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Right on Rangers is where Rangers fans ride the season in real time.
The LIVE shows are the heartbeat. Big wins, ugly losses, bullpen chaos, breakout heaters, trade rumors, roster debates, and the takes that come with actually caring about this team.
Sometimes those takes get hot. That’s part of watching 162 with people who are invested. But the reaction still has receipts. We use stats, film, history, roster context, and what’s happening on the field to figure out what the game actually revealed.
Between LIVE shows, we go deeper on the players, decisions, stories, and moments shaping Texas baseball.
Rangers first, always. When the calendar turns, the Cowboys, Longhorns, Mavericks, and the biggest Texas sports stories get their run too.
If you want sterile box-score recaps, this probably isn’t your show. If you want passionate Rangers talk with actual baseball underneath it, welcome in.
Hi,
and welcome to another edition of Right on
Rangers Live.
Coming at you,
headed to the top of the eighth inning,
Cal Quantrill.
My goodness.
Game one, playoff starter.
And I'm not even lying to you right
now.
Yeah,
what more do you need to see at
this point?
Guy has been the most consistent arm that
we have.
Look at the numbers.
You know, at some point,
dude just gets out.
What more are we going to find to
complain about?
The guy sitting at a three thirteen ERA.
Three thirteen ERA, man.
Goes out and throws seven scoreless
against a pretty potent Nationals offense.
I know we think about this team as
the Nationals last place, you know,
no good.
They're only a couple games worse than we
are right now.
And they've got a few guys that can
mash the baseball.
Cal Q goes ahead and says, no,
thank you.
Sit on down.
Seven scoreless, four hits.
And Robby Ahlstrom is going to take over
for him.
What a phenomenal game from Cal.
Just a veteran start, man.
You can count on this.
It's not going to be the most electric
outing you've ever seen.
Had five strikeouts tonight.
But he is going to keep you in
the ballgame and give you a chance to
win.
And that is something that nearly every
pitcher in this rotation has struggled to
do consistently.
There's no other way to put it.
And I know a lot of people are
going to point to the FIP and the
advanced stats and all those kinds of
things.
Look, I would just say this.
We all love Cody Bradford.
We all love Cody.
He does some things really well.
Gets a lead extension.
He throws strikes.
But he gets outs.
That's what everybody was telling me after
his first couple of outings.
And I'm not a Cody Bradford hater by
any means.
I'm rooting for him.
I think the comeback story is incredible.
Look, at this point,
get outs is what matters more than any
stuff, break, nastiness.
Just get outs.
Limit damage.
Give us a chance to win a ball
game.
And Cal Q does that far more often
than not, and especially this year.
Here right on Rangers,
we cover everything Texas sports,
but we put a big emphasis on all
the teams we love, including the Rangers.
And during the Rangers season,
we are especially all in on baseball.
Starting to do some football here and
there, but man,
do I thank you for choosing Right on
Rangers for all of your Texas Rangers
content.
Drop a comment, drop a question.
We're going to finish out this ballgame
with you.
It's the top of the eighth inning.
Ahlstrom into face, nine, one,
two in the Nats order.
Would love to hear what you have to
say during the live, of course.
We may be a little hit or miss,
but man, post-game,
we will try and get to everything of
substance.
And man,
I thank you for keeping the show fresh.
A lot of you guys always have good
things to say.
Always want to hear the Pulsar Rangers
Nation.
Let's get back to the game, though,
for now.
Robby Ahlstrom coming in.
Ahlstrom on the year for ninety four ERA.
And he had quite the run, didn't he?
Thirteen straight appearances without
allowing a run coming out of the all
star break.
Hadn't allowed a run until just within the
past week.
Pretty crazy.
That was how good he has been.
And Robbie,
along with Peyton Gray and others.
Keeping the bullpen afloat.
Haven't been perfect,
but they've kept the bullpen afloat.
And Robbie, of course,
last time out did give up a run.
He actually had back-to-back games in a
row giving up a run.
He allowed three in his game against the
Angels, allowed a run,
a home run in his game against the
A's.
Pitching for the first time in four days,
maybe a good little reset for him.
Let's see if he can get out of
a little bit of trouble here.
There is a runner on first base.
abrams up to bat right now just got
jacob young swinging we keep on rolling uh
let me see what do we got let
me scroll back up in the comments can
the rangers ever get a catcher that can
hit yeah danny jansen back tonight as i
joked in my reel that i put out
yesterday hold your applause dj back in
the lineup baby
Infield fly pop-up.
I think that's what he did in the
big moment tonight, correct?
Infield fly pop-up.
Look,
I hope Danny has a great stretch here.
The beautiful thing about his injury,
the silver lining,
you kind of come back feeling like fresh
season.
It's unfortunate, obviously,
that he doesn't come through tonight and
really blow the game wide open in the
chance that he had.
Oh, for four tonight with two strikeouts.
I think it's a great opportunity for him.
You really have a chance to reset fully.
Clearly,
no one's really forgetting what happened
before the injury.
I'm definitely not.
But I do think it's just one of
those weird things in baseball where we
haven't seen you for a while.
You have an opportunity to kind of
recreate yourself in this season.
And let's give him more than just a
game.
But, man,
would have loved to have seen him come
out firing tonight.
CJ Abrams smokes one, man.
I thought that was a home run for
sure.
Looks like just foul.
That would have made the game a little
interesting.
That would have made the game pretty
interesting right there, man.
When he hit that ball, I thought, oh,
it is about to be five-two.
Pretty quickly five-two.
Thank goodness.
Just foul.
Oh, man.
Abrams on the night.
He has been hitting well, man.
Two for three.
CJ on the year,
.二八 with an .八八 OPS.
He has been one of the Nationals' best
hitters this year.
There's a couple others behind him.
Obviously, Abi Ortiz is doing his thing.
Abiy is O for three tonight.
He's getting pinch hit for here with a
lefty-lefty matchup.
Obby with a nine forty six OPS.
Hello.
She's nine forty six OPS.
That's who we that's who we traded in
the MacKenzie Gore trade.
That was, by the way,
the video that I put out today.
And we finally get to see this trade
on the field, don't we?
You see in Abi Ortiz,
obviously not his best game as a national
in his short Washington career.
Gore, I think, is he pitching tomorrow?
Gore will pitch in this series, won't he?
I don't think they had announced it as
of our last show.
Looks like it's still to be determined
Wednesday, Thursday.
That's what I'm trying to figure out,
G-Man.
That's what I'm trying to figure out here.
Let's see, though.
Sunday.
Sunday.
It's to be determined on the starting
pitching.
I'm trying to kind of weave my way
back in time here.
Sunday was Bradford, right?
Sunday was Bradford.
And then Saturday,
we're just going all the way through.
The fifteenth was the last time Gore
pitched.
So if you do the math on that,
he would have sixteenth, seventeenth,
eighteenth.
That would be three days rest.
I don't know if that's going to work
or not.
Probably not.
Yeah,
I believe this is the fifteenth I'm
looking at right now.
Maybe it wouldn't be Gore,
but maybe it will be.
Maybe they'll go short rest.
I really don't know.
Fifteenth was the last time he threw.
Which, again,
you go to the nineteenth tomorrow...
Three days rest,
that seems a little unlikely.
And deGrom apparently is the guy who's
going to go Thursday, potentially,
if all goes well.
So Gore might not even pitch this series,
which is a shame.
But it was a fair time to reevaluate
the trade, in my opinion.
Just kind of right now,
kind of do a little check-in.
I think a lot of Rangers fans still
a bit negative on the trade,
myself included.
I don't think that the trade has worked
out awesome.
It's interesting.
I know there's always going to be the
toxic optimists, as I like to call them.
Toxic optimists, man.
It's just no matter what,
you'll never get them to admit that
something is bad or negative about the
team.
Ahlstrom, by the way,
ground rule double here allowed from what
it looks like.
So you're going to have runners on first
and third.
Run does not score here.
Second and third, excuse me.
Or the run does score.
Got caught up in my talking here.
Either way, ground rule double.
There goes the shutout apparently.
Oh, second and third.
Okay, they're saying second and third.
I didn't know what the confusion was and
I don't have the audio on.
Wow.
Actually,
kind of a blessing Langford didn't get to
that ball.
Kind of a blessing that he did not
quite get to that one.
Right over the fence.
Kind of a weird bounce off the wall.
Robby Ahlstrom going to give the ball up
to Skip Schumaker,
and we're going to have a little break
in the action.
Yeah, as we were saying,
good time to reevaluate the Gore trade.
I do think there's a lot of people
that have a really strong misconception
about this Gore trade.
People do realize we only have Gore until
the end of next season, right?
Rangers fans get that, right?
I feel like you've got so many people,
in the way they respond,
I can only assume...
that they think we have MacKenzie Gore for
four or five more years.
Which, if that was true,
I think you're having a much different
discussion about the MacKenzie Gore trade.
If we had four years of MacKenzie Gore
for what we gave up,
I think that many Rangers fans would be
feeling much differently.
You don't.
You have Gore maybe for this year,
and then possibly next year if there's not
a crazy lockout.
MacKenzie Gore needed to be good right
away.
I don't think there's any mistake made
about that statement at all.
MacKenzie Gore needed to come into this
rotation and be relevant immediately.
And he's shown flashes.
I don't think that we need to pretend
like he's been absolutely terrible of
late.
He's had his flashes, no doubt.
But the expectation was Gore was going to
come in and be a very strong number
three pretty much immediately.
He was an all-star last year.
The numbers were good last year,
a lot of swing and miss.
I feel like some Rangers fans think we
have this guy for like three or four
more years.
We don't.
We don't.
We might have this guy for another season,
and then he's a free agent.
For what you gave up,
I will always submit you really needed
Gore to be good right away,
not some crazy long runway.
I know Rangers Nation,
we are very accustomed to always thinking
that these players need years and years of
runway before you can make a judgment call
on them.
Let's make no mistake.
Gore is one more year if there's baseball.
And so I don't think that really at
this point there's any way you can spin
the Gore trade positively.
He's been better of late,
but he's sitting at a four forty five
ERA for what you gave up.
I don't think that that's worth it.
Can he potentially be better and finish
strong?
And maybe you're feeling a little bit
differently, of course.
Junis, by the way,
going to get out of the inning.
and we're going to head to the bottom
of the eighth,
hopefully last ABs for the Rangers.
Knock on wood on that one.
Yeah, I mean, Gore, I think,
could really pitch well down the stretch
here, and maybe you're changing your tune.
You know,
the Rangers make a deep run in October.
Of course you could be feeling
differently.
Absolutely.
I mean,
there might be at least sixty games.
But, yeah, I think it's a weird take,
very weird take, in my opinion.
If you're thinking that the Gore trade was
good for Texas, if you want to say,
like, to be determined,
I can respect that take,
to try and spin the Gore trade like
a major positive for the Rangers,
it's just kind of a weird take to
me.
I think it's being a little disingenuous.
I think we all expected, you know,
three fifty ERA.
And I know FIP is probably the better
stat to use.
And I think Gore is is looking better
in that department,
although I think the FIP is worse than
last year from not not like crazy
different,
but still technically worse than last
year.
I think you just expected a little bit
more out of Gore, more consistency.
And so at this point, yeah,
I think the fair take is to be
determined.
Let's see how Gore does over the next
six weeks.
But Abi Ortiz,
I don't think there's any denying,
dude looks pretty good.
And I think that's the key part about
the trade, right,
is you have all these guys,
these young guys that future to be
determined.
Years of control.
Devin Fitzgerald,
the number five prospect in the national
system.
Fitzgerald's in the top five now.
You got Abi Ortiz hitting homers at the
major league level.
Yeah, maybe he fades out,
but he's looking pretty good right now.
And you've got Abi Ortiz for six or
seven more years.
Gavin Fien,
number eight prospect in the national
system right now.
It's not a good trade for Texas.
I'm not even going to go back and
forth.
It's not even worth it.
It's not even worth it.
It could be a good trade if the
Rangers win a World Series.
I think you might be able to make
that argument.
You know what I always kind of have
thought about,
and I know I've made this point to
you guys.
Devontae, what's good, man, by the way?
Good to see you.
Ortiz does nothing in our system.
That might be accurate.
I know a lot of people are kind
of pushing back on, you know,
Abi Ortiz.
Dude, if he was in the Rangers system,
there's no way he'd be doing this.
Just kind of making the point that we
struggle to develop talent.
And I think that that might be something
that is a fair criticism at this point.
I shouldn't even be so passive.
I think it is a fair criticism at
this point.
But I do think if you're talking about
what would he be right now for us,
I've made the argument a lot that a
lot of us are really attached to some
of these players.
I think I put out a video maybe
about three or four weeks ago called Rose
Colored Rangers.
We have this opinion about these players,
and we're not really able to see super
clearly because we watch them day in and
day out,
and we get a little attached to them.
We like the Evan Carters,
the Jake Burgers.
But if you were just totally taking off
the rose-colored glasses,
if you were just totally being objective,
the Rangers have replaceable players.
So like with Jake Berger, for example,
is Jake Berger under control?
Yes, he is.
Is Jake Berger a power hitter?
Yeah, I think you can consider him that.
Is he irreplaceable?
No.
No, he's not irreplaceable.
Is Evan Carter irreplaceable?
No, Evan Carter is not irreplaceable.
You could go down the list.
There's only maybe two or three guys on
the current starting nine, if you will,
that I would even maybe have any sort
of conversation irreplaceable.
There's not many.
And so I know there's people that have
made that point too, like, Abi Ortiz,
man.
He doesn't really have a fit.
There wouldn't be room for him.
What?
We're too stuck in our ways if you're
thinking, man,
a guy like Abi Ortiz wouldn't be a
hit in our lineup.
We could definitely use Abi Ortiz.
But where would he play?
Jake Burgers at first.
Bro, what?
Why are we acting like some of these
guys are not replaceable?
They're nice guys.
They're good guys.
But you got to take off the rose-colored
glasses.
Got to take off the Homer lenses,
the Homer goggles.
Some of these guys are replaceable.
And that's why Walcott,
you bring Walcott up,
has Ezekiel Duran had a great year?
Yeah.
Is Zeke Duran irreplaceable?
No.
He's not.
One year,
I would say three-fourths of a season
doesn't make Zeke Duran irreplaceable.
There is a number of guys.
I think at this point,
the Rangers have some upgrading that they
can obviously do.
If you've watched all one twenty five,
there's some definite upgrades to this
lineup that are there for the taking.
But you've got to be willing to let
go of, you know, the attachment.
You've got to be willing to step outside
of the emotion of and rooting for these
guys,
cheering for these guys and just be real
about what they are as major leaguers.
Carter up to bat right now.
He's going to fly out to center field
here.
Evan on the night.
He is, I believe, hitless, correct?
Yeah, over three with the K. Of course,
he had a strikeout against a lefty.
Bases loaded.
Runners on base, for sure.
I think it was bases loaded.
But, yeah.
Evan is another guy.
Like Evan, he's a good dude,
but replaceable?
Yeah, no.
I wouldn't say Evan Carter is
irreplaceable at this point.
Wyatt Langford,
he'd be one of the guys that I
would probably argue, yeah,
he's worth keeping around.
I mean,
regardless of the little cold streak that
Wyatt's been on,
Wyatt's a guy that you keep around.
No doubt.
No doubt.
I think the Rangers will look back on
the pitcher trades,
especially the Merrill Kelly trade,
and I think they'll look back on this
trade,
and they'll have a little bit of regret.
I don't know how you couldn't.
I don't think MacKenzie Gore is the reason
you're going to be winning a World Series.
I hope to be wrong on that,
but I don't see it.
And Merrill Kelly, man,
he was a nice piece,
but you didn't even make the playoffs with
Merrill Kelly.
Those two trades are definitely going to
be ones, I think,
in the very near future that you look
back on if you don't already.
And you say, yeah,
those were pretty bad misses by the
Rangers organization.
I think the MacKenzie Gore trade has got
to result in a championship for you to
say it's good.
I know maybe that's setting the bar too
high in some of y'all's minds,
but why would you give up the prospects
that you gave up?
And I know the big push was quantity
over quality, right?
You gave up a bunch of prospects,
but how good were they really?
I don't know,
number eight in the Nationals
organization, Gavin Fien,
number five in the Nationals organization,
Devin Fitzgerald.
And then, of course, Abi Ortiz,
already in the majors.
We'll see what happens.
But this trade definitely reminds you of
some of the regrets that the Rangers front
office, I'm sure privately, of course,
they would never say it publicly,
but privately, has got to have.
We keep going.
The Miss was letting Kelly re-sign with
Arizona for free.
That contract was two years,
forty million, wasn't it?
I mean,
that's a little below Eovaldi money.
Eovaldi was what, three seventy-five?
I mean, twenty mil a year,
is that free for Merrill Kelly?
I don't know about that, Matt.
Maybe I'm wrong on the number.
I'm almost a hundred percent.
It was a two year,
forty million dollar contract.
Like that,
that doesn't feel like cheap to me for
Merrill Kelly.
Feels like maybe right on par.
But two years,
forty million for Merrill Kelly.
I don't know.
I don't think that that was like peanuts.
I don't think the Rangers would have been
wise to make that move themselves.
I probably wouldn't have wanted a
two-year,
forty million dollar for Merrill Kelly.
Just me.
We keep going.
Mariners losing right now.
Is that right?
Twenty-two to nothing?
It's twenty-two to nothing right now, RJ.
Mariners losing twenty-two to zip.
They must be throwing a pitcher right now.
It's got to be what's happening.
I'm going to check this score out.
They've got to be throwing a pitcher right
now to be losing twenty two to nothing.
Yikes.
Who's on the mound?
Let's see.
Rivas, yeah,
this is one of their depth players,
third baseman.
He's on the mound.
He's given up eight runs.
So the last eight runs, look, I mean,
they legitimately gave up quite a few.
Bryce Miller got taxed for five earned
runs.
Simpson, five earned runs.
So look,
it was double-digit runs on actual
pitchers anyways.
But Rivas...
Nine runs given up.
Nine hits allowed.
It's pretty bad.
Pretty bad.
Yeah, I mean, Matt, definitely.
I mean, I'm with you on this.
I think, one hundred percent,
you had just a bad situation all around.
Merrill Kelly not pitching well,
first of all.
I mean, let's put the onus on Merrill.
He didn't pitch well in Arlington.
He had a huge opportunity to really cement
himself into something special in twenty
twenty five.
Going down to Houston had a really big
start and just totally, you know,
as we like to say on the show,
soiled the bed.
And he did not have really a great
Rangers tenure.
So that's the starting point.
Yeah.
Then then he goes to free agency and
resigns with the team that, you know,
you got him from.
Just not good all the way around.
hey what's good man yeah we do uh
niner what's good we cover the cowboys in
the in the nfl season and we do
a little off-season stuff too i've been
putting out some videos i did a recent
video recent cowboys video on the von
miller signing talked a little bit about
the quinn and williams extension too so
Yeah,
we're starting to tap into NFL a little
bit.
College football,
we'll be there with college football too
as well.
So I'm excited for football to get
started.
Of course, you guys know, man,
I love it when you got all the
sports going at once.
You got baseball in October.
You got football, NFL,
and college in October.
You got NBA starting up.
You got hockey starting up, man.
October,
I know a lot of people like say
March Madness, one of the best,
like March, April, best sports months,
man.
October.
is probably my number one.
You have all the good sports going at
one time.
Again, baseball, you got football,
you got basketball starting up,
you got hockey starting up.
It's awesome.
Absolutely awesome.
By the way,
Tyler Alexander in the ballgame right now.
Seven pitches in, one out.
Trying to get the last two here.
Pitch number three incoming.
Robles is going to ground out here.
Tyler Alexander on the year,
just to give the numbers to you.
Been solid.
He's definitely been a guy that...
The Rangers took a little bit of a
flyer on.
He wasn't bad last year, but .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. .
More often than not,
this isn't necessarily one of those times,
but had a couple of those saves to
begin the year before Lassie took over.
He's been good.
He has been very, very good.
He is going to get a strikeout here.
I don't know if he's going to get
a challenge or not.
It was kind of a half-hearted challenge.
I think they're going to get a ball
here.
Not quite strike three.
This home plate ump has been a little
bit off today.
He's been a little bit off today, man.
We keep on rolling.
Wonder how the Longhorns defense will do
this year.
I'm very interested to see that too.
Very interested to see that as well.
I think defense and running the football
are the two biggest question marks.
I'm looking forward to getting into the
Longhorns.
That's for sure.
Jesse, thanks for the compliment, man.
Thank you for the kind words.
Not needed.
Much appreciated, man.
God bless you, too.
Five hits on four errors.
Matt, what's good, man?
Yeah,
what are the four errors in reference to?
Tyler Alexander, one-oh count, by the way,
to Pinkney.
Runner on first base.
Rangers trying to finish this out.
If you're just joining us,
five nothing Rangers, top of the ninth.
Cal Quantrill goes seven strong,
no earned runs, five strikeouts.
Uh, even when we happen to win games,
James says you just can't be graced with
a full feeling of satisfaction about it.
Uh, look, I, I hear what you're saying.
You guys know it's easy for me to
nitpick these games a little bit.
I will say this big win coming out
the shoot out of the off day and
beating the team that has the potential to
really light it up on offense.
Uh,
Knock on wood,
maybe a run comes across here,
but really keeping this Nationals team in
check.
Nationals, we went through it.
You go to the standings and you take
a little bit of a deeper dive into
it.
The Nationals have a positive run
differential.
And this is a team that has a
losing record, right?
They've lost three in a row coming into
this one,
but they've got a positive run
differential.
Their expected win loss is like four games
over .
This is a team that is probably better
than what their record actually shows.
By the way,
I'm not saying that is the gospel.
That is like the Bible when it comes
to evaluating baseball teams run
differential and expected win loss.
But I think it's a part of the
argument.
And I think that argument is this team
is a little bit better than what that
win loss is showing.
And so I think this is a nice
win.
I'm not going to crown it like it's,
you know,
the best thing that's happened to the
Rangers this year.
But this is a nice win, man.
It really is.
And I think you enjoy it.
I think you have to be so pleased
with what Cal Quantrill continues to do in
the face of all of the injuries and
all the volatility in the Rangers starting
pitching rotation.
You've got deGrom out.
You've got Eovaldi out.
You've got...
lighter out.
I mean,
the list goes on and on and on,
man.
It's actually kind of wild when you really
consider this was supposed to kind of be
the strength of the team, right?
It was supposed to be the pitching that
was supposed to carry.
And here you are with Cal Quantrill,
lo and behold, right?
The guy who you kind of thought would
just be innings eater mop-up dude.
Probably your most trusted starter at this
point.
Lats throwing in the pen.
Oh my goodness.
Too much, man.
Too much.
Lats throwing in the pen.
I think at this point,
I'm sure the lack of usage with Lats
is playing into this one a little bit.
Like the fact that he hasn't really thrown
a whole lot of late,
I think definitely makes a little bit of
a difference.
You maybe wouldn't be using him had he
been in like some crazy stretch of games.
But the fact that he really is only
pitched like what,
two times in the last week,
I've got to think that is playing into
the decision to potentially pitch him
tonight.
if these runs come around to score.
Man,
you just kind of hope that he doesn't
have to get used.
But honestly,
I've always kind of thought this way.
Even though he's not getting in the game
tonight, you warmed him up, right?
You got him hot.
So in a way,
you've already kind of lost, haven't you?
I mean,
I think there's definitely the positive
of, hey, you're just keeping him loose.
Maybe you could see this as a bit
of a workout day for him.
But even the fact that he had to
get up and get hot, you're like, dude,
kind of at this point,
a little bit of,
I would say a negative.
You don't want to have to get your
closer up in a five run game,
even if the runs are a little bit,
A little bit close at this point.
Nimmo going to make the final out.
Cue the I Like Texas music.
Hello, win column.
The Rangers beat the Nationals five to
nothing.
They do it on the back of Cal
Quantrill, seven shutout innings.
And you also have a pretty big performance
from Wyatt Langford, two hits.
Corey Seager, two hits.
Brandon Nimmo with a couple of hits.
Cody Freeman with a couple of hits.
Cody Freeman on base three times.
Offensive player of the year is offensive
player of the year.
Offensive player of the game is going to
be a little tough tonight.
Hey, Luis, appreciate the good games, man.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for the gift.
Not needed much appreciated, brother.
We'll see how the rest of the standings
shake out,
but it's in favor right now for the
Rangers with how some of these scores are
going.
You've got a number of games still yet
to be going final,
but you've got the Astros losing three to
one in the top of the ninth inning
in Houston.
You had the twenty two to nothing mess.
The Brewers beating up on the Mariners.
You had the Orioles dropping a game to
the Yankees at Camden.
You had the Tigers dropping a game to
the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
The Guardians did win to go to sixty
one and sixty five.
They are still behind the Rangers in the
standings.
We'll check the standings out here in a
second.
It's a good night to be a Rangers
fan.
Great night to be a Rangers fan.
There's no way a five hundred or below
team gets into the whole wild card spot.
Right.
Look, we've seen it in the NBA,
haven't we?
We've seen it in the NFL.
Right.
That was forget what year it was where
the Bucs was.
I know some Cowboys fans remember this
wasn't just a few years ago.
Wasn't that Bucs team the last Brady Bucs
team?
Weren't they seven and nine?
Or like seven, nine,
and one or something when we played them
in the first round.
That was Brady's last game, right?
I thought the Bucs were like seven and
nine when we played them that time.
So look, it's happened in the NFL.
It's definitely happened in the NBA.
So why not MLB, man?
Why not?
Shoot, just get in.
Just get in.
You definitely will have people
complaining, right?
Like,
if the Rangers do sneak in with a
negative, you know,
with a below-five-hundred record,
you're definitely going to have some
people complaining.
Right now, Rangers are tied, I believe,
or maybe going to go a half game
up at sixty-two and sixty-four.
Yeah,
this hasn't quite improved yet from the
result today.
Might take a second.
Rangers would go to sixty two and sixty
four and they would hold the last wild
card spot.
Just barely.
Twins are sixty two and sixty five.
Blue Jays are sixty two and sixty five.
So it's a very slim lead.
But nevertheless, it is a lead.
The Rangers season ended today.
Playoff spot.
And Cal Quantrill is your Game One
Starter.
Don't at me.
Argue with the wall.
Cal Q. I mean,
somebody really put it well and took the
words right out of my mouth when I
posted this on X probably, what,
a few innings ago.
I said, Cal Q, Game One Starter.
And right like clockwork.
I mean,
it was literally going to be one of
the things that I put in the post,
but I decided to keep it simple.
It's like he is the least likely to
blow up.
And that's like out of what deGrom, Evo,
just the least likely to blow up.
And I just want to be clear with
you guys.
I don't think Cal Q game one starter
is going to happen.
Lord Tubbington, what's good, man?
It's good to see you.
I don't think Cal Q game one starter
is going to happen.
I just want to be so real with
you right now.
Do I think if the season ended today,
he absolutely should be the game one
starter?
Yes.
He right now is the one who is
least likely to blow up.
That's deGrom and Eovaldi included in that.
deGrom and Eovaldi included.
Five, I mean, five guys,
I'm probably going with Cal.
But you have, obviously,
the pedigree with the Grom and Evo and
all of that.
I totally get it.
Hey, Zach, appreciate the gift, man.
Not needed, but much appreciated.
Didn't have Cal Q throw in a seven-inning
shutout in August, Zach says.
Since the WBC, he has been nails.
Comment from YouTube.
Zach, thanks again for the gift.
Again, not needed, much appreciated,
brother.
Thank you for the generosity.
I didn't have this either.
In fact,
I know and I'm shocked I don't have
some haters pulling up my old Cal
Quantrill tweets.
They are brutal.
I'm not even going to pretend.
And that's, I mean, look, to me,
that's part of the fun of social media
is you have obviously some takes that age
great.
You have some takes that age poorly.
Cal was getting lit up in spring training
and I was not happy about it.
I was not happy about it.
I'm like,
why are they giving this dude a chance?
He was getting smoked in spring training.
Absolutely smoked.
And he has turned it around.
I mean, I agree with Zach.
Ever since he went to the WBC,
pitched those five shutout innings,
largely.
I think he might have allowed a run.
Maybe it was unearned.
Ever since then, he has been money.
Complete money.
I mean, look,
I don't know how else you can spin
it.
You look at his numbers on the season.
He's getting close to sub-three ERA
territory.
I don't think anybody thought that was
possible.
Dude's at a three-thirteen ERA.
It's crazy.
Let Gore start game one.
Man, it's going to be wild.
I mean,
we haven't gotten much of an update on
Evo.
which makes me a little bit worried.
You know,
you really haven't gotten a crazy update
on Nathan Ebaldi.
Jacob deGrom, you know,
clearly he's throwing and you feel like
he'll probably make a start here in the
next week, if not Thursday,
probably in the weekend series if they
push him back a little bit more.
I think that that's encouraging,
but Jacob deGrom has not been the deGrom
of old this year.
And Nathan Eovaldi, I think,
is in the same category.
He just has not been the dude that
he was in twenty twenty five.
I mean,
Nathan Eovaldi was a sub one fifty ERA
guy at times in twenty twenty five.
Jacob deGrom was, I think,
in the Cy Young running in the midsummer
months.
And it just hasn't been quite the same.
You hope that really like all these guys
that I've been talking about,
it's like forget what happened in the
first four months.
They just come out in late August,
September,
and hopefully October and just crush it.
But up until this point,
they haven't really shown a lot of
consistency.
I think there is something to be said
about riding with the hot hands,
but I do agree it's probably not going
to be Cal Q game one.
But we can have fun with it for
a little bit,
especially on nights like tonight where he
absolutely shoves out there.
Absolutely shoves.
Cal Q comment from Darnell here.
Darnell, what's good, my guy?
Cal Q is a professional pitcher,
knows how to get batters out.
Totally agree.
Cody Freeman's defense,
I do think we got to talk about
that, Aiden, completely.
Cody Freeman's defense was on point.
On point.
No starter announced for tomorrow.
No starter announced for tomorrow.
So we unfortunately will not be able to
get to that segment unless they announce
it here like in the next little bit
of time.
But as of right now,
I know a couple of you guys have
asked no starter for tomorrow.
I would imagine there's a few options.
I don't think it's going to be Gore.
Is Gore just pitched on the fifteenth?
That would be three days rest.
That doesn't feel right.
Probably a bullpen game.
You know,
maybe you get Alexander in there,
get Montgomery in there.
I think that's got to be the plan.
And then hopefully you go to Grom on
Thursday and maybe you throw Gore on
Friday.
So Gore might not even pitch against the
Nationals here, which is kind of a shame.
You always like when a player gets to
face their former team.
And look, the Nationals,
I don't think there was anything personal.
Like, oh, we don't believe in him.
I think the Nationals saw an opportunity
here.
not really being competitive this year.
I think the Nats just saw an opportunity
and they decided to take advantage of it.
And so far, as we've talked about,
I think that they are looking pretty good
in the MacKenzie Gore trade.
I think it was a lot less about,
yeah, we don't believe in this guy.
You had a year,
you had a couple of years left of
control.
You were getting some prospects that you
thought were pretty good.
And so far you've turned out to be
right.
And so I think that nevertheless,
it's always fun when you get a chance
to see a player face his former team,
especially the team that traded him,
show them what they're missing a little
bit.
It's always fun.
Always a good time.
Spidey senses are telling me Jordan
Montgomery start.
That could definitely be, I think,
in the plans here.
At least, you know,
a Monty Bulk appearance.
That would make a lot of sense.
A Monty Bulk appearance.
For sure.
We'll see what they decide to go with.
It's going to be interesting.
See what they decide to go with in
this one.
deGrom most likely on Thursday, I believe.
Richard,
I don't think we're going to see deGrom
tomorrow,
but I do think Thursday's in play from
what it sounds like.
We'll see what happens.
Let's see.
You have to ask yourself,
they hit in AAA,
and they're bad when they come up here.
Makes you wonder if they should fire Viele
and bring up the AAA hitting coach.
That would be a Rangers move.
Comment from YouTube, Colts fan,
what's good?
Good to see you, brother.
I do think that it's interesting that the
Rangers, and I've always said this,
it's interesting that they decided to
stick with Viele this year.
I think they kind of created a bit
of a scapegoat,
and I know I've done a couple of
videos on this.
I really felt like they should have just
hit the reset button on the hitting part
of the coaching staff.
It has not, in my opinion,
been a great move sticking with Viele.
I think they've left a lot of meat
on the bone offensively.
And I really do genuinely mean that.
I know that this offense,
the reputation is, you know,
they've not been very good this year.
Honestly,
they've had a lot of opportunity and they
just haven't taken advantage of it.
Like we talk about the bases loaded woes.
You've had chances, man.
You have runners in scoring position a lot
with this Texas Rangers offense.
You just can't cash in.
So I do think there's been some meat
left on the bone.
But nevertheless,
you have to consider the overall numbers,
the body of work.
And I don't think that Viele has been
helping things this year.
Let me put it to you that way.
It's kind of how I feel about Skip
Schumaker.
I do think with Viele,
you're working with what you got.
I know that's a simplistic way to put
it, but Viele has the roster he has.
And we were talking earlier on the show,
there are players on this roster that are
replaceable, that you could upgrade from.
And so you can't necessarily fault Viele
for what you have on the roster currently.
And, you know,
I don't look at one through nine.
I don't look at this team and say,
yeah, you know, he's got elite talent,
right?
I don't even necessarily say he's got
above average talent offensively.
I think the collective of the offensive
talent is pretty average.
And so Viele, in my opinion,
shouldn't be blamed exclusively.
I still think it goes back to Chris
Young and the roster construction.
You and I have talked about this a
ton.
But I don't think he's really moving the
needle a ton in either direction.
I don't know if he's necessarily the
reason why some of these guys who aren't
necessarily above average players anyways
aren't crushing the ball out of the
ballpark left and right.
But if you're asking me whether I would
retain Viele, the answer would be no.
I don't think that he is going to
necessarily change your fortune if he
leaves.
But I don't think that he is going
to take this offense to an elite level
sticking around either.
I think he kind of keeps it afloat.
We know that so many of these guys
have their own swing doctors anyways.
For me,
I just kind of see Viele as a
little bit of background noise.
And I know there's probably going to be
somebody in the organization that maybe
hears this and says, Dan, you don't know.
You don't know what he's doing.
You're right.
I'm not trying to say he doesn't do
anything.
And you're right.
I don't know.
I'm not in those conversations.
But what I do know is what's happened
on the field.
And what has happened on the field is
you've had some guys bounce back in a
big way.
Josh Jung, prime example.
And then you've had some guys that have
done exactly what they've been doing.
And so I think that there's ebbs and
flows,
but I would probably have totally
restarted.
And if the Rangers don't make the
playoffs, I would definitely restart.
Definitely.
Definitely.
How much is Seager really listening to
him?
CJ, what's good?
Comment from TikTok, by the way.
I don't think Seager listens a lot to
the Rangers hitting coaches.
They say that they try to help him
in whatever ways they can.
My vibe,
my take on Seager and what they're doing
is I think they pretty much just let
him do his thing with his hitting coach.
I think they provide some information
where they can,
but I don't think they're having any kind
of crazy impact on Seager Swing.
Again,
I think a lot of guys are like
that.
I think a lot of players on the
team,
maybe you can get the rookies and the
young guys,
you can get some of those more
impressionables to listen and to adapt to
what you want them to do.
But a lot of the veteran hitters,
especially the ones you're paying a lot of
money, yeah, I don't know about all that.
I don't know about all that.
We'll keep rolling.
You guys are doing great with the
comments.
Thanks so much.
We got a little less than ten minutes
left in the show.
We've been going about forty nine,
fifty minutes so far.
It's been great.
Rangers win five to nothing over the
Nationals.
Big nights offensively from a number of
Rangers players.
You had four players going multi-hit.
Langford, Seager, Nimmo, Cody Freeman.
Hard to pick a guy that you really
want to lock in on for player of
the game, if I'm being honest.
Foscue with the home run.
That felt good.
Had a walk as well.
Man,
that was Justin Foscue's first home run
since July ninth.
First home run in almost a month and
a half for that guy.
That's got to feel great.
And you guys know,
I've been a little hard on Foscue of
late.
I just think when you're a niche lefty
hitter, lefty starter hitter, if you will,
I think the bar is a little bit
higher for you.
And yeah,
to not have a home run since July
ninth, that's not great.
Glad that he got a bomb today.
Don't want to take this into too negative
of a conversation when it comes to JF.
But man,
you need to see more of this from
him when he gets his opportunities.
If not hitting home runs,
driving the ball into the gap.
Dan, I'm with you on this.
He needed that home run tonight.
He needed that home run tonight badly.
And I'm glad that he got it.
Like when he is doing his thing,
driving the ball,
power behind that swing makes this lineup
even more dangerous.
Not having a home run since July ninth.
I'm sure that was weighing on him a
little bit.
We will see how things play out for
him the rest of the way.
No word on Josh Jung,
although I saw on Instagram Josh Jung got
engaged.
Good for him, man.
That's real good for him.
He was down on one knee.
So, I mean, look.
Clearly,
he's able to move around a little bit.
We'll see if we can get an update
on when he might be going out for
that rehab assignment,
which I would assume that he would be
taking soon.
Now, I bring Josh Jung up because...
You're seeing Cody Freeman make all these
nice plays down at third base, right?
And you're kind of thinking to yourself in
tandem with everything you've seen from
Zeke Duran, like,
do we want to go back to Josh
Young over at the hot corner?
Kind of getting used to some great
defensive play.
Kind of getting used to some of these
guys really handling third base very,
very well.
And JJ is a bit of a question
mark, at least defensively.
We need the bat back.
I mean, don't get me wrong, Darnell.
We need the bat back.
I think the Rangers might have to grin
and bear the glove out there,
unfortunately.
Josh Jung would be an interesting lefty
starter DH guy if Foscue does not figure
it out.
I think the club will probably still roll
with Foscue.
I'd be surprised if they demote it.
We'll see what happens.
We will see what happens.
I agree.
Niners' Langford slide into home was
awesome, a hundred percent.
That was a great slide.
I did not think there was any chance
the Rangers were going to get that call
at home.
Christmas miracle.
Christmas came early.
Rangers getting a favorable challenge at
home plate.
What is happening right now?
What is happening?
Jay Rock, what's good?
I agree with this comment.
Comment from TikTok.
Freeman should have been called up sooner.
I mean,
you guys know I'm a big fan of
Cody Freeman.
And let me talk just for a minute
or two about him.
I think that there are questions about
Cody Freeman's ceiling.
I'm not totally sure what I think about
Cody Freeman ceiling,
but I just like the vibes when he's
up with the club.
I like the energy he brings like the
heart,
like the passion he brings for the game.
It feels like the Rangers dugout just
needs a little bit more of that.
It's kind of my Osuna argument as well,
but you saw what Cody can bring tonight.
Good defense.
You see good at bats up there,
not giving away a bees took a walk.
I got a couple of hits,
put the ball in play.
I mean,
is he going to be a thirty home
run guy?
Probably not.
But is he going to be a hard
nosed player that does a lot of the
little things right?
I think so.
And I'm with you, Jay Rock.
I think it would have been nice to
have him up sooner.
I mean,
I think the plan was this year coming
into spring training to have him be up
on the major league level.
But obviously injuries derailed that a
little bit.
So you hope that he can stay healthy
and really be a contributor to this club
down the stretch.
I think that would be the ideal of
the ideal.
Yeah, I mean, I don't think Cody Freeman,
Darnell,
I don't think Cody is taking Josh Jung's
job.
But I think Cody could kind of fill
that Josh Smith super utility role.
We know Cody can play a little outfield.
We know he can play second.
He can play a little third base.
I don't think the Rangers are super
comfortable with him at short or at first.
But I think he could play the corner
outfield spots, second, third.
And he's even caught before, too.
Maybe emergency catcher.
I just like having Cody up with the
team.
I am totally with you guys on that.
A hundred percent with you.
I know a bunch of you guys commented
on Cody's play today.
It feels right when guys like that are
just up with the club.
Yeah, the little rascals run last year,
sixteen and four, right around this time,
honestly.
And you'd love to see Osuna be back
and then he and Cody just vibing,
spurring on victories, comebacks.
You'd love to see it.
I do agree, though.
Getting Young back sure would be nice.
And it will be an upgrade to have
his bat back in the lineup.
One hundred percent agree with that.
Kumar Rocker is scheduled to start
tomorrow.
Breaking news.
Jeff Wilson reporting.
I think he retweeted somebody,
but I got one of his notifications.
Kumar Rocker tomorrow.
Nate,
I surely hope it's the start of another
sixteen and four stretch.
That would be amazing.
Forever winning what's good.
Comment from YouTube.
How long is Evo out?
No idea.
No idea on that one.
Well, all right, y'all.
I am going to take off for the
day.
I appreciate all you guys hanging out.
We are just about at the hour mark
or so on the live.
And it has been a good night.
Always a good night when the Rangers get
a win.
You have the standings looking pretty
good.
If they ended today,
Rangers would be in that playoff spot.
It's good to see.
It's good to see Houston.
They take a loss.
You have a lot of the teams in
the wild card race around the Rangers
losing as well.
It's good stuff, baby.
We'll have a video out to you guys
tomorrow.
We'll have other content out as well.
And then we will be live again,
eighth or ninth inning of tomorrow's game.
Hope you guys will come back and join
us.
Hope you have a good rest of your
Tuesday night.
A blessed day tomorrow.
And as I always say to end every
show, God bless and go Rangers.
Bye, y'all.