SURFPRISE, Ariz. − Future Hall of Fame pitcher Max Scherzer won’t pitch again for the Texas Rangers until at least June.
Two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom is out until at least August.
Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe has an oblique strain that likely will sideline him a month, requiring the first IL stint of his career.
All-Star shortstop Corey Seager (sports hernia) and third baseman Josh Jung (left calf strain) have been injured all spring.
Their two top draft picks of the past two years, starters Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker, likely won’t be ready to pitch in the big leagues this season.
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And Rangers owner Ray Davis, at least for now, refuses to bring back postseason pitching hero Jordan Montgomery on a lucrative free-agent contract with no TV contract past this season.
But worry?
Uh-uh.
These are the defending World Series champions. They sneer at adversity, and swat off obstacles like summer mosquitos, just like they did over and over last season.
“I really feel good about our world championship,’’ Rangers manager Bruce Bochy tells USA TODAY Sports. “They have something now for the rest of their lives, including Ray Davis and ownership. It’s just the gift that keeps on giving.
“We have the confidence now that we can play with anybody, and pitch with everybody. We got over that last hurdle. The expectations are different for us now. The standards are different.
“When we start the season, we’ll have the ring ceremony and all of that hoopla, but that’s when you realize it’s over. It’s time to get to work and win another one.’’
This is a team that blew more games than any team to ever reach the postseason. Bochy’s Rangers lost the AL West title on the final day of the regular season. They had to travel from Seattle to Tampa for the opening wild-card series. They had to fly up to Baltimore the next series. They had to face the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in the ALCS. And then face the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series.
And then they laughed all the way home to Texas.
“Everyone counted us out last year, but these guys never gave up,’’ Bochy said. “They never dwelled on their losses. They just went out and worked. That’s what impressed me the most, their resiliency. They were unfazed the entire time.’’
Yep, just like their manager, hired after a two-year layoff last season, who proved why those four World Series championship rings on his hands are hardly a fluke.
“The best move they made was Bruce Bochy,’’ Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington, who led the Rangers to back-to-back American League pennants in 2010-11, told reporters before their game against Texas. “He’s everything as far as a leader goes. If you can’t follow Bruce, there’s nobody on earth you can follow.
“And those guys will follow his lead.”
Never once, the Rangers players will tell you, did he ever look remotely worried, let alone panic, reminding them all along that this was a team capable of winning the World Series.
And, on the night of Nov. 1, 2023, they believed him, winning their first title since the franchise moved to Texas 52 years ago.
“You know what, he’s a tough read,’’ outfielder Travis Jankowski says. “He’s always the same. So you never really know if he’s stressing or not. He always seems to be in a good mood. That’s one of the reasons he helped us out so much.
“We didn’t have the easiest path into the World Series. We had some ups and downs along the way, but when you see the skipper’s not panicking, and is the same guy every day, as a player you say, ‘OK, we have no need to panic. He’s fine.’
“He could have been a duck on top of the water with those feet flailing, but that’s kudos to Boch for keeping his poker face on there no matter what he’s gone through, and just being the same guy every day, and not showing any panic if there was any.
“It’s comforting when you see that.’
This spring, Rangers players now know his personality quirks, his slow walks to the mound, and the leadership qualities that has a Hall of Fame plaque awaiting him.
Sure, they’re facing plenty of obstacles this season. They aren’t even favored to win their own division. But Bochy has them believing they can become the first team since the New York Yankees a quarter-century ago to win back-to-back World Series.
“Things are more relaxed,’’ veteran starter Jon Gray says, “but he tells us to have our eyes forward this year. Last year was great, but you can’t let it get in the way this year.’’
This, of course, is the fourth time Bochy will try to go back-to-back. The Giants never returned to the postseason the year after winning a World Series, although their 2011 team, going 86-76, could have had a deep run if not for the season-ending injury to future Hall of Fame catcher Buster Posey.
Bochy, 68, wishes there were lessons he learned along the way to end the back-to-back drought. It was never a matter of overconfidence, fatigue or a World Series hangover, he says, but just different circumstances in the course of a season that prevented them from becoming the first team since the Yankees in 1998-2000 to repeat.
The 24-year drought without a consecutive World Series champion is the longest in North American sports history.
“I’ll be honest,’’ Bochy says, “I don’t know what I would have done different those years where we tried to repeat. A lot of things can happen at random times.
“Even in those years in San Francisco, I felt like we were hungry. We did all we could. It just goes to show you so much has to go right. One, you have to stay healthy. Guys have to have their normal years with a surprise or two.
“It’s hard enough to win one, so it’s always good to see a team like the Kansas City Chiefs do it. Just a reminder that it can be done.”
The Rangers have a World Series logo with an image of the trophy outside their spring training office building. There’s a gold banner declaring their 2023 championship above the left-field fence on their practice field. The batting cage has the mantra, “Went and Took It.’’
But inside the clubhouse, no one is talking about the past, only the future.
“It’s great playing for him because what he’s done here so far,’’ Gray says, “and his mind for baseball. It’s not about eye-wash stuff. He leaves it up to a lot of veterans to take care of a lot of things.’’
If there’s a problem, it will be subtly addressed.
Nothing lingers.
Nothing ever festers.
The Giants, they’ll tell you, never had the most talented team during those three championship years, but no one had a better clubhouse culture.
“Sometimes you lose sight that we’re playing for a championship because of contracts and individual things,’’ All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien says, “and he understands in the middle of the season to address that. He says, ‘Hey, just focus on winning baseball games, playing for each other, and everything will take care of itself.’
“He just feels certain things before it happens.’’
And, just in case anyone in the Rangers clubhouse is still basking from last year’s glorious postseason, Bochy already reminded them that no one will care after they raise the World Series banner on opening day.
“He’s not satisfied with just one here,’’ Jankowski says. “He wants to give Arlington, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, another World Series title. That’s what we’re here for. Last year is over.’’
And this year is an opportunity to show that history is possible.
Besides, it’s not as if the Rangers played over their heads last season. They simply got hot in October, winning every postseason road game.
They won the World Series with just six combined victories and 75 1/3 innings from Scherzer and deGrom, while Montgomery didn’t make his first start for the Rangers until Aug. 4.
So why not the Rangers?
“We’ve got room for improvement,’’ Bochy said. “We didn’t win our division last year, and honestly, that was a gut punch. So, you try to get better. We know how difficult it is to repeat, but I know this: We’ve got a chance. It’s what I’m looking forward to. It’s what these guys are looking forward to.
“As great as those memories were last year, let’s try to make new memories this year.
“Let’s make history.’’
Around the basepaths
≻ Shortstop Jackson Merrill, the San Diego Padres’ No. 2 prospect, has been one of the most impressive players in the Cactus League this spring, scouts say. They believe that he can make the transition to be the Padres’ everyday center fielder.
He could become only the third player in the last 50 years to start in center field on opening day before the age of 21, joining Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones.
Quite an accomplishment considering Merrill has never played a game at Triple-A, and never a game in center field in his entire life, not even in Little League.
“The eye test says it looks pretty darn good,” Padres manager Mike Shildt told reporters. “He’s an athlete, he’s a baseball player, he’s a get-it-done guy.’’
≻ The Chicago White Sox never came close to receiving an offer for ace Dylan Cease that tempted them to trade him, despite extensive talks with the Yankees. They now plan to likely keep him until the July 30 trade deadline.
≻ The Los Angeles Angels continue to be the favorite to land free-agent starter Blake Snell, who’s willing to sign a short-term contract with opt outs. Angels owner Arte Moreno has yet to sign off on a big free-agent purchase after being burned in past years.
≻ Hard to believe that only five players have received four-year contracts or longer in free agency this winter compared to 30 the past two seasons.
≻ It was a bit surprising that Joey Votto signed a minor-league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays considering he has always downplayed the idea of playing for his hometown team. He’s expected to open the season at Buffalo, the Blue Jays’ Triple-A team. The Blue Jays currently don’t have a natural opening with Vladimir Guerrero at first base and Justin Turner as the everyday DH. Votto will earn a prorated $2 million once he’s called up and likely be used as a pinch-hitter and spot starter at first or DH.
≻ Can you believe the Chicago White Sox have a whopping 17 former players and front office executives from the Kansas City Royals?
≻ Scouts continue to rave about young Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno, calling him one of the top five catchers in baseball. It was quite a steal for the D-backs, who acquired Moreno and outfielder Lourdes Gurriel, who returned on a three-year, $42 million contract, from the Toronto Blue Jays for Daulton Varsho.
≻ The Cincinnati Reds’ quest to win the NL Central for the first time since 2012 took a hit when Noelvi Marte, their starting third baseman, was suspended 80 games for testing positive for Boldenone, a PED. He also won’t be eligible for the postseason roster.
“It’s very disappointing,” said Nick Krall, Reds president of baseball operations.
The Reds now will turn to Jeimer Candelario, who signed a three-year, $45 million contract, to be their everyday third baseman while Jonathan India, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer can also play games at third.
≻ It will be fascinating to see how many scouts are on hand Sunday when former Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer pitches for the Independent Asian Breeze against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor leaguers at their spring training complex.
Bauer, who pitched in Japan last season, hasn’t pitched in the major leagues in three years. He made 17 starts for the Dodgers in 2021 when he was placed on administrative leave and eventually suspended for 324 games (reduced to 194 games) for violating MLB’s domestic abuse policy.
≻ While Yankees ace Gerrit Cole has an opt-out after this season, the Yankees can merely add another year to his nine-year, $324 million contract for $36 million to retain him through 2029.
≻ Most impressive feat of spring training: Cleveland Guardians media relations director Bart Swain rode his bicycle 37 miles from Goodyear to Mesa for their spring training game, a 2 hour, 15-minute trip.
≻ Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman, batting third in the order this season, told Shohei Ohtani that he wants him to steal as many bases as possible, and promises not to swing when he runs.
“I’ll take every time,’’ Freeman says. “Every time he goes, I’ll take the pitch. He asked me if there were any counts or anything (when he wouldn’t want Ohtani running), I said, ‘No, go for it.’ I want him in scoring position.
“I hope he steals 100.”
≻ Future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols, 44, continues to say he wants to manage one day, perhaps joining former teammate and close friend Yadier Molina.
≻ Encouraging sign that 46% of the spring-training breakout players from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, including 9.5% Black players. There are 30 players who appeared in MLB’s diversity-focused programs like their DREAM Series, Breakthrough Series and Hank Aaron Invitational.
≻ Congratulations to catcher Mike Zunino, who retires after a wonderful 11-year career. Zunino, 32, is the godson of the late Gary Hughes, the legendary scout.
He was the Seattle Mariners’ first-round pick and winner of Golden Spikes Award and Dick Howser Trophy as the nation’s top collegiate player at the University of Florida.
Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
