Hi and welcome to another edition of Right

on Rangers Live coming at you after Texas

salvages a game in this three-game set

against the New York Mets.

Welcome in, glad to be joining you after

a win.

Getting dicey there after the first two games,

it surely was.

And look, with the good fortune of last

night with Seattle finding a way to beat

the Astros in extra frames.

Things are suddenly looking a lot more cheery

here in Rangerland.

We'll see what happens tonight.

Astros play the A's at 8.40 Texas

time.

Some late night baseball to finish out the

Astros season, a four-game set against the

Athletics.

We've had Astros fans telling us for a

lot of this week the A's have been

a bit of a problem for Houston.

We will see if that comes to fruition

or if Astros fans are just manifesting that

reverse jinx.

We will see what comes to pass.

But first, here at Right on Rangers, you

know the drill, we cover everything Texas sports.

We put a huge emphasis on the Rangers

during the MLB season.

We thank you for choosing Right on Rangers

for all of your Texas Rangers content.

Drop a comment, drop a question.

We are coming at you pretty much all

post-game show at this point.

All post-game show, which is nice to

mix it up here and there.

You don't have to have as divided of

attention.

Definitely going to make sure we get to

all of your guys' comments and questions along

the way after the opener.

If I miss a comment, if I miss

a question, don't take it personal.

Please repost.

I will be happy to get to as

much of substance as I possibly can.

But welcome in.

Again, Rangers, if you're just joining us, they

beat the New York Mets.

Salvage a game.

They win 3-1 today on the back

of Kumar Rocker.

A great five-inning start for him.

The bullpen, incredibly throwing up a bunch of

zeros.

Jordan Montgomery closing out today's game.

Man, that's a good feeling.

We need a little more of that 2023

magic, don't we?

Going to need it.

Really are with how this looks at this

point in time with all the injuries and

all the adversity Texas is facing at this

point in the season.

You had a home run from Corey Seager

today.

Man, that's got to feel good for him.

He was in a bit of a skid

at that point, and I might be being

nice right now.

You also had some other Rangers driving in

some runs for you as well.

We're going to talk about all of the

offensive performances as the show goes on.

But good to stop the slide.

Josh Jung erased that 1-0 deficit real

quick, didn't he, with that two-run bomb.

Rangers, you know, it's the name of the

game.

They get the big swing, they usually get

the big win.

You had two big swings today from the

Jungle Cat and from Seags, and that's all

you needed.

Kind of how this team has been built.

It's not what they set out to be

built like.

We all know skip ball was primary feature

in the offseason.

This is kind of the same ball that

the Rangers have been playing the last couple

of years, except you have the benefit of

a really bad American League West, and we

will 100% take it.

We'll take it.

Nobody's complaining that the Rangers have an opportunity

here in the last weekend of the season

to make the playoffs.

You never know what can happen when you

get in.

It is interesting, though.

Texas really, at the beginning of the year,

at the beginning of training, insisted on doing

the little things right, taking the extra base,

stealing, putting the ball in play, and here

they are, really dependent on home runs and

big swings, and you got it today.

And you know what?

You can keep getting it.

If somebody gets hot, Josh Jung goes on

a heater.

Not that he hasn't already been productive, but

Josh Jung goes on a heater.

Corey Seager gives you a little three-

or four-week heater.

You never know.

That's all it takes.

Wyatt Langford comes back from the dead and

figures it out.

You don't need to be good for a

whole season.

You don't need to be good for 162.

You just need to be good for about

a month, and maybe that's too much to

ask.

Maybe it isn't, but right now, that is

where the Rangers find themselves.

By the way, Jungle Cat, three for three

today with a homer, a double, a walk,

two RBI, had a single mixed in there.

Just shy of the cycle, if I'm not

mistaken.

I don't know if J.J. was ever

going to be getting that triple, but J

.J. with a huge day today.

He also had four relievers finishing this game

off without allowing a run.

We talked about that.

Rangers in sole possession of first place.

We're going to enjoy these next several hours

here.

Rangers in first place right now.

Houston still with the game, in tow with

the game to play, but we nevertheless will

enjoy what?

About five hours.

At least five hours of being in first.

We will see what the Astros bring to

the table tonight out on the West Coast.

See if Sacramento is the same house of

horrors at times that it can be for

Texas.

Really just the Pacific Northwest in general, if

we're being real.

Look, Josh Jung gave Texas a star player

game.

You guys have heard me say so many

times on the show.

You've got to have the stars.

The stars got to shine, man.

The stars got to shine.

And you've just had so often the stars

throw up a bunch of zeros for you.

We were talking about it last night.

Hello, Wyatt Langford.

Hello, Corey Seager.

Oh, for 12 over 13, whatever those guys

were combined with Josh Jung.

It was not good last night.

The stars were totally dead.

And it's not a shock that you don't

end up winning a ball game when that

happens.

They talked about it before the game today.

You were going to have to have your

top three carry you.

That's exactly what happened today.

You had Josh Jung going off.

You had Corey Seager driving the ball out

of the ballpark and you want a ball

game.

You had really good pitching.

I don't think you can forget about that.

It's not like the Rangers offense was crushing

it today.

You had a couple of guys crushing it,

but by and large, still not the best

offensive effort, not the best offensive output, but

we're just being nitpicky.

You got to win.

It's survive in advance right now.

Of course, you can critique and analyze and

what they did well, what they didn't do

well, but it's survive in advance.

You just got to win games.

You have to figure out a way.

And the Rangers did that today.

Got a lot more ammo for you guys.

We're going to unload that as soon as

we get through some comments and questions.

Definitely want to hear from you guys what

you thought about the game today.

Drop your best take, man.

That's what I want right now.

Drop the best take.

Let me see if I can get to

as much as I possibly can.

Hey, Tampa Blake, appreciate you.

I don't know if you're still hanging out,

but man, I appreciate you.

Hey, thank you so much for all the

gifts, Gary.

I saw the gift that you just gave.

Big D51, appreciate you, man.

Thank you so much.

Hey, Ricky Don, thank you.

Not needed, but much appreciated.

Tampa Blake, yeah, man.

Look, we'll see what happens.

Now, the way that it's looking right now,

if you go to the standings, which we're

going to here in just a second, it

looked like Chicago is matching up with the

AL West winner.

It's going to be White Sox versus the

AL West winner.

And then it's going to be the New

York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox duking

it out.

And then, of course, you've got the Guardians

and you've got Tampa Bay on the bye.

So you've got a little bit of a

tight finish here.

You look at how it could possibly unfold.

I don't know that there's going to be

a lot of movement with the bye.

Guardians are 82 and 75.

Now, there is a possibility, a small possibility,

that you could have Texas finishing at 82

and 80.

It's possible.

And if you had the Guardians lose out,

you could maybe be that two seed.

I'm not counting on this.

We're just going through scenarios.

I think Guardians losing out, Rangers winning out

is probably a less likely scenario.

Don't get it twisted.

But I do think it's fun to go

through these different things in your mind.

And we all know crazy stuff happens this

last weekend of the season.

Every single year, something wild happens.

You just hope, and I'll knock on wood

right now.

I hope you can hear this.

I hope you can hear it.

If not, that was probably my loudest knock

of the season.

You just hope you're not on the wrong

end of the late season, the last weekend

of the season, craziness.

Yeah, we've seen it.

And look, I think the Rangers, they don't

make a lot of sense this year.

I told you guys, I think they're going

to find a way.

And so far, so good on the prediction,

but there's still three games left to be

played here.

Rangers are not in control of their own

destiny.

I think that needs to be said out

loud, not in control of their own destiny.

Astros, if they were to win out, they

would be the American League West champions.

You definitely think that probably there could be

one loss in that mix.

There's four games for Houston left.

Winning four in a row is not impossible,

but it's not easy.

You would think you could get the Astros

drop in one game.

Rangers winning out though is not the easiest

thing either.

It's surely not an easy thing to do

for Texas and how inconsistent they have been

over the course of time.

But man, I hope that it all works

out.

You guys have heard me say, I don't

have any cutting edge analysis for you, but

I just feel like Texas finds a way.

I really do.

Hey, uh, by the way, JP, I don't

disagree with you.

Comment from tick tock.

AL West is a joke.

Look, you might have been following some other

accounts that are saying different things.

I've been very real about this team.

They are a flawed team that happens to

be playing in the worst division in baseball

and we will take it.

We have done zero gassing up, uh, of

the Rangers as a legitimate world series contender.

However, we have said anything can happen in

October.

Absolutely anything.

And so we are here.

We are going to be playing the teams,

the schedule that's in front of us.

And that's all the Rangers can do.

And hopefully at the end of 162,

you're popping the champagne and you are celebrating

an AL West division title.

It's about the only way you can get

it done.

Uh, JP, we're united on that for sure.

My guy, we are big ACE fans this

weekend.

Rangers nation.

We are big athletics fans.

We can bond over the Astros getting their

butts whooped.

Absolutely.

I hope the Rangers pull through.

I know a lot of you guys are

saying the same thing.

Look, I get accused a lot of negativity.

You haven't heard me say one time, you

know, I'm, I'm done.

I'm giving up, you know, screw this team.

You haven't heard any of that from me

now.

Have I definitely said at different points, man,

this feels like the nail in the coffin.

1000%.

Yes.

If you want to get me on that,

if you want to dunk on me for

that, so be it.

But I've been very upfront.

I am not giving up on this team

until it is over until they are mathematically

eliminated.

We will cover this team like the playoff

hopefuls that they are.

And are they benefiting from a bad AL

West?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

RJ, thank you for the comment here.

I do agree with this.

Uh, you know, RJ says it's warranted negativity.

The team has had us all on an

emotional rollercoaster.

Yeah, I do feel the same way.

I've told you guys that this is, um,

you know, right now, this is a team

that has a record under 500.

This is a losing baseball team that might

be a division champion.

You could have a losing division champion here.

It doesn't make sense.

Talk about an Epic paradox.

You've got a losing baseball team popping champagne

is what it is.

Not going to apologize for it.

Just going to enjoy it.

But I've said throughout the year, this team

has offered you more negativity than positivity up

to this point.

But if they make the playoffs, I don't

think there's any arguing.

It's definitely a season worth remembering some really

bad moments, some great moments.

But if the Rangers can make it back

to October, something that they've done one time

in the last 10 years, and that so

happens to be the world series run, we'll

take it.

We will take it.

Hey, appreciate you, man.

A longtime Rangers fan here.

Comment from TikTok.

Love you.

Content.

Thanks.

I appreciate the kind words really do.

Thank you so much.

Look, I get a lot the other direction.

But I do get a lot of the

positive feedback.

And I really appreciate you guys.

Thank you for your support of the show.

You guys show up a lot of you

every single night, at least for a little

bit to hang out and talk ball.

And it's why I started this thing.

Honestly, it wasn't for any other reason.

I wanted to have more of a community

of Rangers fans to talk shop with.

And that's what we got here.

And I always say I said this last

night, regardless of what happens this weekend, we're

all going to miss baseball when it's gone.

It'll be all right watching the playoffs.

I always watch the playoffs regardless whether the

Rangers are in it or not.

I'll enjoy the playoffs just because I love

baseball and I love the game.

I'm not one of those fans that doesn't

watch playoff baseball.

I do.

I love it.

I surely miss the Rangers or wish the

Rangers are playing in it when they're not.

But I am hoping at least for one

round, we get some Texas Rangers playoff baseball,

baby.

Amir, I do think the Rangers find a

way to get in.

I don't think that it's going to make

a lot of sense.

I don't think there's a lot of analytical

strengths here to the argument, but I do

feel like I just have a gut that

the Rangers find a way.

Mitchell with you.

Let's go A's baby.

Let's go.

Amir.

Yes, sir.

Look, I am definitely an enjoyer of the

game.

I find a team every season, every postseason

to root for if the Rangers aren't in

it.

And by the way, we go live during

the playoffs, not every day by any means,

but if the Rangers are in it, we'll

surely be live every game.

If the Rangers aren't in it, I do

a couple of shows, usually at least one

show a week.

And we kind of do some playoff recap

and talk shop in that regard.

So hope you come hang out, man.

If you haven't hit that follow button yet,

I mean, this is pretty much the vibe

every day.

We just hang out.

I answer some comments.

Some people get ticked off at me occasionally

for my hot takes, but you know what?

It's baseball.

We all have fun and it's okay if

we don't agree.

A lot of the times we probably will

agree.

And if you're hanging out with me for

this long, I'm sure that is the case.

But I always say, man, part of being

the fun of part of the fun of

being a fan, a little disagreement from time

to time, never killed anybody.

Some people take things way too seriously.

Let's have some fun.

And with that, let's get into a great

show.

Let me head on over to some of

the other comments that are over here.

Cody, what's good.

I definitely mean, look, I do not have

a psychology degree, but I absolutely will play

the role if needed.

This is my group therapy session as well

sometimes.

So 100%.

This is Ethan makes a good point here,

YouTube.

This is like the eight and nine team

in football.

What was it?

Wasn't it?

Some of you guys know, I cover the

Cowboys as well in the NFL.

Didn't Tampa Bay a few years back when

the Cowboys went down and they played Brady

in his last year.

Remember the Cowboys retired Tom Brady.

Never forget that.

We won't get into that debate, but I

believe the bucks weren't they eight and nine

that year.

Weren't the bucks a losing team or were

they like nine and eight?

Just barely.

Maybe I'm misremembering that to quote the great

Roger Clemens.

Maybe I'm just misremembering here.

I feel like you did have an eight

and nine team of multiple different times in

the NFL.

We'll see.

Daniel, what's good, man.

Facebook comment here.

I believe out of the wild card chase.

Yes.

I'm looking at the wild card right now,

my guy.

And I thought wild card was all but

gone.

Maybe something crazy like we went out and

they lose out.

But right now the White Sox are three

and a half up.

So they are three up on the Rangers.

So I guess technically you're right.

They're still in it, but the White Sox

would have to lose out and the Rangers

would have to win out.

So you're not totally cooked in the wild

card, but it's getting close.

It's getting close.

Daniel, another comment here.

Gotta be rocker holding steady.

No idea what we're doing with the starting

or the bullpen.

Five innings from anyone is our biggest asset.

It is right now.

It absolutely is.

100%.

Rangers never make it easy.

They don't ever make it easy.

I told you guys last night, the diehards

that have watched this team for 150, whatever,

straight games.

Yeah.

So White Sox did clinch it.

Okay.

My bad on that.

My bad on that.

You guys know it's hard in the moment

on the live show.

Sometimes I got the refresh button getting hit

about 9 million different times, but misread on

that one.

White Sox 82 and 77 hold the tiebreaker.

We could tie them record wise, but they

hold the tiebreaker over us.

So the only path is the West.

Appreciate it.

Patrick, what's good?

TikTok comment here.

Screwed.

So screwed.

The Astros get a four, a whole four

game series with the A's.

Rangers would get swept by the A's.

I would feel, I will say this.

I would feel a whole lot worse if

we were playing the A's this weekend.

I don't feel amazing about the twins matchup,

which we're going to preview the twins matchup

here.

Probably I would say in the next maybe

20 to 30 minutes or so, but I

definitely would feel a whole lot worse if

we were up in Sacramento right now.

I know that there's some Astros fans out

there that actually feel the same.

They are not feeling great about this A's

series.

We'll see.

I do have a couple of buddies, Astros

fans that have expressed that to me, just

not feeling good about this weekend.

That might be just a case of what

all of us go through at different times.

You've gotten your heart broken by your favorite

team so much.

You do things, you say things out loud

to get your hopes where they need to

be.

You don't want to get your hopes up

too high, but I do know the A's

have given a little bit of trouble to

the Astros.

You don't count on anything, but I would

not be mad if that came to fruition.

Let's just say that.

Texas Bull, we will appreciate the heart.

Thank you so much.

It means a lot.

Not needed, but much appreciated.

Thank you for the generosity.

Let me know if you got a comment

or question.

Would love to feature that.

Thank you again for the gift.

Matt, not very optimistic.

We get swept by the twins.

Oh my gosh.

Please no.

That gave me some indigestion right there.

Excuse me.

Please no.

I don't think a sweep is in the

cards.

I do think winning this deGrom game is

huge.

We're going to talk about the series coming

up here in just a little bit.

Winning the deGrom game feels big.

It's just going to depend, man, on what

Houston does, how we really feel.

I do think the only downside to the

Astros playing in this time zone, man, is

you're just not going to know exactly how

to feel until the night is fully over.

Even tonight, you're happy they won, but now

you're waiting and you're just praying that the

Stros drop a game.

That's what you're going to be doing pretty

much all weekend.

We're going to hop on the live.

Hopefully the Rangers will win and they just

can control their own destiny after tonight.

You don't even have to worry about the

Astros.

Even after the deGrom start tomorrow, we're all

going to be, what did the Astros do?

It's going to be tough, but I do

think it'll start evening out a little bit

once Saturday-Sunday hit.

Hey, what's good, everybody?

I know a lot of people are coming

in for the first time.

Monty to the rotation, Cody says.

That could be really interesting.

That could be really interesting.

I think Montgomery is carving out a pretty

legitimate role, not that there's a lot of

other options.

That's for sure.

Let me scroll back.

Pops, what's up?

Love the content.

Keeping it real.

Always try to do that.

Always try to do that.

Love you, man.

Another comment here.

YouTube comment.

Thinking that Osuna needs more of a role

moving forward.

You don't even have to give me one

little iota of substance on the Osuna debate

to get me rolling.

I have a lot to say.

You guys already know this.

I've tried to not tone it down, but

I've covered the Osuna angle quite a bit

on the show.

You know this.

I like to see guys that put the

ball in play, that give you quality.

I like to see those guys getting more

time.

The club has their favorites.

We've talked about this.

That's the best conclusion I can come to.

I don't think Osuna, by the way, is

an all-star.

I don't think Osuna is the best player

in the league, but I do look at

our lineup one through nine, and I look

at how putrid the offense has been at

times.

I do think to myself, this is upgradable,

or at least this is worthy of a

change.

We don't need to keep trotting the same

guys out there every single time.

We keep rolling.

We bring back Burger.

I don't know what the Rangers are going

to do with Burger.

Burger is, I know, leading the team in

RBI.

I know there's quite a few Rangers fans

that just look at the Burger stats, and

that's enough for them.

You've watched Burger for 159.

I don't know that you feel great about

Jake Burger.

A lot of fans that I interact with

about Burger, the ones that are very supportive

of Jake, and Jake's a great guy.

I mean, I don't think anybody's arguing that,

but we're just talking baseball right now.

We're just talking baseball.

If you've watched Burger for 159, I don't

know how you don't have at least a

small feeling in the back of your mind.

Replaceable.

Replaceable.

I think Burger can hit the ball out

of the ballpark against lefties really well.

Against righties, he's done it too.

It's not like he doesn't have any home

runs against right-handers, but Burger, to me,

he's had a very interesting last few games.

He had the home run, what, two or

three games ago that made it a 2

-2 ballgame.

Burger is going to be a really interesting

offseason scenario, especially if the club is keen

on bringing up Walcott, which I think they

should be, and moving Josh Jung off of

third base, which I also think they should

be.

The natural move, I feel like, would be

you transition Josh to first base or DH,

and you potentially see if Burger can be

a platoon guy, or you see if Burger

maybe has some trade value.

That would be what I would do if

you made me decide right now without any

benefit of the rest of the season or

the playoffs.

I think the Rangers would probably consider moving

Burger if they could get something of quality

in return.

Burger, to me, is a great clubhouse guy,

and this team is very keen on their

culture, so I think that might save Burger

from being moved or potentially from losing any

kind of position.

I don't think that's necessarily the best way

to do business.

I think this team, they've emphasized culture a

lot this year, and it hasn't necessarily gotten

them what they actually wanted on the baseball

field.

Yeah, I mean, they're benefiting from a bad

AL West.

They're in a playoff spot.

Don't get it wrong, but I think we

all can agree this Rangers team has left

a lot of meat on the bone this

year, and I think what you have seen

with this team is a little bit too

much of a priority placed on culture and

not enough of a priority placed on guys

that actually fit within Skip Schumaker's system.

You don't have enough guys that put the

ball in play consistently, can take extra bases,

and can steal bases and play good defense,

which today, Burger, the defense and the base

running, a lot of the things that not

a lot of people are going to see

on a highlight reel, but you might see

Burger on a highlight reel on the Sports

Center, not top 10 for what happened today

out on the base pass.

Like what was that today?

That, that Burger tripping on himself, getting a

secondary.

What are we doing?

Dude, my guy.

Yeah, I get it.

You are not the most fleet of foot.

You could definitely mash homers with the best

of them.

You got a ton of raw power, but

baby, it's season on the line right now.

And we're tripping over our own feet.

That was wild.

When that happened, I got to admit to

you guys, I, in the back of my

head, I was thinking circle that moment.

If the Mets find some kind of way

to come back in this one, Wyatt Langford

is another guy I think that's worth talking

about.

I don't think the Rangers should trade Wyatt.

I know there's a lot of people that

have offered that up.

I think whatever is going on with Wyatt

right now, it's not working and they need

to reset it in the off season.

Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford need hard resets

in the off season.

Maybe they, they get a little run going

here.

Maybe they turn it into something special, maybe,

but they need hard resets at this point.

They really do.

I definitely feel like you have a lot

that you can consider.

First of all, the hitting coach, Justin Viele,

he's been in the eye of criticism quite

a bit this year.

I would be rebooting everything hitting this year,

everything hitting.

I think that you have to, have to

consider a full revamp of your hitting department.

It's not working.

It was so bad this year.

I don't even know how you can justify

bringing Viele back.

It was bad last year.

It was bad this year.

I'm not a fan.

Mentioned this last night, Cody says Wyatt only

spent 44 games in the minors, brought up

way too quickly.

So what you're saying is he could use

some refinement.

Look, I think Wyatt would mash down in

AAA.

I really don't think he's got a lot

to prove down there.

I feel the same way about, you know,

Osuna.

I don't think Osuna has a lot to

prove down in AAA.

He's at the point where you kind of

have to get a runway.

Evan Carter, I think he has some things

to prove in AAA.

He's really, really struggling.

He looks lost at times.

And I know like, you know, some of

these guys have gotten hits over the past

several days.

We're looking at the body of work right

now, right?

We're looking at a body of work.

Wyatt, I mean, one of the hits today

from Wyatt, wasn't it like a swinging bunt?

I mean, let's contextualize a little bit here.

I know that in the box score, it

says a couple of different hits, but let's

be honest here.

Wyatt swinging bunt in his way on base.

You'll take it.

You'll absolutely take it.

But, you know, let's not pretend like he

was mashing the baseball.

I mean, a couple of times, maybe hit

the ball hard.

I forget all the ABs that Wyatt had

today.

What I like is he didn't strike out

a lot.

He only had one strikeout on the day.

You've seen Wyatt with multiple games in a

row, you know, two strikeouts, three strikeouts.

That's what you want to avoid.

You want the ball being put in play

as much as possible.

I just think both players need some refinement.

And when you have two of your best

hitters, like I know Josh Jung is going

to be the model for Justin Viele.

Look at what they did with the jungle

cap, man.

That's like totally the hitting department and you

can't get rid of him.

When you're two top prospects, and remember Carter

and Langford were one too.

When you're two top prospects are struggling this

much, to me, that's priority number one.

I mean, with all due respect to Josh

Jung, priority number one is the development of

your top prospects.

Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford taking this big

of a dip, to me, that's the thing

you focus on more than Josh Jung tearing

the cover off the baseball.

It's great.

And I think you could argue Josh was

good before Justin Viele got here.

You know, he had a down year last

year with the injuries, the demotions, 2024 he

was injured as well.

Josh Jung is a nice positive of the

Justin Viele era, if you will, in 2026.

But when you're two top prospects, and we're

not talking about Walcott, we're talking about from

the past two or three years, right?

When two of your top prospects are struggling

this much, really hard not to be very

concerned with what's happening in the Rangers hitting

department.

That's where I'm at.

I would love to see both those players

have a great offseason.

Maybe hear some new voices.

I think that could be important.

Just hearing some new voices sometimes makes all

the difference.

Those guys got to get back on track.

That almost has to be priority number one

in the offseason, getting both those dudes back

on track.

It's sad to see them dip this much.

Evan Carter, especially considering all that Carter has

done for the franchise and that he did

in 2023 to take this big of a

drop, this big of a fall off.

It's depressing.

And the Rangers have to figure out a

way to get these two guys right again.

These were your top prospects in 2023, 2024

have to find a way we keep rolling.

Appreciate it.

I what's good, brother.

Yeah.

Comment here from Facebook.

I just hope the Rangers go out strong

win or lose, not make the playoffs or

squeak in.

Just get some hits, score some runs.

I'd be happy.

I could get on board with this.

Obviously, I want to see the team win.

But can we just not go out with

a whimper?

Can we just not go out like with

meltdowns over this weekend?

Like we've been somewhat accustomed to seeing this

year from Texas, just like these epic failures.

You know, think back to the Grand Slam

from last night.

Like, can we just avoid games like that?

Can we just play good, solid baseball?

And you know what?

If you get outmatched and you lose by

a run or two, it is what it

is.

But can we just play good, sound, solid

baseball this weekend and at least be able

to say, man, we gave it all.

We put forth the best foot.

It didn't work out, or hopefully it did

work out.

And we're watching the Rangers pop champagne for

the first time since 2023.

And when the division for the first time,

what, since the mid 2010s, isn't that wild?

This team has not won the division since

the Beltre years.

Miss Adrian, man, I miss that dude.

Tell you what, all these Rangers history posts

that I put out, it just makes me

miss some of these teams so much like

the Michael Young teams, the Beltré teams and

Mike Young.

I mean, he's in the early 2000s highlights.

He's in the early 2010s highlights.

It's amazing.

But what they have got to they have

got to do is just figure out a

way this weekend, regardless, you got to win

the division.

It's the only way to do it.

You don't totally control your own destiny, but

man, I would love to see Stroh's drop

tonight.

And then, you know, if I went out,

I'm in that's where you want to be

big game, James.

What's good, man?

Hey, we appreciate that.

You guys at least gave us some life

last night.

Thank you, Josh Naylor.

Thank you, Julio Rodriguez.

Thank you to all those guys.

Seriously.

Let me roll back a little bit here.

You know, going back to Burger, somebody commented

out Burger has 88 RBI.

I know that that's a sexy stat.

And a lot of us that grew up

in the 90s really appreciated RBI home run.

We really latched on to average.

It wasn't the, you know, the Statcast

era in the 90s, man, even in the

early 2000s.

You know, you weren't really caring that much

about anything beyond box score stats.

Some people got into it.

It wasn't at all the culture of the

game.

Now you're in a little bit of a

different place.

And I do think RBI is valuable.

I'm not in the crowd that just turns

my nose up at RBI.

It's not that important.

But I will say this.

When you bat in RBI spots, you tend

to have more RBI.

Does that always happen?

No.

But at this point, Burger 230 average 724

OPS.

That's very average.

It's very, very average.

I don't think that that is super debatable.

And if you break down the numbers even

more with Burger against righties, I mean, Burger

is borderline unplayable.

He's hitting 218 with a 663 OPS against

righties.

He's done a majority of his damage against

lefties.

He's very, very solid against lefties.

I don't know if you have to drive

Burger out of town, but I would like

to see Burger take on more of a

platoon role.

That would be my strong, strong preference.

I like Jake Burger.

I'm rooting for him, but I don't think

that it's healthy for us to sit here

and pretend like Jake Burger isn't replaceable.

I mean, think about it this way, just,

just for perspective.

Okay.

Adolis Garcia, let's talk about the legendary Dolly

right now, please.

He's a great example of how using RBI

is just not always a very wise thing

to do.

Adolis Garcia in 2024 had 85 RBI for

the club.

He batted 224 with a 684 OPS.

And I think most Rangers fans would say

Dolly was bad in 2024.

He had 85 RBI, but he was not

good in 2020.

Dolly had a very down year.

And then in 2025, he had 75 RBI.

Adolis Garcia had 75 RBI and he had

a 665 OPS.

I think the people latching onto RBI with

Jake Burger, I understand it.

I'm a box score nineties kid, man, old

school, get the sports page.

My dad, my stepdad, they love the paper,

man.

I mean, my dad will still get the

paper.

I still get the paper.

I'm super old school.

I don't do digital, man.

I love getting the paper.

I love reading the sports page and looking

through those box scores.

It makes me feel like a kid again,

eating my pop tarts and cereal at the

kitchen table, you know, when, when life was

simpler, that's why I like the sports page,

man.

But look, you go to Adolis Garcia and

you compare him to Jake Burger.

I think it's a great comp.

They play different positions, but it's a great

comp in terms of the profile.

You've got two guys that had good RBI

years, Jake Burger this year, a really good

RBI year, Adolis Garcia in 2024, really good

RBI year, 85 RBI, OPS, all the other

advanced stats.

They don't point to a player that's irreplaceable.

You'd point to a player that definitely has

the ability to drive in some runs when

given the opportunity, but not necessarily a player

that you just can't live without.

And that's how I feel about Burger.

I feel like he's solid.

I don't think you have to drive him

out of town, but I feel like, man,

it would be great to have him in

maybe a DH first base platoon type role,

maybe with Josh Jung and not necessarily play

him as an everyday guy.

That's just me trying to give an objective,

unbiased opinion there.

It's not easy.

We love these players.

We want to see them do well, but

that's my take on Burger.

All right, let me get back on track

here, man.

Let me get back on track.

So first of all, this weekend, you've got

deGrom throwing, and then you really don't know

who's throwing after that.

Like your guess is literally as good as

mine.

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

be going with in terms of their starting

pitching.

You would figure Gore is going to get

one of the games.

deGrom's going to get one of the games,

but they're piecemealing this thing together.

I mean, every game basically is like a

playoff game at this point.

Look, let's go back though, and let's just

totally put a bow on the game today,

which is a great game.

You needed this win today, badly needed this

win, and you got it.

Kumar Rocker, he was wonderfully boring tonight.

That's the best way I can put it.

Wonderfully boring.

Five innings, one run, three hits, two walks,

four strikeouts.

That is a perfectly usable start, and Kumar

Rocker kept you right where you needed to

be.

Josh Jung gives you the 2-1 lead.

Rocker finds a way.

He shuts things down for you after you're

able to retake the lead.

I love that they answered back or I

should say, I love that Josh Jung answered

back right away.

Rocker gives up the run right away, and

everybody, myself included, here we go again with

Kumar.

Youngster goes ahead and gives the two-run

bomb, gives that baseball a ride, and then

you never look back from the lead.

Kumar Rocker, four shutout frames after the first

inning earned run allowed.

Look, for a staff that's been patching things

together for what feels like weeks probably isn't

an exaggeration.

Five stable innings, it felt borderline luxurious.

I mean, five innings from Rocker today, one

run ball, you're like, this is nice.

Could use a little more of this.

Rocker needs his flowers today.

Texas didn't spend this entire afternoon really trying

to piece together some wild Frankenstein plan to

get this one to the finish line.

I think you come into the game feeling

pretty fortunate if you get six innings from

Rocker.

Five innings probably feels like pretty typical.

So Rock allowed you to have a traditional

plan for what this Rangers team has done

most of the year.

It's when you have to chase five innings

from the bullpen, six innings from the bullpen

that you really start getting into trouble.

Rocker did a nice job.

TPT, what's good?

Yeah, this weekend, I do think deGrom, Gore,

Evo most likely if I had to guess.

I mean, I'm not 100%, but that would

be my best guess is you're going to

have deGrom, you're going to have Gore, you're

going to have a Valdi.

We'll see what ends up happening ultimately.

We will keep, like I said, checking comments

and checking things eventually.

I hope to get to everything of substance.

I know it's hard, but I hope I

can.

Austin, what's good?

Hoping I'm not the only one that thinks

this isn't a better offensive performance other than

one guy.

Austin, elaborate on that a little bit.

This to me doesn't feel like a great

offensive performance.

I already kind of talked about that.

I mean, you had seven hits today.

Yeah, not bad, but Josh Jung pretty much

carried you today.

It was one guy.

I am with you.

If that's what you're saying, Austin, I agree

with you.

I think my take overall on the offense

is this.

We all know this is not a great

offense.

There's no hot take in that.

There's no debate in that.

This isn't a great offense.

You are at the point in the season

where you got to ride with who you

got.

Are there a couple little moves the team

could make?

Yeah, sure.

You can move guys around in the order.

Maybe you call up somebody.

Josh Jung had three of the seven hits

today.

You had three runs scored.

You didn't score a lot of runs in

this series in general.

At this point, you do have to just

survive in advance.

I think you're always going to get a

critical take from me.

If the offense plays well, we'll compliment them.

If they don't, we'll say it.

The bigger point is the result of the

game.

You need results right now.

Process is only going to take you so

far.

Now, the diehards, me and you, we love

talking process.

I know Skip Schumaker has kind of drifted

into that at times this year as well.

Results is what you really have to be

focused on.

Right now, the Rangers, they're coming off a

win.

You got to win this weekend.

If you win ugly, it really doesn't matter.

You got to find a way.

Doesn't mean you can't take a critical eye

when it comes to the offense.

I'm sure we'll do that on the show.

It is what it is.

If you can get a 3-1 win,

you take a 3-1 win.

Thank you for the follow, by the way.

If you haven't hit that follow button yet,

this is what we do every day.

Come hang out.

We'll be here tomorrow talking ball.

We'll be here all weekend talking ball.

Hopefully, we'll be here next week in the

playoffs talking ball.

That is the plan.

We're sticking to it.

Rangers still have an opportunity to maybe be

the two-seed.

If Cleveland loses out and the Rangers win

out, you could potentially steal that two-seed.

It's not a foregone conclusion.

You would need for, looks like, actually, you

would need for a couple other things to

happen.

Maybe I'm getting that wrong.

With the White Sox being even, let's see.

If the White Sox and Guardians are even,

I don't think it's possible.

Okay.

That's good clarity to get.

I don't think it's possible for them to

get the two-seed because you've got 82

and 76 Guardians and the White Sox are

already at 82.

If the Guardians were to lose out, then

you would have the White Sox taking over.

I'm not sure how that's going to work.

I'm not sure what the season series is.

Either way, deGrom, he's still going tomorrow.

We got to worry about what's in front

of us.

Just get in.

Find a way in.

Soldier says deGrom gets another shot.

If he doesn't come through now, then forget

about it.

One thing that I've always complained about, and

a number of different things to complain about

this year, but I've always complained about, I

don't like how this team at times, the

injuries are always the excuse.

I know last start, I saw Jared Sandler

putting this out.

I saw some other people putting this out

like, man, you just got to appreciate that

deGrom is out there, gutting through injuries, and

you just got to appreciate it.

I do appreciate it.

I really do.

I do appreciate that deGrom is grinding through

whatever groin issue he's got.

I do appreciate that Eovaldi is grinding through

whatever issue he's got.

I appreciate that players are banged up right

now and they're playing through it.

I do.

But I want to go back to what

I've said many times, which is these players

get paid handsomely.

These players are very well compensated, and I

don't think that can totally just excuse guys

because they're playing injured.

No criticism for deGrom because he's gutting through

something.

I don't think it works that way.

We all have our own lives and we

all have our own careers.

Many of us do, whether you're a student,

whether you're in the workforce like me, we

all have our own jobs.

And you know what?

We don't always get built in excuses, man.

We don't get built in excuses.

When I'm up with my two year old

because she can't sleep very well, and then

I got to go to work the next

day, I'm expected to perform.

And the excuse of me being tired only

goes so far.

Shoot, man, if you get legitimately hurt, you

still got to show up and do your

job in most situations.

I think it's not a perfect comparison.

And I'll admit that it's a perfect comparison.

But this idea that we have to excuse

bad performances and just be appreciative instead that

they're out there playing, I don't understand that

at all.

I'm never going to be on that page.

Jacob deGrom gets paid $38 million per season.

And we talked about how that average is

out.

Every time deGrom takes the mound, it's like

collecting a $1 million plus paycheck.

Every time deGrom pitches, he gets over a

million dollars.

Now, I know the paycheck doesn't work out

perfectly, but he starts what, 32, 33, 34

games.

He makes 38 million a year.

The dude gets over a million dollars for

every single one of his starts.

That is the reality.

I'm not going to sit around and make

a lot of excuses and pretend like that

is just totally worthy of giving infinite grace

because the guy is playing through a groin

issue.

Dude, you are our ace.

You are the man.

You are the number one.

You are a potential hall of famer getting

paid a lot of money.

To me, there's not a lot of excuses

at this point.

You're either good to go or you're not

good to go.

But however you pitch, let's not always quantify

or qualify.

Excuse me.

Let's not always qualify it because the guy

is a little banged up.

Everybody is banged up right now.

Everybody.

Everybody's hurt.

There are a few players right now in

the game that are totally uninjured.

Again, I know that our lives and what

we do for a living is not perfectly

comparable to what deGrom and what Eovaldi and

what all these guys do.

But all I know is this, in the

real world, you don't get excuses.

I'm tired.

I didn't sleep well.

It's okay for me to have a terrible

day at work because of that.

Dude, what?

How many times is your boss going to

be good with that, man?

That's how the real world works.

You got drama going on at home, right?

You got things in your life that you're

dealing with outside of your workplace.

Your work still expects you to perform, man.

It is a hard life.

The world doesn't stop spinning.

It doesn't.

You got to perform regardless of the extra

factors.

I don't know why people are so quick

to excuse multimillionaires getting paid handsomely for what

they do, but they are.

I see it a lot.

The deGrom police patience.

That is hilarious.

The deGrom police.

This is a comment from X.

Have you met the deGrom police?

I have.

I've definitely met the deGrom police.

I posted a pretty, not scathing, but I

posted a pretty strong criticism of deGrom.

I'm like, this is unacceptable.

His last dart to me was totally unacceptable.

And one of the biggest games, his biggest

start of the year, you had him just

totally soiling the bed and the offense didn't

show up either.

But that can't be an excuse either.

deGrom, you got to go out there and

give us your ACE best stuff.

You got to give us your seven innings,

no earned runs, your seven innings, one earned

run, your six innings, two earned runs.

You've got to go out there and give

us your ACE stuff, brother.

I think even deGrom would tell you that

last start was totally unacceptable.

In fact, I'm pretty sure he did in

his outing, in his presser.

You've got to get the A game from

deGrom tomorrow.

100%.

Uh, when's the last time deGrom had a

quality start, Sugi?

Good question.

I will look it up as best I

can on the fly here.

I don't think it's been that long, right?

I think the Seattle game, off the top

of my head, Sugi, remember, he went like

five perfect innings.

I think the Seattle game is the last

time he had a quality start, if I'm

not mistaken.

deGrom's got to show up.

This isn't rocket science.

The dude has got to show up.

Bullpen was great today.

Robert Garcia.

I hyped him up about a week ago

and Robert Garcia, he answered the bell today.

One shutout inning, 2.70 ERA on the year

and a small sample size.

I'm telling you, Robert Garcia in leverage and

Robert Garcia faced a gauntlet, man.

He had Lindor, he had Soto, he had

Bichette, and he figured out a way to

go one, two, three.

Big props to Robert Garcia, a guy that

gets a lot of crap from Rangers Nation.

I have been on the Robert Garcia train

of pitch him in good spots where he

is facing lefties.

Look, Lindor, don't know what the numbers are

when Lindor faces a lefty.

He is a switch hitter.

Looking at the splits, Lindor is 189 batting

average against lefties.

The Lindor switch hitter, you make Lindor face

the lefty.

He's batting 189 against lefties this year.

Robert Garcia takes care of business.

Then you get Juan Soto to pop out

in foul territory.

Robert Garcia pitched in a very big spot.

Kumar Rocker had pitched really well.

You're thinking, man, Rocker might have something left

in the tank here.

You're bringing in Garcia.

He pretty much mows through the best hitters

in the Mets lineup.

That's the guy that stands out to me.

I know Montgomery pitching the ninth inning, getting

the save today.

That's huge.

I really look at Robert Garcia and what

he did.

That to me is one of the bigger

performances of this game.

It really is.

Beyond that, though, we know that a number

of different dudes earned their keep today.

Alexander was good.

Silseth was a clean frame.

This is wild.

Four innings, one hit, no walks from the

bullpen.

They had, I think, three strikeouts.

The bullpen allowed one base runner over the

final four frames.

That is pure dominance right there.

For all of the criticism the bullpen has

gotten, rightfully so, over the last three or

four weeks, they were lights out today.

It was a dominating performance from this pen.

They need the respect today.

They definitely have gotten their fair share of

crap and criticism.

They need some respect today.

Bullpen was phenomenal.

Then, Corey Seager.

We talked about Josh Jung.

We talked about his three-for-three day.

We talked about the two-run bomb to

put him back up after Rocker allows the

first inning runs.

Corey Seager finally gave you something today.

Man, you needed that breathing room.

Two-one was just a little too close

for comfort.

Three-one gets you feeling a lot easier,

breathing a lot easier.

That was great to see.

Look, Astros Athletics is starting later on tonight.

You have a 640 start for me, 840

start for all y'all in Texas.

That one is going to be one we

are going to be watching, posting about.

We will definitely get back together at some

point this evening.

Not going to hop on a live or

anything like that, but you'll see me posting.

We will surely talk about what the end

result is of tonight's game between the A's

and the Astros.

Beyond that, we have just a couple of

closing thoughts, and then we are going to

do some previewing of the game tomorrow.

We've already done that a little bit.

You had, I think, very minimal in terms

of Rangers news and 40-man pulse today.

Nothing really new to report.

You had all the moves at the beginning

of the week, but really haven't had a

whole lot of anything else.

Then, in terms of the games coming up

this weekend, deGrom is the announced starter for

tomorrow.

Minnesota's nine games under .500, but Texas already

knows, man.

They should know better than to treat a

losing team like a cakewalk.

They better go in treating this like a

playoff series, one that you got to win

3-0.

Joe Ryan is the clear arm that the

Rangers really need to prepare for.

Current listing, he's 6-10, .383, 151 strikeouts.

He did pitch against Texas, I believe, earlier

this season, and I think he had a

pretty good outing.

I might be able to get the Joe

Ryan outing up for you guys.

Let me see if I can pull this

up.

Ryan, again, against the earlier this year.

Here's the game log for you.

I think that game was in Arlington, if

I'm not mistaken.

In that game, he pitched five innings, no

earned runs, seven strikeouts.

There were a couple of opportunities for Texas

to score against him.

He had two walks, three hits, but Rangers

were never able to really cause damage when

they needed it.

Story of the season, if we're being honest.

Joe Ryan is good, but it's not like

the Rangers didn't have any opportunities against him.

Hopefully, they will be able to make him

work.

Let's see, he threw 97 pitches in five

innings.

The Rangers did make him work.

It wasn't like Ryan was breezing through the

lineup, 97 pitches in five frames.

You definitely weren't having your way, but ultimately,

you did throw five shutouts.

Let's see how the Rangers do.

Ryan against the Rangers.

Let's see if I can get the preview

here.

You've got, looks like Diaz, one for two.

Burger, one for six.

Jung, one for three.

You've got Nimmo, one for four.

Very small sample sizes.

Corey Seegers, one for nine with the home

run, so there's that.

Let's keep on going here.

Current public boards, current lines are split on

Texas starter.

You've got CBS is listing Montgomery.

That's so weird.

Really?

CBS is listing Jordan Montgomery for tomorrow?

Are they going to do a Tyler Alexander?

I'm pretty sure it's deGrom tomorrow.

I have no idea why CBS is listing

Montgomery.

That is odd.

Look, the real matchup test though, regardless, it's

simple.

Texas needs more than one or two hitters

carrying this offense against a legitimate starter.

Have to find a way to get the

rest of these bats going, and the stakes

are really even simpler.

You can't just match Houston.

You've got to finish with the better record,

and maybe that happens tonight.

You've got that game going on later this

evening.

Maybe it'll happen then, but man, I sure

hope after tonight's game, you're able to see

Rangers in that first place column solely.

At least you know then you can control

your own fate.

Let's land this thing.

Comments real quick.

What did we do with Higgy?

Yeah, I just think we're kind of shelving

him.

I don't know if he's down with DSL

doing some stuff with down with the rookie

ball.

I don't know what he is doing right

now, but it really is interesting how they're

not bringing him back up.

I mean, Higgy is a free agent, so

I'm not saying that that means anything in

the context of this, but still, it is

wild that they haven't really brought him up

a whole lot.

Let's see.

Sugi says, can't see the Rangers getting a

sweep unless the twins absolutely crap the bed.

I think a sweep is going to be

tough.

I hope that the Astros lose tonight, and

then you can maybe get two out of

three being good enough.

We'll see what happens.

Nate, I'm with you on this.

Good to see you, man.

Really wish Cal Q hadn't gotten hurt.

It would be awesome to have him for

this series, no doubt.

No doubt.

Carson, appreciate the comment here.

AL West is pretty bad this year, and

we are lucky to be in the race

still, no doubt, 100%.

All right, what today told me.

Texas can still look like a functional baseball

team when the Stars produce, and the starter

has to give them some usable innings, no

doubt, and the bullpen has to piece it

together as well, but this looks like a

formidable team when you have got all three

facets of the game clicking.

The problem is they have just been clicking

at different times, rarely in unison, but today

gives you an idea of the way Texas

can win.

You get a couple of big hits.

You pitch really well.

That to me feels like the path.

Still unsure about the offense.

We've talked about that.

You're going up to Minnesota facing a really

good pitcher in Joe Ryan.

You're hopeful that they're able to get some

runs on the board and take some pressure

off of deGrom, take some pressure off of

the pitching staff, and they're going to need

more than just Seager and Jung homering, man.

They really are, and then the next thing

I am watching for tonight, Houston, what is

going to be the outcome?

Will the Rangers wake up tomorrow in sole

possession of first place?

Will they be tied yet?

And then I think in terms of the

game in Minnesota, the actual pitching plan I

think is going to be really interesting.

How is Skip?

How is Jordan Tiegs?

How are they going to really meticulously plan

this thing out to try and get us

three wins or at least enough wins to

get back to October?

By the way, a little chilly in Minnesota

this weekend.

I think I saw low sixties.

I surely hope that isn't going to start

being a built-in excuse.

Well, it's a little cold.

Remember, weren't we dealing with that at the

beginning of the season where I don't know

if it was deGrom or Evo, something was

made.

I remember early this year about how cold

it was.

I don't know if it was when they

were doing like the Detroit series or maybe

the Cleveland, I don't know what it was,

but I saw it's going to be a

little chilly up there in Minnesota, probably get

into the fifties at night.

I mean, that's October baseball right there, man.

That's fall ball right there.

But please, we talked about this already.

No excuses.

I don't want to hear, Oh, it was

a little cold guys tightening up a little

bit.

Come on now.

Freaking babies.

What would Adrián Beltré say?

Am I right?

What would Beltré say?

We got to make sure we hold accountable,

man.

No excuses.

At this point, you either win or you

go home and sit on the couch and

watch other teams win.

I absolutely think the Rangers have a shot.

I'm still hopeful that they find a way

to get us some October baseball yet.

Going to take some good fortune.

The A's winning would go a long way

in making this easier.

We shall see what unfolds tonight, but I

am going to sign off for the day.

Hope all of you have a great rest

of your Thursday.

Go watch some football, go hang out with

the fam, whatever you got going on.

Hope you have an amazing night and we'll

see you later this weekend, around the same

time tomorrow, eighth or ninth inning will be

live.

Once again, hopefully talking about another Texas Rangers

win.

And as I always say, tend every show

God bless and go Rangers.