At this point in the springtime, Arlington is more of a dress practice than anything else.
The can. On Tuesday at Globe Life Field, they have one more exhibition match against the Boston Red Sox on the plan. Attention has changed from lineup battles and personal evaluation to just arriving securely at the home opener in good health and one piece. Bruce Bochy, the boss of Rangers, himself, said the same thing.
“It’s fairly well set”, Bochy said of the Rangers’ squad, though final choices will be made in the next 48 hours.
But, yeah, dress practice. Close, but not quite. Like, for instance, the Rangers returned to their common boxes inside the Globe Life Field hall. Wyatt Langford’s, for those serious, is now two areas to the left of Evan Carter’s. Some new pictures were added to the stadium score. For the first time since Game 2 of the World Series in November, fans made a first-ever visit to the Rangers ‘ house area.
On the other hand, the stadium’s seats were only about halfway complete when the National Anthem was played, and there were about a hundred or so Rangers waiting by the first foundation.
It resembled the regular winter in some ways. Only not really. similar to the starting roster the Rangers used against the Red Sox on Monday. It went as follows: No. 1 Marcus Semien ( 2B), No. 2 Corey Seager ( SS), No. 3 Evan Carter ( LF), No. 4 Adolis Garcia ( RF), No. 5 Josh Jung ( 3B), No. 6 Wyatt Langford ( DH), No. 7 Jonah Heim ( C), No. 8 Jared Walsh ( 1B), No. 9 Leody Taveras ( CF).
“It’s pretty close”, Bochy said before Monday’s game vs. the Red Sox. ” It won’t be the]opening day ] lineup, but it’s pretty close”.
For simplicity’s sake, how close to the period- opening batting order was the Rangers ‘ lineup in their subsequent- to- last spring exhibition next spring? Almost equivalent. In a practice match vs. the Kansas City Royals at Globe Life Field, the Texas first-day team defeated the Philadelphia Phillies four days later in the same place and in the same place in the batting purchase. The hapless change was residual, Match Garver caught and hit fifth vs. the Royals, but Heim caught and hit fifth vs. the Phillies.
Point be, there may not be many surprises come Thursday. Even though Walsh — after second baseman Nathaniel Lowe was diagnosed with an ambiguous burden in early March — had been substituted for outfielder Ezequiel Duran against Cubs left Justin Steele on opening time. Duran logged an.837 OPS vs. southpaws next year and Walsh has a career.593 OPS against them.
The actual order in which they’ll bats may carry more drama.
On Monday, Semien was forced into his customary leadoff position. Seager — vs. the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, along with Jung — was in the two- gap. García remained in the recovery position he occupied in 135 game last year. Jung played the majority of his games last year in the five-hole, scoring 98 points. Taveras generated 2.4 Battle, according to Baseball Reference, and logged 48 additional- basic hits last year as the main No. 9 hitter and resumed his duties there vs. Boston.
The rest could be up to interpretation.
Although Langford, who batted sixth against Boston, received the majority of the three-hole reps in Arizona on Monday, Carter started and hit third. Bochy has acknowledged that Langford might fall short of third. Additionally, he claims that Carter could bat almost anywhere in the lineup. How do you strike a balance between who might be competing with one another for the AL Rookie of the Year award? If Semien and Seager keep hitting first and second, then hitting Carter third would result in back-to-back lefties with him and the current ALCS MVP. Conversely, third-place hits from Langford and her would result in back-to-back righties with her and the current ALCS MVP. It might make sense to divide up the two left-handers and place Langford’s thunderous bat in Seager’s starting lineup.
It’s a good problem to have. Same can be said for organizing the rest of the lineup that, when healthy, fields five 2023 All- Stars, a 2022 Silver Slugger and two Rookie of the Year favorites.
Heim finished last season at sixth in 90 games, but he dropped to seventh on Monday behind Langford. Although one of the two rookies may have a very real case as Texas ‘ No. 1, his switch-hit ability makes it simple to pair him with either Carter ( a lefty ) or Langford ( a righty ) in the lineup. 3 hitter. Walsh — or, possibly, Duran — could make the most sense as the No. 8 hitter, at least until Lowe returns.
A more accurate picture will be provided on Thursday.
.