Hi and welcome to another edition of Right

on Rangers Live coming at you after a

crushing loss to the Seattle Mariners and series

defeat.

Texas after winning game one in pretty resounding

fashion.

You had the the game where they put

up what 10 on Tuesday night really exits

this series with a whimper.

Rangers lose four to three today.

This is about as painful of a one

run loss as you can get.

Jacob deGrom gave Texas six scoreless innings, one

hit, no walks and 12 strikeouts.

The Rangers led three nothing at one point

and Seattle scored four before Texas even recorded

an out in the seventh inning.

Jakob Junis was the one who faced those

four hitters and he retired none and a

3-0 game became 4-3 almost instantly.

Now Texas leave Seattle one and two in

the series, three games under 500 at 72

and 75 overall and three games behind Houston

in the AL West, two behind Cleveland in

the final wild card with just 15 games

left.

It is going to be miraculous if the

Rangers can figure out a way at this

point.

You can do it.

It's not impossible but I cannot say it

is probable with the baseball that I have

seen not only over the past couple of

weeks but over the last 147 games.

Well you know the drill here right on

Rangers we cover everything Texas sports but we

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choosing Right on Rangers for all of your

Texas Rangers content.

Drop a comment, drop a question, we'd love

to hear from you.

Without the benefit of the live game going

we will definitely have a lot more time

for comments today.

I've got a lot to say you already

know but I definitely want to get the

pulse of what you guys are feeling.

I know during the game I already got

to hear from some of you.

This was what feels like a bit of

a nail in the coffin game.

I know we've said that so many times.

Jared was actually talking about it on the

broadcast after the game thought he put it

really well.

I mean baseball it just feels like you

do have you know so many different lives

if you will and you die so often

over the course of 162 games.

It was really well said by Jared.

I feel the same way it feels like

this game is a nail in the coffin

for the Rangers season.

It's not, they're not mathematically eliminated but these

games are just so gut-wrenching.

I just rip your heart out and today

was probably one of the the worst games,

the worst losses in terms of heartbreak that

the Rangers have had this season.

Jacob deGrom was incredible.

We're going to talk about deGrom.

I think the biggest question that really everybody

was asking is why pull deGrom in the

sixth inning?

After the sixth inning deGrom was cruising.

He was at 92 pitches.

He had struck out his 12th batter of

the game and you have Skip Schumaker going

to Jakob Junis in the seventh.

Now it was later revealed that deGrom was

dealing with a groin issue and that he

was kind of battling it really since the

fourth frame.

Now this is a really frustrating, really frustrating

result I think to hear something like this

after a game where you lose by one

run.

It's frustrating because what do you say?

What do you say to that?

You definitely don't want Jacob deGrom injuring himself

further but let me just kind of speak

out loud here and think out loud for

y'all and you tell me where you

land.

So you have the groin injury come up

in the fourth inning.

deGrom said he was covering first base.

Jake Burger ultimately took the play unassisted but

deGrom felt something as he kind of took

a weird step in the fourth and decided

to battle through it for the fifth and

for the sixth frame.

When I'm thinking about that kind of stuff

I'm going back and forth in my mind

like why are you able to pitch the

fifth and the sixth?

What was it about going out there for

a seventh?

The pain was just so excruciatingly bad that

you had to stop.

It's really hard and the follow-up questions

I feel like were only okay when they

were interviewing deGrom and I know it's hard

in the moment.

I'm not by any means saying you know

these guys have to be perfect in the

question asking but I just don't understand you

pitch the fifth you pitch the sixth.

What happened after the sixth inning where you

say to yourself yeah I just can't go

anymore?

That to me is the most frustrating part

about this.

I could understand if you injure the the

groin and and you have to exit right

then and there but I think where I

feel that the explanation falls short is why

are you able to pitch the fifth and

the sixth and by the way pitch them

at a really high level but the seventh

inning is just a magical cutoff.

That to me is where I feel like

this whole groin injury kind of falls a

little bit short for me.

I'm not saying that he didn't have an

injury I'm not saying it wasn't bothering him

but why pitch the fifth and the sixth

if it was such a big deal?

If it was so bad of an injury

and you're so worried about it affecting deGrom's

ability to be available later on in the

season why haven't pitched the sixth frame?

That that doesn't make a lot of sense

to me but you know what I'm not

the one making the decisions and it ultimately

doesn't matter but I can't say this I'm

not really completely satisfied with the logic.

I think if anything dude see if you

can give us one more baby come on

unless he is on the brink of you

know that groin just tear and clear off

like dude see if you can give us

one more if you get into trouble we'll

come get you.

I don't know and of course Jacob does

a nice job really defending Skip and the

entire staff you know he uses the right

pronouns there we and you know us he

definitely making it a team decision a collective

decision I should say I'm not satisfied.

There's there's just not a lot of sense

to me in pitching the fifth and the

sixth if it's so bad that you're worried

about it affecting him later on down the

road.

The reality too is when deGrom said one

of the factors that went into him getting

pulled was hey we need you down the

road.

What road?

There's not gonna be a road if we

keep on doing things like we did today.

There's no road for you.

There's no October.

We're saving up deGrom for an October that

very well might not exist for the Texas

Rangers.

It's sad to even think about that prospect

with how mediocre the American League has been

this year and just how many opportunities the

Rangers have been given to take this division

to take a wild card spot and really

grab it by the horns.

I kind of found that reasoning to be

a bit rich.

We're saving deGrom for the three September starts

he has left two of which might be

completely meaningless if we don't win some games.

Troy this is a great comment from TikTok.

You would think at this point everyone needs

to push through to get the win.

Look I'm a little bit old school in

how I was brought up.

The coaches that I had I had a

lot of great coaches growing up and actually

one of the coaches that I've coached with

recently you guys know some of you I've

I coached middle school tackle football a bit.

I've coached baseball at various levels as well.

One of my favorite coaches always said you

know there's a difference between playing hurt and

playing injured.

I don't know what was going on with

deGrom's groin.

I don't know what the potential for massive

catastrophic injury was in that seventh inning had

he gone back out there.

But I do know this the team needed

you and you know what you can make

the argument.

Hey we need you for the last few

starts in September.

My dude we need you for the seventh

inning.

This bullpen has not been great.

The last really couple of months they have

not been awesome and Jakob Junis let's just

really inject some truth serum into this with

Junis.

I posted that over his last 15 games

Jakob Junis has a 5.40 ERA.

Now obviously that number includes what happened today.

So I had a few people kind of

clapping back at me.

Dude this is this is a straight up

lie.

He had a 2.57 ERA over his last

15 games before today.

He's been reliable.

Jakob Junis since the all-star break he

was very fortunate to have the 2.57 ERA

that he had coming into this ball game.

And again use your eyeballs.

Jakob Junis did not look as sharp.

He had been tight roping a number of

different starts.

It definitely was not the Junis that we

have seen in the first half.

And if you want to argue me on

that go ahead.

I mean we can agree to disagree.

If you want to sit here and tell

me Junis has been this dominant dude in

the second half I don't agree with you.

I don't care what the ERA says.

The ERA doesn't look great right now.

I don't care what the ERA says.

Look at the numbers.

Go even to the advanced stats expected ERA.

Junis is one of the lowest percentile expected

ERA guys among major leverage relief pitchers.

He's getting very fortunate in this second half

and he's had some good fortune over the

course of the season.

It doesn't mean he's been a terrible pitcher

or he's awful.

I think Junis has had some great moments

this year.

I don't feel like the narrative though that

Junis is like this elite shut down.

He's been amazing.

So who cares if you take deGrom

out in the sixth inning.

I don't buy that.

I don't.

And I think if you look beyond the

ERA and you actually look into the games

and you look at how Junis has been

pitching in the second half it doesn't feel

like it's been a lock every time he

steps onto the mound.

Just do not understand the pull of Jacob

deGrom there.

I get it.

A lot of people are going to be

totally good with the groin explanation.

Dude if you can pitch the fifth, if

you can pitch the sixth, what is it

about the seventh?

I mean and they didn't really clarify unfortunately.

What was it about the seventh inning?

That would have been my question to him.

After the sixth inning did it feel worse

than it did in the fourth?

After the sixth inning did it feel like

you had aggravated it even more to the

point where you couldn't go out for the

seventh?

Those are the questions I wish they would

have asked.

It's tough in the moment and I do

think we need to give them a little

bit of slack.

I'm glad they at least asked the question.

Unlike the Cam Cauley stealing the base in

the ninth inning which I went off on

yesterday.

At least they asked.

Just not a fan of what we saw

today in the late frames.

Let's move off deGrom.

I know that we have a lot in

the comment section to go through.

Nate what's good?

The two outs at the plate I would

agree.

Comment from YouTube here excuse me.

The multiple outs.

What do we have?

Three outs at the plate today and some

of them were unlucky.

Those were definitely big.

They came back to bite the Rangers.

Sugi I do agree with you on this.

Good to see you.

There's a little bit too much for me

playing for tomorrow.

The emphasis on tomorrow that's always been a

factor really this entire summer it feels like.

The excuses that you get are often future

focused and it does beg the question.

You're asking yourself does this team realize that

we only have 15 games left?

I had that thought out loud today as

I was watching Junis run into the game

and take his warm-up pitches.

Does this team get that we only have

15 games left?

Have they gotten a memo?

The managing for tomorrow stuff I just don't

understand.

I really don't.

We keep going.

Offense.

Caden I will agree.

Comment from YouTube here.

Offense had a lot to do with today's

loss.

He only scored three runs.

At-bats were pathetic.

These were two of the worst offenses in

baseball going at it.

The Mariners have scored the least amount of

runs in baseball this year and the Rangers

are bottom five.

I know that some people don't like it

when you break it down so simplistically but

I think run scored is a fairly decent

way to judge an offense.

I'm just throwing that out there.

I don't think we're saying anything super controversial

but I know we got a lot of

people that like to use other stats as

better indicators.

We can all spin things a certain way.

Let's just keep it simple.

The Rangers are bottom five in runs scored

this year in Major League Baseball.

These were two of the worst offenses in

the game going at it these last three

days and the Rangers were particularly bad today

offensively minus a beautiful swing by Joc Pederson.

A nice suicide not suicide squeeze but a

safety squeeze from Nicky Lopez.

Minus those two ABs there was a lot

of ugly.

The Rangers struck out 13 times today.

Almost half of your outs came from the

strikeout.

Not good.

Just not good.

The team does not put the ball in

play enough and the big thing for me

today as I look at this game you

know you had such a great outing from

deGrom and I know that with deGrom I'm

going in a little bit on him.

It is a collective decision.

Skip ultimately has the decision to pull Jacob

deGrom.

That being said here is what I look

at.

Jacob deGrom showed up today.

He showed up and in a big way

he gave everything he had for six frames.

They ultimately decide to take him out.

He struck out 12.

Jacob deGrom showed up today and that's putting

it lightly.

You know who didn't show up today?

Going back to Kayden's comment which is still

up on the screen right now.

Your two, three, and four hitters.

Corey Seager 0-for-4.

And Seags had homered in three straight up

to this point.

I don't want to go too much in

on Corey Seager but today was a big

game.

You needed this one.

Seager 0-for-4.

Duran 0-for-4.

Nimmo 0-for-4.

Wyatt Langford maybe gets let off the hook

a little bit because of the walk at

the end making it a little bit interesting.

Thank goodness they stole Wyatt Langford in the

ninth inning.

I was going to go off if they

did not try and steal Wyatt Langford in

that ninth frame.

But Wyatt was hitless.

Evan Carter was hitless.

Jake Burger was hitless.

Not surprising.

Burger against a righty today doesn't come through.

I've been beating this drum forever.

Burger against righties is just a totally different

hitter.

He's been going well but it's mostly been

a lot lefty damage.

You had so many 0-fors today.

You had Danny Jansen, Nicky Lopez, and Joc

Pederson providing you with hits today.

Oh gosh.

I mean look we had a lot of

a lot of guys that we could go

in on offensively.

13 strikeouts though is just never going to

get it done.

Never going to get it done.

You're going to have to have an ungodly

starting pitching performance in tandem with a bullpen

throwing up 0's as well.

Rangers just didn't get the bullpen part today.

I tweeted out during the game it is

going to be really interesting when Josh Jung

comes back.

And by the way I do really feel

like he's got to be back tomorrow.

After what we saw today Josh Jung has

got to be back tomorrow.

And you guys know I've gone in on

JJ a little bit but really never for

the bat.

Mostly for his glove.

And right now I've been very clear in

my position.

You've got to stomach the glove.

And I know some of y'all don't

really think JJ's that bad of a third

baseman.

Let's make no mistake about it.

Let's not mince words.

JJ has not been good at third base

this year.

By any metric he's not been good.

You're going to have to stomach that.

You're going to have to figure out a

different plan in the offseason in my humble

opinion.

But for this year you got to get

JJ back in the lineup and you're going

to have to stomach the fielding at third

base.

And if you don't think it's been that

bad just hang out in the clouds a

little bit longer.

You'll be happy he's back in the lineup.

Definitely am really glad that we're going to

get that boost.

He had a home run last night.

I posted that.

He's definitely been coming on strong in the

rehab assignment.

You got to get him back.

You got to get JJ back.

I would love to make it definitely more

than just the last game Caden.

What was the report on this by the

way?

Comment from YouTube.

They said they expect him to be back

last game of the D-back series.

What was the report on this?

Just wondering my guy.

Appreciate you tuning in and appreciate you checking

in with the comment as well man.

I would love to see him back in

Arizona immediately.

I don't know why they're taking their sweet

time.

This isn't the time to do it.

You got to figure it out.

He's played after tonight.

If he plays you've got three games under

your belt.

They've got to bring him back.

It's kind of unserious to me why you

wouldn't bring him back for tomorrow.

I understand they've got a plan.

Dude, you don't have time for that.

You don't have time for it.

It goes back to the point that we

were making earlier.

You've got 15 games left.

Does anybody in the organization realize that?

What does it matter if Josh Jung does

games in Arizona with the Rangers versus the

rehab games?

You played three rehab games after tonight.

Dude, what more do we need?

You're going to be facing the same type

of arms.

I think in Arizona you might have a

couple of dudes.

Maybe Rodriguez is throwing one of the games.

To me it's like, dude, the difference is

not that big.

It's not that big of a deal.

I would get Josh Jung back in the

lineup tomorrow.

I don't think they need to continue on

with the five-game plan or whatever plan

they had.

Dude, it's getting desperate.

At what point do you decide, hey, we

have to ax the plan?

The season is slipping away.

Get Josh Jung back in the lineup.

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense

to me.

If the report is accurate that he's not

going to be back till Sunday, that makes

no sense to me.

He needs to be back tomorrow.

He's played three games.

What more do you need to see?

If you wanted to give him today off

and let him play tomorrow, you have 15

games left.

Come on, man.

It does feel weird.

You're trying to rest up for the playoffs

that you're not even going to make?

Come on now.

Come on now, man.

Look, Antonio, appreciate you, my guy.

You know that.

Great comment here, which I definitely talked about

during the game.

Can we please address Evan Carter?

I'm sorry, but he gets defended so much

with the awesome glove work.

The comment goes on to say, when is

the back going to wake up?

I think when Josh Jung comes back, Zeke

Duran should be the everyday center fielder.

I think you can deal with a rotation

of Foscue, Lopez, and Freeman at second base.

Josh Jung, to me, like I said, I

think you got to stomach the work at

3B.

Hopefully, he plays a better third base than

what he did the entire season before the

injury.

Maybe he'll lock in, and you'll just get

a click from Josh Jung in that department.

I want to see Evan Carter relegated to

bench roll.

I don't think they need to continue to

trot him out every time there's a right

-hander on the mound.

He has not been great.

I know that he walked today, and it

bugs me to no end that the fact

that he walked today is going to buy

him like two more weeks of playing time.

Oh, did you see that walk?

It's so impressive, man.

He's got such a good eye up there.

It's like, do we realize the numbers, man?

He's hitting .195 with a .616 OPS, but

against righties, he's hitting below .700 with the

OPS against righties.

It's not good.

It's not even average.

It's below average no matter how you slice

it.

To me, I would like to see Zeke

Duran become the everyday center fielder.

Evan Carter can be bench guy.

He can be late-game substitution defensively when

you've got a lead.

You want to move Zeke Duran into the

infield.

You want to move Evan Carter to center

field with a two-run lead late.

For me, though, Zeke Duran needs to take

over.

I would love to see Duran in that

role.

Evan Carter, we've got to hit reset in

the offseason.

I don't know what they're going to do

to get him right, but they cannot trot

him back out into the starting nine repeatedly.

You're in the heat of a playoff race.

You're trying to win games.

The at-bats from Evan Carter have been

so inconsistent.

Yes, it was a nice walk that he

had in the ninth inning.

Great.

Thank you.

That can't be what continues to buy him

loads and loads of playing time.

Let him be the pinch runner.

Let him be defensive replacement guy.

I mean, look, I mean this with all

due respect.

I don't think this is a hot take.

2023 Travis Jankowski or 2026 Evan Carter.

That's how you need to think about this.

They need to hit reset on him.

A lot of people I know just being

a little reactionary, DFA him trade Evan Carter.

I'm actually not on train trade.

Evan Carter.

I'm not.

I am on the page of the dude

needs a hard reset in the offseason.

It's not working.

Whatever you're doing with him is not working,

but he walked today in the ninth inning.

He's really good.

No, please.

Do we have to keep doing this?

Like, you know, every time he gets a

hit, it's like, see, that's why he should

be in there.

No, that's not how it works.

We got to look at the body of

work when it comes to Evan Carter and

here's the body of work over his last

30 games.

Evan Carter is hitting .188.

I mean, this is who he is.

He's a below .200 hitter and the OBP

is .225 over his last 30.

It's bad comment here from soldier on YouTube.

It just doesn't make sense for Carter to

be this bad.

I'm looking around at all these other young

players contributing on other teams.

He was supposed to be one of the

top prospects.

I agree.

Going back to my point, bringing a full

circle.

You're right.

It doesn't make sense.

And that is why they need to do

a full hard reset on Evan Carter in

the offseason.

They need to figure out something different.

He can't keep doing the same thing.

You know what the definition of insanity is,

man.

You're doing the same thing over and over

again and expecting different results.

You got to mix it up.

What you're doing with Evan Carter is not

working right now.

Nate with the gold comment here, 610 runs

so far this year would need 74 in

the last 15 to match last year's total.

So you do the fast math on that.

It's about five runs a game.

This team would have to average five runs

a game over their last 15 in order

to get to where you were last year.

So look to your credit, Salvador, you were

right on that.

That was a TikTok comment basically saying

in so many words, I feel like this

team is worse than last year's team offensively.

I think you might end up being right

there.

You might end up being accurate.

Magic Mike says fire Skip.

We've talked about the Skip long-term future

here or lack thereof.

Skip Schumaker is going to be around there.

There's no way that they're firing Skip after

this year.

I think next year you could potentially make

an argument to fire him.

If he doesn't make the playoffs, I do

feel like this off season Skip might get

a little bit more say in the roster.

I really don't know how much say he

had this year, although he was in front

office last year, man, he was in the

front office last off season.

I feel like this year Skip didn't get

necessarily a full deck, but next year he

might get another excuse because of the lockout.

Right?

I don't think you're going to see a

Skip Schumaker parting of the ways until 2028

at best.

I feel like last year you definitely just

literally taking the words out of my mouth

here.

Kenny, my guy, good to see you, man.

Comment from TikTok.

Doesn't feel like CY did a real search.

Yeah.

I think so many of us, it was

like that scarcity mentality.

Uh, like, man, this is the only one,

this is the only guy that's going to

work for the job.

Skip Schumaker.

I mean, I was guilty of that.

I felt like, man, there's nobody else that

really feels like is on skips level.

Skip definitely is not the worst manager in

the world.

I know some of us maybe would disagree,

but I don't think he's the worst, but

I do think at this point, my take

on Skip is came in a little overhyped.

And when you look at his season with

the Marlins, I think that he got very

fortunate in a lot of one run games.

The Marlins won over 30 one run games

when Skip one manager of the year in

2023.

That's a lot of good fortune.

It is good performance, but it's also good

fortune.

We know winning 30 plus one run games

in a season is not sustainable long-term.

I think Skip is definitely going to be

getting at least one to two more seasons,

probably two, because I think next year it's

going to be a great excuse with the

lockout.

Well, we didn't really have a normal season.

You know, that's going to be the stupid

excuse everybody uses next for all these players

and why they can't be contributors right now.

Well, it was the lockout year.

You know, it's kind of a weird year.

So, you know, you got to give them

some slack.

You got to cut them some slack.

No, I'm sure there's going to be a

lot of guys on other teams performing really

well next year, even though it might be

like a weird lockout year, but you'll have

a lot of people using the excuse.

Yeah, it's not a full season.

You can't hold it against them.

Okay, you just are not going to win

with some people.

So why try too hard?

Right?

Seriously.

I think what needs to be said is

this when you lose games like this, it

all comes out and it's frustrating.

And the reality is they got a game

to play tomorrow and we'll get behind them.

But when you lose games like this, everything's

under the microscope, literally everything is under the

microscope.

What's good comment.

I think a lot are blinded by the

one thing they did, but not what they

are bringing consistently.

Yeah, that's kind of been my point.

I said that a little bit earlier, like,

you know, to begin the game today when

Evan Carter, I think got out the very

first time I posted what I did.

But in my mind, I thought, man, if

he gets a hit today, I'm going to

have so many people telling me how poorly

this aged when the reality is there's a

big sample size that you just can't ignore.

We do that a lot with certain players.

You can't worry about what happens one game.

A lot of guys are going to be

successful if all you're evaluating them on is

one game.

Let's evaluate over 30 and let's let that

speak for itself.

Let's keep going.

Got a few things that I want to

talk about that are outside of what we've

already discussed.

You know, on deck, you got Arizona, right?

You know that that's not going to be

an easy series.

Arizona, 78 and 69.

They're a half game out of the wild

card.

They are going to be a big challenge

for Texas.

Personally, if I'm just giving you my real

take, I don't see the Arizona series going

particularly well.

I don't think the Rangers are going to

get swept, but I think it's going to

be hard to win a series in Arizona.

I think Texas is going to be lucky

to win two or to win three of

three.

I feel like there's going to have to

be some good fortune that breaks their way.

It's just not looking good to me.

This isn't a team that is one on

the road.

They have not consistently figured out ways to

be victorious away from Globe Life Field.

I feel that this weekend definitely is a

bit of a make or break.

You can't get swept this weekend and really

expect to be in October.

You got to do something special.

At this point, I think we can really

pretty confidently say they lose two out of

three.

They get swept.

It's going to be pretty dire.

You're going to have to 10 game win

streak it to even have a shot.

The math is just not mapping for the

Rangers.

You can definitely win a series and I

think maybe survive, but you really need to

sweep this.

I just don't see it happening, but I'm

going to go into each game with hope

that it does even though it doesn't make

sense because it doesn't make sense.

The Rangers have not won a road series

since the all-star break.

They haven't won a road series since the

all-star break.

There's no evidence to suggest that they're going

to go into Arizona and win a series.

Very little.

I'll say this TikTok comment here, it's a

big what if, but what if they pull

off what they did in 23 go undefeated

on the road?

I'd love to see it.

I'd love to see it again.

Baseball is a beautiful sport because hope can

spring eternal even when it doesn't make sense.

I surely hope that they do go down

to Arizona and sweep it.

There's not a lot of evidence to point

to that if we're just looking at this

on paper, but the amazing thing, the wonderful

thing about the game of baseball is on

paper doesn't always win.

You can have a dude that is undefeated

up there on the mound, one of the

best pitchers in the game, but he has

an off day and you just happen to

win.

It's how it goes.

Look at the Seattle victory today from a

Seattle perspective.

You're getting dominated by deGrom for six innings

and then you just have a five batter

stretch where you can't be stopped and Julio

Rodriguez hits the three run bomb and now

you're up four, three, four batters later.

It's the beautiful thing about baseball.

It's the painful thing about baseball.

The Rangers could absolutely win three in a

row.

Sure.

There's just not a lot to point to

that at this moment in time.

Corbin Carroll is a maybe apparently he's got

some low back discomfort.

That might be helpful, but he may still

play either way.

The Diamondbacks have a number of players that

are high quality and it's going to be

a tough series.

It really is.

Look, the latest loss for the Diamondbacks, they

had a one for nine with runners in

scoring position, nine runners stranded.

So maybe we're catching them at a decent

time offensively struggling a little bit, but there's

only one path left.

If four and two, the standard that we

set on Tuesday, you got to go four

and two on this road trip.

The only way to go four and two

on this road trip is to sweep easier

said than done.

Am I right?

Easier said than done.

Big Tex.

We do agree on this.

I know you and I were, we're going

back and forth a little bit, my guy,

but look, you guys always got to know

this.

I welcome alternate opinions.

I do.

Doesn't mean we're always going to agree, but

you know what?

Part of being a fan is going back

and forth with people about things like this.

We realize it's just a game.

I just want you guys to know that.

I appreciate all you guys.

I'm glad that you disagree.

I hope that you feel comfortable doing that.

Doesn't mean we're always going to see eye

to eye, but at the end of the

day, I hope it doesn't keep you away

because it's a part of what I love

about the fan experience.

So Big Tex, you got to know, I

appreciate you, man.

And, um, and you got to know, I

love going back and forth with y'all

at the end of the day, we're Rangers

fans.

We're not going to agree.

It's fun to disagree sometimes.

That's why I started this.

And so I hope you feel all right.

Having an alternate viewpoint.

Some of y'all are very comfortable with

that pushback, please.

I don't want this to be an echo

chamber.

I really don't.

Of course, a lot of y'all follow

along because we do see things eye to

eye a lot, but let's not make this

an echo chamber.

You disagree.

Feel free.

Don't think they have the leadership they had

in 23 was the comment from TikTok from

Big Tex, by the way, be look, I,

I can't disagree with that.

I think that there is some leadership issues.

I mean, we got told a lot about

the clubhouse and the culture, culture, culture, culture

was such a buzzword in spring training.

Wasn't it?

We got told a lot about the culture.

I personally agree that it feels like this

team doesn't have that one true leader voice,

the Beltré, if you will.

I know Beltré is such a high

standard, but it doesn't feel like that.

And I know that I'm not in the

clubhouse.

You have to take everything that anybody says

with a grain of salt.

But at the end of the day, I

do feel like this team needs more visible

leadership now.

And if there is a leader, show yourself,

man.

Some things stop telling us, well, you don't

know.

Well, can we get like the vocal leader

to please stand up?

If there really is one, why are we

hiding them in secret?

Just because we like to keep everybody out

of the clubhouse and nobody can know anything

that's going on, good or bad on now,

if there is a real leader, please stand

up, show yourself until then.

I don't know.

I'm taking anything that said with a grain

of salt, Boston.

Yes.

Coming to town next week as well.

Boston come into town on Monday, I believe,

or on Tuesday, maybe on Tuesday.

I think Monday is an off day.

Not good, y'all.

Not, not good.

All right.

Let's try and put a bow on this

one.

I'll finish the show with comments and questions.

If I missed something, please feel free to

paste again.

But the big thing here, Jacob deGrom is

plenty good enough to pitch meaningful October baseball.

I'm a little concerned about the injury and

the durability.

I'm not going to lie to you.

I don't like that he got pulled.

I understand he had a groin injury.

I don't like that deGrom got pulled today.

You pitched the fourth, you pitched the fifth,

you pitched the sixth.

Apparently the groin injury happened in the fourth

inning.

You made it through two innings dealing with

the groin injury.

They didn't get specific enough with the questioning.

Why were you able to pitch the fifth

and the sixth?

The pain was just unbearable.

What would you have done, deGrom?

What would you have done, Jacob, if it

was all up to you?

Those are the questions that didn't quite get

answered.

I'm not 100% all bought in with

the deGrom groin thing.

I feel like at some point, if you're

able to continue on and not leave the

game immediately, it would at least try in

the seventh inning, at least try to get

through that seventh frame.

It wasn't meant to be, but deGrom can

still be that ace for you.

Durability is obviously an issue, but the question

remains, can this team stop wasting gems from

the starting pitchers?

The bullpen, the offense, both guilty today.

Both guilty.

Still unsure about Jakob Junis in the middle

relief.

I think the Rangers, if they are fortunate

enough to go on a run and make

it to October, the bullpen has got to

shape up, but even then, I'm not sure

how much I trust this bullpen in high

leverage in October.

It is going to be a tough one.

You didn't do enough at the deadline.

You didn't do enough in the offseason.

Next thing I'm watching, what's the response going

to be in Arizona?

Are you going to see a team look

exactly like they did today, or are they

going to have some fight going into this

last road series?

I know they have a couple more road

series left, but the last road series before

a homestand, what are they going to give

you tomorrow?

If we're holding the team to a 4

-2 road trip, you got to go 3

-0 in Arizona.

Way easier said than done, but that is

what you got to do.

At this point, I think if you go

anything less than that, 3-3 on this

road trip would be survival to me.

You lose this series, it feels very, very

bleak.

Very bleak.

All right, comments.

Not a football guy.

I am, but not of every team.

I'll definitely turn on the football game tonight

when I get off the show, have it

in the background, but I'm not going to

be glued to it.

Cowboys, sure.

Definitely will watch the Cowboys.

Definitely will watch the teams that I'm a

fan of, but I would say I'm a

very casual fan of every other team.

Not an NFL diehard.

I keep up with the stories going on

around the league, but it's only really teams

that I love that I'm going to be

glued to a game for four quarters.

Maybe if I've got a little something on

the game, if you know what I mean.

Maybe then I'll be a little bit more

attached, but yeah.

Where should Walcott go?

I hope that Walcott plays third base next

year.

I would like to see Walcott at third.

Seager, I think, is going to maintain shortstop.

I know some people want to see him

move off short.

I think he's got at least two more

years at shortstop before the Rangers can reasonably

force him away from the position.

I do think, you know, Zeke Duran at

third base could work too.

Maybe you move Walcott into the outfield.

You got to have Walcott up at the

major league level next year.

If you're not going to improve the team

in free agency, you got to allow a

guy like Walcott to come up and give

your team some life.

I know he's young.

I get it.

And maybe the argument that people are making

with Carter, like he was rushed.

I would say this.

Not all players are the same.

Some guys need longer development than others.

I think that's pretty evident when you look

at a lot of different cases around the

league.

But I think Walcott needs an opportunity.

You could definitely move Jung to a different

position.

You could have him D.H. more.

I don't think it has to be like

Walcott or Jung.

Shoot, it could be Walcott or Carter.

You could you could swap those two out.

I don't know.

I'm spitballing a lot of different things here,

but I think Walcott needs to have a

solid opportunity to make the roster.

That is for sure.

Jung to me.

D.H. first base.

That's probably what I would do.

They might explore some trades.

You might see the Rangers explore some trades

for players like Jung, maybe players like Burger.

I think it could be interesting.

Duran, if you have Walcott at third, I

would like to see Duran play some outfield.

I think second base would be wasting that

arm a little bit.

Outfield.

Yeah, I mean, centerfield to me, definitely a

possibility.

I think centerfield should be a lot more

wide open next year.

I really do.

I don't want to keep going in on

on the centerfielders on the roster.

We've done that plenty today, but I think

there should be some open roles next year.

No Walcott this year, Matt, but I mean

for next year.

For next year, I think they should give

him an opportunity to make the team.

I really do.

Jung at first base would definitely still be

a little bit nervy to me.

I don't think I would feel great about

it, but if you don't want to trade

him and you want to keep finding ways

to keep him in the lineup every day,

I feel like it's got to be first

base or D.H. Got to be first

base or D.H. Let's see.

Kachow, what's good?

Would have liked Robbie instead of Junis.

I mean, I would have liked deGrom

instead of either of them.

But yeah, if deGrom's got to come

out because of the groin, you know, Junis

definitely is that guy that's on the pecking

order right there.

And maybe you're trying to bridge it to

Latz for two frames.

I understand that.

It's just not great.

You just don't have a great bullpen, man.

It's not an awesome pen.

There's some guys with some promise, but it's

just not a lockdown bullpen right now.

There's nothing else to it.

TLC, what's good?

Bro pitched nearly six hitless innings.

deGrom did.

Comment from YouTube here.

Next guy gave up four runs.

I can't question deGrom's passion.

He's thinking he's handing over a game well

in hand after about 90 pitches.

I don't think anybody's questioning the passion.

I think we're questioning this is a do

or die type game.

It really did feel like it.

And if you can give one more inning,

that would have been massive.

I would have been absolutely massive.

Nobody's blaming deGrom for the loss today.

I don't think anybody's blaming it.

You got to keep the blame on Junis

for not pitching well and for the offense

only scoring three runs.

But it does hurt that deGrom's getting paid

38 million a year.

I said this on the video I put

out today.

deGrom's making 38 million a year.

You need a guy who's getting paid that

handsomely to sometimes extend out a little bit.

You needed seven out of deGrom today.

You really did.

It's not deGrom's fault that we lose the

game.

And I don't even know if it was

ultimately deGrom's decision to get taken out of

the game.

They're going to huddle up and tow the

company line on the answer there.

I think you got to keep it focused,

though.

Junis, you got to keep it focused.

Skip, I think, has a little bit of

a hand, obviously, too.

He's the one who is substituting players.

And then the offense.

I think that is where the blame lies.

Not going to go to deGrom unless deGrom

is, you know, I mean, just totally lying

or advocating to get pulled, which that's the

extreme opposite.

I don't even think that that's a question.

I bet if it was deGrom's choice, he

goes back out.

I'd like to think that.

Nevertheless, he didn't.

The Rangers didn't win a game.

It sucks.

All right.

We are going to tie things, wrap things

up for today.

We've been going a little over an hour.

Offense hopefully won't be ice cold going to

Arizona.

Hopefully they thaw out playing in the desert,

man.

That would be ideal.

Rangers really need a sweep to assert themselves

back into the playoff race.

Two out of three survival mode.

Sweep would be amazing.

I think it's a little bit too much

to ask, but I'd love for the Rangers

to prove me wrong.

We will be live in the eighth inning,

ninth inning tomorrow night.

It'll be some late night baseball.

I believe 640 Pacific, 840 Texas time is

when the game starts.

So late Friday night baseball, late Friday night,

Right on Rangers live.

Hopefully we've been talking about a win, man.

I don't want to talk about another freaking

loss.

Come on now.

And look, I can go on a rant

with the best of them.

I'd much rather talk about wins.

I'd much rather talk about all the amazing

things the Rangers lineup and pitching staff did.

Trust me.

Hopefully we'll be doing it.

I hope you guys have a great rest

of your Thursday night.

Go enjoy some football, get some rest.

We'll see all tomorrow.

If I don't see you catch us on

the replay, we're on every major podcasting app.

We are also on YouTube and Facebook.

Go on those.

We always post our full live shows there,

usually with chapters as well.

So you can catch up on the things

you missed, jump around in the show to

whatever it is that, um, that you did

not catch during the actual live itself.

3-0 in Arizona would be magical.

That would be magical.

It happened before it can happen again, Nate.

I'm with you on this, my guy.

And on that note, let's end the show.

As I always say to end every live,

God bless and go Rangers.