speaker 4: they got back there. That boy can hit a fastball.
• 22:14
  Speaker 4: So hopefully that'll rub off on the rest of the lineup.
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: But you're right, it's it's it's a lineup full of
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: of what ifs. A lot of good players, but can
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: can they stay healthy? Can they repeat what they've done
• 22:27
  Speaker 4: in the past. Can Josh Smith continue to be a
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: good player? And can can Young come back and and
• 22:35
  Speaker 4: be this first round you know, third base savior that
• 22:38
  Speaker 4: they're hoping for. He's shown flashes of it, but he hasn't.
• 22:41
  Speaker 4: He's still fairly early in his career, but he's had
• 22:44
  Speaker 4: some injury. But can he can he do that? Can
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: he make that jump to become a superstar like they're
• 22:48
  Speaker 4: hoping he can? Can secret stay on the field when
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: secers on the field. He's the best lietended hitter maybe
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: in the game. When he's hot. I mean, I don't know.
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: I mean, you got Otani and Bryce and some of
• 23:01
  Speaker 4: these guys, But when Corey Seeger is hot, there's you
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: saw it in the postseason a couple of years ago.
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: There's nobody that you want to face less than Corey
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: Seeger when he's hot. So can you stay on the field?
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: Can he? Can he do that? Can Nimmo be a
• 23:14
  Speaker 4: good spark plug at the top of the lineup for
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: this team? Can Jock Peterson do something? Can he? He
• 23:19
  Speaker 4: was just awful to start the year and that's hard
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: to come back from. It's hard to dig yourself out
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: of that hole when you get off to a start
• 23:24
  Speaker 4: like that. So there's just a lot of what ifs
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: on this team, and if those what ifs turn to
• 23:32
  Speaker 4: a positive, it could be a really good team. Because,
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: like you said, they're pitching is pretty nails. Their bullpen
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: is to be to be determined. But can they score
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: some runs and give these these big time starters a
• 23:44
  Speaker 4: little bit of cushion because if they can, I mean
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: watch out.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: Also with I mean they're in a tough division. The
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Mariners are really good, right, the Astros are supposed to
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: be good again, Sacramento A's are on the on the
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: up right, and then the Rangers, you know, depending on
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: where you want to put them in, the Angels or
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: the Angels. We all know that and they the fans
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: don't care if they win or not. They just want affordability.
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: They just want to go to a cheap, cheap parking.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: So I mean, they don't really care. Apparently that's not
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: what the fans said on Twitter yesterday. That's a whole
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: different We don't have time to even get into that.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: But they're in a tough division, so they they're they're
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: behind it. They won the World Series two years ago
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: and have had a major, major drop off since then.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: So can't Chris, you can't Skip Schumacher find the right
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: mix to make this team a contender in a tough
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: American league.
• 24:35
  Speaker 6: West Well, but you kind of touched a little bit
• 24:38
  Speaker 6: on the starting rotation and and the bullpen. We know
• 24:41
  Speaker 6: that that rotation is, as you said, nails and and
• 24:47
  Speaker 6: you know, you look at it. You look at Jacob deGrom,
• 24:49
  Speaker 6: Nathan and Valde, McKenzie, Gore, Jack Lyder, Jacob Latz, and
• 24:52
  Speaker 6: then also you've got a guy like Rocker in there
• 24:55
  Speaker 6: trying to take a significant step forward and trying to
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: compete for a role. When you look at that starting
• 25:01
  Speaker 6: rotation with I'll start with you, I mean, you you
• 25:04
  Speaker 6: kind of alluded to it, but what.
• 25:05
  Speaker 5: Do you see.
• 25:08
  Speaker 4: I see it potential to be one of the best
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: rotations out there, the top three, especially uh. And then
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: you got guys like like you got young guys that
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: are trying to prove themselves and become a guy in
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: the league, especially guys that you brought in that were
• 25:24
  Speaker 4: supposed to be like they were supposed to be the guys.
• 25:27
  Speaker 4: I mean, I remember Kumar Rocker being talked about like
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: a like a Steven Strasburg. Strasburg come out of college.
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: I mean he was at Vanderbilt. He struck out everybody
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: and it was it was it was dominant, pure dominance.
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: And so now he gets a little bit of adversity.
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: He's probably never had much adversity in in his pitching
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: pitching life. I don't know a ton about his uh
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: come come up, but watching him a Vanderbilt, I don't
• 25:52
  Speaker 4: imagine that guy really ever got hit. And now he
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: just to the big leagues and he probably had a
• 25:56
  Speaker 4: e RA. He had e RA with a five that
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: started with a five for maybe the first time in
• 26:00
  Speaker 4: his life. So how can he how can he manage that?
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: How can he make adjustments? Because being a good big
• 26:05
  Speaker 4: leaders all about making adjustments. The game, it's gonna find
• 26:08
  Speaker 4: a way to expose you, and can you adjust to
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: find success when that happens, That'll be him and Lighters biggest,
• 26:17
  Speaker 4: biggest hurdle. And then you got a guy like Jordan
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: Montgomery who we talked to Skip about. I mean, Jordan
• 26:22
  Speaker 4: was a guy. I mean he was a guy guy
• 26:24
  Speaker 4: when he was in Texas and had his issues in
• 26:28
  Speaker 4: Arizona with injuries and what all went down there. But
• 26:33
  Speaker 4: now he's back at a familiar place where he's had success.
• 26:37
  Speaker 4: He has that comfortability of I pitched well here, these
• 26:40
  Speaker 4: people know me, this is I know Dallas. You know
• 26:43
  Speaker 4: that there's something to say about that when you go
• 26:45
  Speaker 4: to a stadium that you're familiar with and that you
• 26:48
  Speaker 4: have had success there and you feel that. So can
• 26:51
  Speaker 4: he channel that and when he gets back and healthy,
• 26:53
  Speaker 4: can he step in and be the old money? And
• 26:57
  Speaker 4: if so? I mean, look, that's there's a lot. There's
• 27:00
  Speaker 4: a lot to be admired about this rotation, but it's
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: it's all about what happens. Come come game one and
• 27:08
  Speaker 4: can you sustain it to Game one sixty two?
• 27:13
  Speaker 6: Hey, j what do you think?
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: I mean? I think this rotation has a chance to
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: be special if money comes back and healthy and if
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: the top four or special they have depth and you know,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Rocker lets Lighter and in the top three or as
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: good as anybody. So I think I think they have
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: a chance to be special. But like always in every team,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: it comes down to how healthy can you be? Can
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: Degram stay healthy? Can of all these stay healthy? Can Gore?
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Do you continue to grow on what he's done? Can
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Lighter be healthy? It's it's there's a lot of ifs
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: everywhere on this team. There's a lot of ifs. If
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: they all go positive, it could be a great year,
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: and if they all are ifs, it could be not
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: a great year.
• 27:49
  Speaker 6: Okay, Well, we also want to talk a little bit
• 27:51
  Speaker 6: about the projected bullpen. Last year, their bullpen was quite
• 27:54
  Speaker 6: good three point six two ERA. They were fifth, that's
• 27:57
  Speaker 6: fifth in the majors. They rebuilt the p a bit
• 28:00
  Speaker 6: for twenty twenty six. They're looking for a closer to
• 28:03
  Speaker 6: emerge among that group. But when you look at this
• 28:07
  Speaker 6: projected bullpen for the Rangers, what comes.
• 28:10
  Speaker 4: To mind, it's, uh, we'll see, It's a lot of
• 28:15
  Speaker 4: we'll see. And that's the thing about the bullpen is
• 28:19
  Speaker 4: you got you gotta step in. I mean, you look
• 28:22
  Speaker 4: at a guy like my boy Brad Keller last year
• 28:25
  Speaker 4: with the Cubs, big big, we'll see steps in and
• 28:29
  Speaker 4: is one of the best relievers.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: In the game.
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: So with the bullpens, like you only got one ending
• 28:34
  Speaker 4: to come in into your job, and so you do that,
• 28:37
  Speaker 4: You do that job, and then you do it for
• 28:38
  Speaker 4: a couple more times, and that confidence grows and now
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: you're like, Okay, I can do this, and then out
• 28:43
  Speaker 4: of nowhere, all of a sudden, you got to You
• 28:46
  Speaker 4: got Away Davis with Kansas City in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen,
• 28:50
  Speaker 4: that is was a very average starting pitcher and now
• 28:53
  Speaker 4: he's one of the best relievers of all time and
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: it just comes out of nowhere. So you're kind of
• 28:57
  Speaker 4: hoping with a little bit of that with with this
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: Texas bullpen because there's not a ton of guys.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: That have a lot of.
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: I guess you would say a lot of intimidation behind
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: their names when they go out to the bullpen to
• 29:08
  Speaker 4: get warmed up. And so yeah, it's a lot of
• 29:11
  Speaker 4: a lot of we'll see with this group, but that's
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: not necessarily a bad thing.
• 29:21
  Speaker 6: What is that.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: Street home, Alabama actually no, it's all summer long story.
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: You can't I can hear it. You guys can't, but
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: I can't.
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: Well, you just look like you're just going like this
• 29:36
  Speaker 3: in silence. We were like, what is he doing?
• 29:38
  Speaker 6: Okay, I'm not even gonna ask you to comment on
• 29:41
  Speaker 6: the bullpen AJ because you're in your.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Own well said, they got a lot of ifs. It's
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: all about ifs. So this team if if if if
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: if this guy has a career, if this guy has
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: a career, if this guy has a career. There's just
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: a lot of IFFs.
• 29:54
  Speaker 6: Okay, bet question you cannot avoid a j I'll start
• 29:57
  Speaker 6: with you since wit just carried you for that part
• 29:59
  Speaker 6: of the second.
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: When you look at the Rangers, had them come on.
• 30:06
  Speaker 6: Exactly exactly when you when you look at the Rangers,
• 30:10
  Speaker 6: take a look at their win total productions for twenty
• 30:13
  Speaker 6: twenty six from Fangrafts. But guys, I want to know,
• 30:16
  Speaker 6: are they a playoff team? Is this team a playoff team?
• 30:19
  Speaker 6: Can their offense take a step forward this year? Their
• 30:22
  Speaker 6: rotation is obviously elite. Can their bullpen be as good
• 30:26
  Speaker 6: as they were last year? Even though they're going through
• 30:28
  Speaker 6: a little bit of a rebuild with that.
• 30:30
  Speaker 3: What do you think.
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: I think they're closer to the eighty three point five
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: wins than they are the eighty or eighty one. I
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: think are they a playoff team? The Mariners are really good.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: We were there yesterday. I picked them to win the
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: AL this year, So I think the Mariners are definitely
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: a playoff team. And then you got Blue Jays, Yankees, Orioles,
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: Red Sox. It's probably two of those three, if not
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: three of those four are in the playoffs. So there's
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: four five. And then you throw in an AL Central team,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: which probably the Tigers. So are they a playoff team?
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: They need all those ifs to check the box to
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: be a playoff team. But did they have a chance. Yes,
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: But I also feel like they need a lot to
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: go right, So I think they're gonna come up just short,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: kind of like they did the last couple of years.
• 31:17
  Speaker 4: Yeah, i'd agree with that.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 31:20
  Speaker 4: I don't foresee them. I think there's too many teams
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: that are gonna enter the wild Card ahead of them,
• 31:26
  Speaker 4: and I don't foresee them taking taking up for Seattle.
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: Although I will say that I think they're closer to
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: Seattle than than some people might realize. I mean Seattle,
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: Seattle's gonna pitch. I mean they got some they got
• 31:37
  Speaker 4: some arms, but I mean they lost two of their
• 31:40
  Speaker 4: best bats last year. And uh, I know they got
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: They got Donovan to come in and fill that Polanco void,
• 31:45
  Speaker 4: and I think he's a really good player. But you
• 31:47
  Speaker 4: know you got you lose out on Polanco and and
• 31:50
  Speaker 4: and Euhenio and uh that's those are those are two
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: big shoes to fill, especially with what they did in
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: the playoffs last year. So I think that gap is
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: a little closer than you think. And if like we talk,
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: like we've been saying, if a lot of this stuff
• 32:04
  Speaker 4: goes right, I think they're closer to Seattle than I
• 32:07
  Speaker 4: think Seattle would like to like to admit. But standing
• 32:12
  Speaker 4: here today, I don't. I think Texas is just out
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: of the playoffs. I agree with you there, AJ.
• 32:20
  Speaker 5: Mariners would like to admit we like that.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: We like that.
• 32:23
  Speaker 6: Well, that's the Rangers season preview and we will be
• 32:25
  Speaker 6: right back after this.
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• 32:58
  Speaker 1: Here with Tyler, Exam and Tricia, let's just get to
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: it X Ray Texas Ranger now, so let's just get
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: the Ray love out of the way, because she once
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: covered you when you were on the Rays. You almost
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: threw a perfect game. She was there, so let's just
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: get it over with now. Go ahead, you guys can
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: have your moment and we'll go back to putting me in.
• 33:16
  Speaker 6: I just like, don't understand the hate for the raise
• 33:19
  Speaker 6: a j that you that you clearly have deep in
• 33:22
  Speaker 6: your heart. But yes, Tyler and I were with the
• 33:24
  Speaker 6: Rays at the same time, and yes, Tyler, you almost
• 33:27
  Speaker 6: threw a perfect game and the guy who broke.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: It up you now play with him.
• 33:31
  Speaker 7: I can't how about that. We actually went golfing the
• 33:33
  Speaker 7: first week out here, and I and I didn't make
• 33:36
  Speaker 7: the connection. I forgot and of course he brought it up.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: How does that come up?
• 33:43
  Speaker 7: He apologized, He said, hey, man, sorry, I was like,
• 33:46
  Speaker 7: what did you not know?
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: For one? Right away?
• 33:48
  Speaker 7: No, no, not because that's amazing. Yeah, and then he
• 33:51
  Speaker 7: you know, he goes. Then then he was like the
• 33:53
  Speaker 7: change up down in a way like, oh my god, yeah,
• 33:56
  Speaker 7: well part of it.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but oh, I mean I've been I've unfortunately I've
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: caught a perfect game, and I've been eight and two
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: thirds and given up a perfect game, so I'd never
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: forget it. So the fact that you forgot that kind
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: of is mind boggling with me a little bit.
• 34:14
  Speaker 7: Well, yeah, I don't know. I mean, it was one
• 34:17
  Speaker 7: of those weird days.
• 34:19
  Speaker 6: It was.
• 34:21
  Speaker 7: It was like I didn't even remember it was him.
• 34:23
  Speaker 7: I remember the pitch, I remember it being not my
• 34:25
  Speaker 7: greatest pitch. I remember him capping it into short right field.
• 34:32
  Speaker 7: But yeah, he brought it up almost immediately.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Wow. I give him credit for for apologizing immediately. But
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: you know, also also Tritian, I guess we could have
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: a love. He was at White Song for a while too,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: so I guess I apology from.
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: Danny as well.
• 34:44
  Speaker 6: Actually, though, if you could ask for that, Tyler, I
• 34:46
  Speaker 6: would like that apology because we all love to cover
• 34:49
  Speaker 6: those types of things, and I was like, this is
• 34:50
  Speaker 6: gonna be the perfect like the first perfect game ever
• 34:53
  Speaker 6: freaking Danny.
• 34:56
  Speaker 7: Yeah yeah, but yeah, White Sox we have that connection.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I forgot so white Buck is stronger than Rays.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: Would just say that, Oh, come on, like the White
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: especially the last few years like he did, then you
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: definitely deserve like an Emmy or something.
• 35:14
  Speaker 5: That's fair. That's fair, that's fair. At the time, he
• 35:16
  Speaker 5: didn't have to survive the Rais. The Rays were good.
• 35:18
  Speaker 5: So yeah, I'll give you that. You get it.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: That's true. That's true. So how is it life in Texas? Well,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: I mean surprise actually with Texas with the Rangers.
• 35:26
  Speaker 7: Awesome, awesome. I couldn't have been more excited to sign
• 35:30
  Speaker 7: with the Rangers. I mean, I'm a Texas guy, I
• 35:32
  Speaker 7: live but so As. You're born in Chicago, so yeah,
• 35:33
  Speaker 7: but I lived there for like three months, okay, and
• 35:36
  Speaker 7: then we got out. Most of my time was spent
• 35:38
  Speaker 7: in like the DFW area, grew up going to Rangers games.
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: So you know that I played for the Rangers. We
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: also have that connection for sure. Yeah, I think you
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: played for the Rangers. Now it was a good bad year.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: He lost in Game one sixty three to guess who
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: the Rays?
• 35:54
  Speaker 5: Well, yeah, and you brought them up this time than me.
• 35:59
  Speaker 4: I'm me.
• 36:01
  Speaker 7: But what's camp been like? Uh, it's been very relaxed. Yeah,
• 36:05
  Speaker 7: every everybody seems I don't know, I guess chill is
• 36:09
  Speaker 7: the right word. But this is now my fourth different
• 36:14
  Speaker 7: spring training with different teams, so you go in expecting
• 36:19
  Speaker 7: kind of the unexpected. You never really know new staff
• 36:21
  Speaker 7: as well. But everyone's been good. They've they've sort of
• 36:25
  Speaker 7: given me my own leash, which I respect and and
• 36:30
  Speaker 7: prepare how I I guess I've I've gained experience on
• 36:36
  Speaker 7: you know, all the different spring trainings that I've been through,
• 36:39
  Speaker 7: but they've been great. I'm in a game today, I'm excited,
• 36:43
  Speaker 7: So it's been fun. I don't know the third, fourth, fifth.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: They don't they don't give you the don't they give
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: you like the life.
• 36:49
  Speaker 7: Probably have I just haven't looked.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: You're watching us a win? Right? Yeah?
• 36:54
  Speaker 7: Absolutely, absolutely, Tyler.
• 36:57
  Speaker 6: When in Rangers camp right now, I think the biggest
• 36:59
  Speaker 6: storyline and obviously is Skip Schumacher coming in. And he
• 37:03
  Speaker 6: talked to us a little bit earlier just about kind
• 37:06
  Speaker 6: of changing a little bit of like, I guess the
• 37:08
  Speaker 6: mentality right now for some of the hitters specifically, Obviously
• 37:11
  Speaker 6: I know you're not a hitter, But when you look
• 37:13
  Speaker 6: at this group, how close do you think this roster
• 37:17
  Speaker 6: is to being the team that they want to be?
• 37:19
  Speaker 6: We know they finished around five hundred last year, but
• 37:21
  Speaker 6: to being that team that they know they can be,
• 37:23
  Speaker 6: because you know, when you look at the talent you
• 37:26
  Speaker 6: guys have on the pitching staff and you look at
• 37:28
  Speaker 6: the talent you do have.
• 37:29
  Speaker 5: In the lineup, it seems like this team can be
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: much better than they were last year.
• 37:35
  Speaker 7: Yeah, obviously the talent is there, you know, big names,
• 37:40
  Speaker 7: a lot of guys that have done in the past
• 37:42
  Speaker 7: who are still young and healthy and hungry. But what's
• 37:46
  Speaker 7: exciting is seeing how everybody interacts in the clubhouse, which
• 37:52
  Speaker 7: I think is definitely the key to kind of the
• 37:56
  Speaker 7: separator between teams that have a lot of talent and
• 37:59
  Speaker 7: teams that are successful is the amount of fun that
• 38:03
  Speaker 7: they have when they show up to the ballpark every day,
• 38:06
  Speaker 7: and how we play for each other as well as
• 38:10
  Speaker 7: you know, the city and all that. But it's it's
• 38:13
  Speaker 7: been fun interacting with the guys it's I've been a ranger.
• 38:16
  Speaker 7: I've been in camp for I don't know, two or
• 38:18
  Speaker 7: three weeks, and I feel very comfortable. It's it's fun
• 38:23
  Speaker 7: interacting with new teammates in a in a comfortable way.
• 38:28
  Speaker 7: So I think that's the one thing that'll that'll separate us.
• 38:32
  Speaker 7: I don't know how you know this clubhouse has been
• 38:34
  Speaker 7: in the past. I just know how it is now,
• 38:36
  Speaker 7: and it's it seems like it's gonna be a lot
• 38:39
  Speaker 7: of fun.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: What skips some message to you guys first date to
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: come in and give a raw raw Was it a
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: raw raw speech? Was it more of a professional speech?
• 38:47
  Speaker 7: It was more of I would say, more just being
• 38:50
  Speaker 7: good teammates having fun. Talked about being an inflator versus
• 38:54
  Speaker 7: a deflator, always showing up, being positive, never finding negative,
• 38:59
  Speaker 7: works uses stuff that can just sort of bring down
• 39:02
  Speaker 7: a team. I would say the overall message was play together,
• 39:08
  Speaker 7: have fun because, like I said, we have the talent.
• 39:11
  Speaker 7: It's just taking that next step.
• 39:15
  Speaker 6: Tyler, I want to know what when you look at
• 39:18
  Speaker 6: you know, I know, obviously spring training is long and
• 39:20
  Speaker 6: you're just now starting games, But is there one guy
• 39:22
  Speaker 6: that you've seen that's kind of turned in some heads.
• 39:24
  Speaker 7: So far.
• 39:25
  Speaker 6: We talked to Skip a little bit about that and
• 39:26
  Speaker 6: Jake a little bit about that too. But is there
• 39:28
  Speaker 6: one guy that you've been watching that that has caught
• 39:31
  Speaker 6: your attention?
• 39:34
  Speaker 7: Well, I don't know about one guy. I mean, just
• 39:36
  Speaker 7: because spring training is, games are so fresh right now
• 39:43
  Speaker 7: and the way we all are separated. I think I've
• 39:45
  Speaker 7: had a really fun time watching the ground, watching of
• 39:50
  Speaker 7: all the watching the lighter of those guys who I
• 39:53
  Speaker 7: know are very good pictures. I've had a good time
• 39:55
  Speaker 7: watching them work in their bullpens, watching them prepare their
• 40:00
  Speaker 7: brains on certain pitch thoughts and stuff like that. And
• 40:05
  Speaker 7: I continue I'm planning on continuing doing that watching those
• 40:08
  Speaker 7: guys pitching games. But so far, it's just been a
• 40:12
  Speaker 7: lot of watching bullpens, and I have been very impressed.
• 40:15
  Speaker 7: I mean, it's it's funny how you can be so
• 40:20
  Speaker 7: different but play the same game. You know, I throw
• 40:22
  Speaker 7: ninety miles an hour. The ground throws one hundred.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: Right because you're left handed.
• 40:27
  Speaker 7: I am left handed.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: That matters. That helps. That helps.
• 40:30
  Speaker 7: If that was right handed, we'd be we'd be in
• 40:33
  Speaker 7: some trouble. But it's fun watching those guys who I've
• 40:39
  Speaker 7: either been on the other side of the league, or
• 40:42
  Speaker 7: for some of them, like a Valdi, was in high
• 40:44
  Speaker 7: school watching them work in the Big League. So it's
• 40:48
  Speaker 7: fun watching them prepare, watching their process and also picking
• 40:53
  Speaker 7: their brains.
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: What was it like being in the Brewers last year?
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: What was so special about the Brewers? Every year they
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: figured out to be better than everyone expects. So what
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: does Murph do? What does Matt Arnold do? What does
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: the ORG do to make them just seem like they're
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: just better than what you think they should be.
• 41:09
  Speaker 7: Pat Murphy, I wouldn't say it's him, but he starts it.
• 41:14
  Speaker 7: He creates a culture, and it's almost like college a
• 41:19
  Speaker 7: little bit.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: It's got that by the way. I brought that up
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: to him, and he hated that. Well, if you're almost
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: like you're running a college at vunts, hitting and running
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: all these little things you guys do, most peig League
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: teams don't do that. And here you are and you
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: have a bunch of little guys. Yeah, supposed to be
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: underdog and they just play like a college team. He's like,
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: I hate dad reference, so don't say that.
• 41:39
  Speaker 7: Well, it's I wasn't referencing the way they play more
• 41:42
  Speaker 7: so just the mentality of doing the little things right,
• 41:46
  Speaker 7: hustling every second of every play of every game. And
• 41:51
  Speaker 7: it's fun because even when I was I was there,
• 41:54
  Speaker 7: we were scuffling a little bit around five hundred, and
• 41:57
  Speaker 7: there was no panic. It was all fun. He knew
• 42:00
  Speaker 7: the talent was there, he knew things were going to
• 42:02
  Speaker 7: get turned around, and eventually it did.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: Do you have a nickname for you? Or did he
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: know your name? Actually should maybe it is a better question.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I think he knew.
• 42:10
  Speaker 7: Everybody just calls me Todd. That reference. Being in college,
• 42:16
  Speaker 7: I had long, greasy hair, clean shaven, no mustache, and
• 42:19
  Speaker 7: I looked like Todd the painter from Wedding Crashers. Yeah, okay, yeah,
• 42:23
  Speaker 7: I don't look like him anymore, but obviously I got
• 42:28
  Speaker 7: no hair.
• 42:32
  Speaker 6: I remember that because I got so confused. When I
• 42:35
  Speaker 6: was with the Rays, they kept saying Todd, and I'm like, guys,
• 42:38
  Speaker 6: who is Todd? We don't have a Todd on our team.
• 42:42
  Speaker 6: And finally Tyler was like, I'm Todd, and I was like, what.
• 42:46
  Speaker 5: In the world so rare?
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I need to see a picture. I gotta figure
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: out how I go see if we can find you.
• 42:52
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I I don't think I have any
• 42:54
  Speaker 7: pictures in my phone anymore. But it was like high
• 42:56
  Speaker 7: school college era of long kind of like the Beaber
• 42:58
  Speaker 7: Swoosh era kind of thing. Probably didn't shower as much
• 43:02
  Speaker 7: as I should, so a little mad it in my
• 43:04
  Speaker 7: forehead kind of look. But yeah, it's it's it's the
• 43:09
  Speaker 7: name that's followed me around everywhere.
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: Okay, Tyler or Todd, I have one more question for you.
• 43:15
  Speaker 6: I don't know if you remember this, but one time
• 43:18
  Speaker 6: when I was with the Rays, I did a story
• 43:19
  Speaker 6: on weird superstitions guys have Do you.
• 43:22
  Speaker 5: Remember what you said to me?
• 43:26
  Speaker 7: No, but I do remember that. I'm pretty sure I
• 43:27
  Speaker 7: made that up. But I remember what I said.
• 43:32
  Speaker 5: You said, eat spaghetti the night before every start.
• 43:36
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I made that up.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: Hold up, by the way, I thought for totally fully true.
• 43:46
  Speaker 7: Gave you the first thing that roll into my head.
• 43:48
  Speaker 6: But he was a good sport about it because it
• 43:50
  Speaker 6: was a day where, like, I mean, come on, sometimes
• 43:52
  Speaker 6: you have days in baseball where you just need content.
• 43:54
  Speaker 6: I think we were playing like the A's or something,
• 43:56
  Speaker 6: and I was like, you know what, screw it, I'm
• 43:58
  Speaker 6: gonna do a story on guys superstitions. So I went
• 44:01
  Speaker 6: up to Thailand and I'm like, hey, do you have
• 44:02
  Speaker 6: a superstition? He was like sure, And I asked you
• 44:05
  Speaker 6: that question. You go. I eat spaghetti before every start
• 44:08
  Speaker 6: and it kind of exploded on social media.
• 44:11
  Speaker 5: It's great.
• 44:12
  Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean I don't especially now that I'm I
• 44:15
  Speaker 7: haven't really been a starter for a few a few years,
• 44:18
  Speaker 7: but a while it impossible to eat spaghetti before every.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: So Tricia, I don't know if he does this. She
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: might have a little fetish as far as food, because
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: she ate Merphed pancake pockets pocket pancakes last year. Now
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: she wants to know about your you're eating spaghetti. I'm
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: starting to wonder about if Tricia just does base does
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: baseball content for the food maybe? So, I don't know.
• 44:41
  Speaker 5: I don't well and try different things.
• 44:45
  Speaker 7: It's fine.
• 44:45
  Speaker 6: I also had a quesadilla in a Pat Murphy's pocket,
• 44:48
  Speaker 6: so I didn't stop at pancakes.
• 44:50
  Speaker 7: Oh weird.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: Well I wouldn't admit that too loudly. Dere Tricia TV.
• 45:02
  Speaker 5: It's all over the place.
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: Trying to make that go away. We're trying to make
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: that go away. Okay, did you at the US?
• 45:09
  Speaker 4: Oh?
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: Actually, I don't know. I have to ask you, I
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: saw you in there watching. Yeah, absolutely cheer, yelling, scream
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: like the rest of your teammates. Did I did? Sure?
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: Did you give Quantrill and Tigue a little bit of grief?
• 45:20
  Speaker 7: I haven't seen it. I think they've been hiding from us.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: Because Skip said the tea ripped off his Canada jersey.
• 45:25
  Speaker 7: Yeah, well they weren't. They weren't in the clubhouse with us.
• 45:28
  Speaker 7: I think they were secluded.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 45:30
  Speaker 7: I don't blame them, but I think they've been hiding
• 45:32
  Speaker 7: from us. I haven't seen him.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Okay, Well, Tyler, thank you, Tricia. Tricia was excited to
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: talk to a former Ray like yourself, so we appreciate
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: you coming out here and joining us and wish you
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: the best this year. You can survive the White Sox
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: last a couple years. You can survive anything, do anything.
• 45:47
  Speaker 5: Thanks Tyler.