GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The Rangers have been road warriors in Arizona this spring.
Come to think of it, they were road warriors in Arizona once before and it worked out pretty well for them, too. Just different time of year. October if we recall.
Anyway, the Rangers won their third consecutive road exhibition on Wednesday, beating Cleveland 11-4 at Goodyear Ballpark. They are unbeaten on the road this spring.
Here are three observations from the day:
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— When you’ve got the varied repertoire of pitching professor Nathan Eovaldi, it seems like every spring outing comes with a distinct project. But the answer is more of a “yes and no.” He does end up focusing on a couple of pitch types, but wants to tailor what he’s working on to a regular-season game design so that the pitches play in a more realistic way.
On Wednesday, in his second outing of the spring, he worked more on the curveball and cutter in a 43-pitch, 2⅔-innings outing. He offered mixed reviews.
“I had worked on my curveball in between outings and I felt like the shapes were a lot better and more consistent for me,” said Eovaldi, who allowed a walk and a pair of hits, but struck out four. “The cutter, I feel like I just might have the wrong mindset right now. But it’s so early in camp, it’s going to be a good weapon for me. I’m just trying to be too perfect with it right now. If I’m going to miss with that pitch, I want to miss in. It feels like too much drifting over the plate.”
A year ago, Eovaldi threw each of the pitches about 20% of the time, and they played well as complements to his fastball, splitter and sinker. Batters hit just .174 against the cutter with a .256 slugging percentage; just .096 with a .137 slugging percentage against the curve.
— With Corey Ragsdale moving from the first base coaching box to third, there will be a lot of analysis over decisions on sending runners. And really that’s the only time a third base coach gets mentioned.
The Rangers did have a pair of runners thrown out at home Wednesday: Sam Haggerty trying to score from first on Danny Jansen’s first-inning double and Michael Helman trying to score on a contact play in the third. But the Rangers want to be more aggressive on the bases this year and spring training is all about pushing boundaries to hone regular-season decision-making.
Of the first inning situation, there were two more notable moments. Thumbs up for Jansen moving up to third on the play at home, but thumbs down to Helman for hitting a ground ball with a one out and a runner at third base.
— Michael Helman began a fourth inning rally with an infield single and Ezequiel Duran followed with a line drive hit, giving them both their first hits of the spring. It leaves only two players in big league camp hitless: Catcher Jose Herrera, who is here simply to keep the primary catchers fresh in spring training, and, gulp, Corey Seager as the only players in big league camp without a hit. He’s 0 for 5. Panic at your own risk. Seager began last spring with a 3-for-23 (.130) stretch and things turned out OK, as long as he stayed on the field.
Another day, another dollar: See photos from the Texas Rangers’ Cactus League outing against the Cleveland Guardians
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