Rangers Offer Tickets to Family Allegedly Harassed by Man at Saturday's Game
Aug 7, 2019
The Texas Rangers have offered Jessica Romero and her family free tickets to any home game in 2019, according to ESPN and Stefan Stevenson and Jeff Wilsonof theFort Worth Star-Telegram, after Romero said on Facebook that her family was harassed by a man during a Rangers game Saturday.
Per Romero's Facebook post, a man sitting behind her family photobombed a selfie by sticking up his middle finger. He later made several racist comments about Hispanics and said that President Donald Trump needs to hurry up and build a border wall. Romero also included the picture of the man flipping off the camera in her post.
"The Rangers are committed to providing all of our guests with a safe and enjoyable experience and we are truly sorry that this family was subjected to this offensive behavior at Saturday's game," the team said in a statement. "There is no place at Globe Life Park in Arlington for this type of conduct to occur."
"That's definitely not OK, especially when this is supposed to be the greatest country in the world," outfielder Delino DeShields said. "I feel like everyone should be treated equally, especially at a sporting event when people want to come to enjoy a baseball game or a football game or whatever it is. That's just people being ignorant and disrespectful, and that's not OK."
"It's 2019, man," shortstop Elvis Andrus added. "I don't understand why people nowadays are still thinking about that. Your race or your color, what's the difference? We're all human beings in the end."
Romero said she's received support online following the ugly incident.
"It gives me so much feeling of support," she said. "I've gotten messages from Washington DC, Ohio, Louisiana, California, all over. I've tried to respond but there are so many. It's kind of amazing to me how kind people are and the words they're sending."
Along with those messages and the team's offer, one Rangers season-ticket holder offered the family four front-row seats for the team's Sept. 10 game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rangers Fan Hospitalized After Being Struck by Line-Drive Foul Ball
Aug 5, 2019
The Texas Rangers' 9-4 win over the Detroit Tigers was overshadowed by another fan being hit by a foul ball this season in Major League Baseball.
Rangers outfielder Willie Calhoun hit a line drive that struck a woman in the head Sunday, per ESPN. Calhoun was visibly worried—crouching down, staring in her direction and shaking his head.
The fan was seated in the 25th row at Globe Life Park in Arlington and then taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
There has not been another update on her condition.
In May, Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. fractured a two-year-old girl's skull with a foul ball, which spurred a leaguewide conversation about extending protective netting at major league ballparks. "Let's just put fences up around the whole field," Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant suggested to ESPN's Jeff Passan afterward.
In early June, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated he didn't anticipate changes happening to improve fan safety during this season (h/t Sports Illustrated).
MLB's Coveted Trade Deadline Ace Mike Minor Went 3 Years Without Starting
Jul 24, 2019
Texas Rangers pitcher Mike Minor smiles after the final out in the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Detroit, Wednesday, June 26, 2019. Texas won 4-1. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
It had been a while since Mike Minor was in any kind of venerable position in the month of July.
In 2015 and 2016, he was working his back from shoulder surgery. In 2017, he was a role player in the Kansas City Royals bullpen. Just last season, he was seemingly a failed experiment in the Texas Rangers' starting rotation.
This July, however, Minor is arguably the best pitcher in baseball and perhaps the most coveted starting pitcher on the trade market.
The 31-year-old left-hander boasts a 2.86 ERA over 129 innings through his first 20 starts of 2019. His ERA translates to an American League-best 177 ERA+. And according to Baseball Reference wins above replacement, he's been the most valuable pitcher in all of Major League Baseball:
1. Mike Minor, TEX: 6.1
2. Max Scherzer, WAS: 5.5
3. Lance Lynn, TEX: 4.8
4. Luis Castillo, CIN: 4.4
5. Hyun-Jin Ryu, LAD and Justin Verlander, HOU: 4.2
Is Minor actually the best pitcher in baseball? Probably not. But he's having a spectacular season by any measure, and pitching-needy contenders are lining up to bring him aboard.
This doesn't mean Minor will be traded. Although the Rangers were recently mired in an eight-game losing skid, their 51-50 record technically puts them in the hunt for the AL's second wild-card spot. They also have Minor under contract through 2020 at a reasonable $9.8 million annual salary.
For his part, Minor has a 10-team no-trade list that notably includes the Yankees, according to Rosenthal. And no matter the opportunity, he sounds like he might indeed exercise his right to stay put.
"I don't want to go anywhere," Minor said, according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. "My name was talked about in the offseason, so I'm used to it. It seems like ever since I signed, I've been a topic. It's like I signed here just to be traded."
But if nothing else, it's admirable how far Minor has come just to get to this point.
Minor's professional journey began 10 years ago when the Atlanta Braves selected him out of Vanderbilt with the No. 7 pick of the 2009 draft. The MLB.com book on him stated that he wouldn't "wow" anyone like former Vandy teammate David Price, but that he was a "solid left-handed starting candidate."
It took a while for Minor to live up to that billing, but something clicked halfway through his third season with the Braves. He ended that year on a hot stretch and carried it over into 2013. Ultimately, he enjoyed a 47-start stretch in which he posted a 2.90 ERA.
Then things started to go sideways.
The southpaw had surgery of a, um, personal nature in 2013 that delayed the start of his 2014 season until the beginning of May. He never quite got on track en route to a 4.77 ERA over 25 starts.
Minor's Sept. 20 outing that season would prove to be his last in the majors until 2017. He started feeling tightness in his shoulder in March 2015. Two months later, he underwent season-ending surgery. He was supposed to return in 2016 after signing with the Royals as a free agent, but his shoulder didn't cooperate and kept him out for the entire season.
After that, the only recourse for both Minor and the Royals was to try for a transition from starting to relief work. And even Minor wasn't sure how that was going to go.
"I'm pretty anxious to get this thing going—to see how it reacts," he told Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star in February 2017. "See if maybe the bullpen thing will work out."
As it turned out, the "bullpen thing" was a massive success. Minor's fastball sat at a career-high 94.4 mph throughout 2017, and he finished with a 2.55 ERA and 88 strikeouts over 77.2 innings.
That was a heck of a springboard into free agency, where he figured to attract interest as a late-inning reliever. Yet when the Rangers came through with a three-year, $28 million contract in December 2017, they raised eyebrows by announcing Minor would start.
"The guy has upper-rotation ability," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said, per Sullivan. "We have heard tremendous things about the makeup...there are a lot of things on the list he ticked off that we like."
Texas' faith in Minor wasn't rewarded right away. Despite some bright spots here and there, he went into the 2018 All-Star break with a 4.89 ERA. But just like in 2012, something clicked, and he finished with a 2.97 ERA over his final 10 starts.
In a related story, a notable switch occurred in Minor's pitch selection:
He shifted from being a mostly fastball-slider pitcher to more of a fastball-changeup guy. Right-handed batters bore the brunt of this, as his changeup percentage against them rose from 20.5 to 28.4.
To say the least, Minor's results against righty batters got a lot better:
Minor's pitch selection has stayed largely static thus far in 2019, so he's had to use other tricks to keep pushing the envelope. These include a more careful blending of his release points and elite spin on his fastball, plus better horizontal break on his changeup and slider.
In other words, he's simply nastier this year. That's affording him more strikeouts and ground balls, all while his effectiveness against righty hitters has remained largely intact.
The big picture is that of a pitcher who can be counted on for six or seven good innings when he takes the ball. That's a true rarity in today's MLB, so Minor probably shouldn't expect the trade buzz to die down between now and July 31.
The only question is whether he and the Rangers will find a particular proposal that's agreeable.
That should be easy for the club, as it may never get another chance to sell so high on Minor. As for the man himself, he won't have any say if the Rangers reach an agreement with an organization that's not on his 10-team no-trade list.
If, on the other hand, the choice is ultimately his, perhaps he could be convinced to continue his comeback tour under a brighter spotlight.
Rangers' Mike Minor Sick of Trade Rumors: 'Like I Signed so They Could Trade Me'
Jul 18, 2019
DETROIT, MI - JUNE 26: Mike Minor #23 of the Texas Rangers pitches against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning at Comerica Park on June 26, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)
Miss Texas Rangers starting pitcher Mike Minor with your trade rumors.
"I feel like ever since I signed it's been a topic," Minor said Thursday of the rumors swirling around him prior to the July 31MLBtrade deadline, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Jeff Wilson. "It's almost like I signed just so they could trade me."
The 31-year-old southpaw signed a three-year, $28 million contract as a free agent ahead of the 2018 season.
Minor added that the idea of the Rangers becoming sellers at the deadline "does piss us off":
"He and his teammates don’t like the idea of the Rangers, who entered Wednesday five games above .500 and third in the race for the second wild card, suddenly becoming sellers at the July 31 trade deadline.
They believe they are a playoff team and want general manager Jon Daniels to add pieces at the deadline rather than part with the Rangers’ best players.
"'We’ve been playing well all season,' Minor said. 'Anytime that we lose a couple games, they’re supposedly ready to deal guys when we have 2 1/2 months left in the season.'"
MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported Wednesday that Minor is "an increasingly likely trade candidate," which was preceded by Rangers president of baseball operations and general manager Jon Daniels commenting directly on the matter back on July 12:
Jon Daniels says he doesn't want to trade Mike Minor but the Rangers can't afford to rule out anything in July
Daniels noted, perWilson, that the team had been approached about trading Minor in the offseason, but "it probably didn't make a lot of sense, and obviously, we didn't. He's taken another step forward, as has the team."
The 41-year-old executive would not commit to the team being buyers, sellers or neither at the deadline.
So far in 2019, Minor has posted an 8-4 record with a 2.73 ERA and 1.164 WHIP whileleading the leaguein wins above replacement among pitchers at 6.0. In addition, he already has 121 strikeouts through 19 starts after striking out 132 in 28 starts last season.
According to Morosi, Minor isn't the only potential trading chip in the Rangers' clubhouse, listing veteran Hunter Pence and outfielder Shin-Soo Choo as well. However, Minor has drawn interest from the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.
The Rangers hold a 50-46 record, putting them 9.5 games back in the American League West and five back in the AL wild-card race.
The organization has not made the postseason since 2016.
Rangers Trade Rumors: Mike Minor Drawing Interest from Phillies and Brewers
Jul 17, 2019
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Mike Minor throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Saturday, July 13, 2019, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)
Texas Rangers pitcher Mike Minor could be among those dealt before the July 31 trade deadline.
"The Phillies and Brewers are among the teams showing interest in Minor, who has widespread appeal to Deadline buyers because he's under contract through 2020," Jon Paul Morosi of MLB.com reported.
The left-hander has posted a 2.73 ERA with a 8-4 record so far this season, good enough to earn the first All-Star selection of his career.
The 31-year-old missed two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery but appears to be back on the right track in 2019. He entered Wednesday second in the American League in ERA and is one of only two pitchers with multiple complete games on the season.
While he has had a couple of disappointing starts in July, Minor had a 1.70 ERA in five June starts.
His production has helped the Rangers remain in the playoff hunt at 50-45, but three straight losses could force the team to become sellers by the deadline.
This is good news for the rest of the league searching for starting pitching, because Minor could be the best option available considering he is under team control for the 2020 season as well as the rest of this one.
Both the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers are on the outside looking in at the postseason but are close enough to make the playoffs with some improvements at the deadline.
Starting pitching depth is a problem for both teams, with the Brewers having few reliable options behind Zach Davies and Brandon Woodruff, and the Phillies having question marks behind Aaron Nola in the rotation.
Adding a reliable frontline starter like Minor could be a difference-maker to get either team in the playoffs and do damage once they get there.
Video: Rangers' Nomar Mazara Ties MLB Statcast Record with 505-Foot HR
Jun 21, 2019
Since everyone in Major League Baseball hits homers nowadays, it takes something special for a long ball to really stand out.
Texas Rangers outfielder Nomar Mazara did it by tying the MLB Statcast record with a 505-foot laser into the right field seats against Chicago White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez.
Adding a cherry on top of this particular sundae, ESPN's Coley Harvey noted the list of homers that traveled at least 480 feet this season nearly doubled Friday night:
Before tonight, there were only three homers in MLB all season hit 480 feet or further. Tonight alone, there have been two ... Gary Sanchez's 481-foot shot, and this one:👇 https://t.co/1j29ieSJ8K
Mazara has been one of the most consistent hitters in MLB since 2016. The 24-year-old has hit 20 homers in each of the previous three seasons. He entered tonight's game on pace for 22 this year but should be credited for two after driving one over 500 feet deep into the Texas night.
Rangers' Asdrubal Cabrera Suspended 4 Games for Throwing Equipment at Umpire
Jun 21, 2019
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JUNE 19: Asdrubal Cabrera #14 of the Texas Rangers runs after hitting a homerun against the Cleveland Indians in the second inning at Globe Life Park in Arlington on June 19, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant added that Cabrera is also facing a fine.
Cabrera had been ejected in the sixth inning for arguing balls and strikes. The 33-year-old was frustrated with a called third strike, marking his third strikeout of the game. While Rangers manager Chris Woodward went out to discuss it with Miller, Cabrera threw his batting gloves at them.
Cabrera is in a bit of a slump. Following Thursday's three-strikeout performance, the two-time All-Star has gone 2-for-17 with eight strikeouts this week.
Overall this season—his first as a Ranger—Cabrera is hitting .242 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI.
Depending on whether Cabrera decides to appeal, his suspension could begin Friday night. If he appeals, he can continue to play while it is pending.
Should Cabrera serve his suspension without appeal, the Rangers will presumably start Logan Forsythe at third. Forsythe replaced Cabrera Thursday night.
On the season, Forsythe has been a utility infielder and appeared in 11 games (eight starts) at third. The 32-year-old is hitting .268 with three home runs and 28 RBI.
Entering Friday's matchup with the Chicago White Sox, the Rangers own a 40-35 record and second place in the AL West.
Video: Watch Veteran 3B Adrian Beltre's No. 29 Jersey Get Retired by Rangers
Jun 8, 2019
Retired baseball player Adrian Beltre, right, speaks during a ceremony where his Texas Rangers jersey was retired before the second baseball game of a doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics in Arlington, Texas, Saturday, June 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Beltre, who played for Texas from 2011 to 2018, had 477 home runs and 3,166 hits during a stellar 21-year career. He is a five-time Gold Glove winner, four-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger.
Texas made the playoffs four times with Beltre, winning the 2011 American League pennant.
Beltre did more than mash home runs and lock down the hot corner for two decades, however.
No one seemed to have more fun than him:
His head is sacred, his joy on the field is infectious.
Beltre's No. 29 is the fifth number retired by Texas. The first four are Jackie Robinson's No. 42, Nolan Ryan's No. 34, Johnny Oates' No. 26 and Ivan Rodriguez's No. 7.
Rangers' Joey Gallo Placed on IL with Oblique Injury; Delino DeShields Recalled
Jun 2, 2019
ANAHEIM, CA - May 25: Joey Gallo #13 of the Texas Rangers runs during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium on May 25, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The Angels defeated the Rangers 3-2. (Photo by Rob Leiter/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Texas Rangers placed outfielder Joey Gallo on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain, the team announced Sunday.
Texas called up Delino DeShields to take Gallo's place on the active roster. The Rangers will start Danny Santana in center field for Sunday's game against the Kansas City Royals.
The injury disrupts what has been an excellent 2019 season for Gallo.
Through 50 games, he's slugging .653 with 17 home runs and 41 RBI. According to FanGraphs, his 2.9 WAR total is already acareer highand ranksfourthamong all position players.
One concern about Gallo's diagnosis is that oblique strains can havevarying recovery timesdepending on the severity. TheDallas Morning News'Evan Grantspeculated Gallo could be out until Father's Day on June 16 at a minimum.
Removing Gallo from the lineup for an extended stretch makes holding onto that wild-card lead difficult for the Rangers.
MLB's Most Unusual Superstar Joey Gallo Hits More Homers Than Singles
May 21, 2019
Joey Gallo's way of playing baseball isn't easy to recommend, but it sure works for him.
Increasingly so, in fact. After slamming 81 home runs across the 2017 and 2018 MLB seasons, Gallo is already up to 14 in 2019. The Texas Rangers' 25-year-old slugger is also working on a career-best 1.079 OPS.
The highlight of Gallo's season came May 8 against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. He hit the 100th home run of his career, and—naturally—it was a moonshot:
Now that he has that out of the way, all Gallo needs to do is hit the 100th single of his career.
OK, "needs" is probably putting it too strongly. But it is true that Gallo has more homers (102) than singles (98) to this point, and that's as strange as one would think.
Of the 4,021 players who've had at least 1,000 plate appearances in the majors, Gallo is the only one with a homer-to-single ratio greater than 1.0. Moreover, the next-closest guy is not particularly close:
Joey Gallo: 1.04 HR/1B
Mark McGwire: 0.74 HR/1B
Appropriately, McGwire is also the guy whom Gallo passed in becoming the quickest player to 100 home runs in American League history. But the whole more-homers-than-singles thing has been sticking to him for a while, and that didn't stop with his record-breaking day.
"As soon as I opened my phone, that's what it was about, instead of being that quick to get there," Gallo said, according to Jake Crouse of MLB.com. "But it is what it is."
To be fair, Gallo's frustration over the preoccupation with his homer-to-single ratio is, well, fair. He actually has hit more singles (16) than homers in 2019, and that's one of the least interesting tidbits of his season.
Though he is no Cody Bellinger, Gallo ranks fourth among qualified hitters in OPS. According to Baseball Reference, Gallo also entered Monday ninth with 2.5 wins above replacement.
Gallo's WAR traces partially back to his athleticism. He's a natural third baseman who's made his way to the outfield, where he's already racked up five defensive runs saved. He moves well for a guy listed at 6'5", 235 pounds, and baserunners must fear his arm strength.
But more so than that, the story of Gallo's season is that of a player who's perfected an imperfect hitting style.
Strikeouts remain the fundamental flaw of the Henderson, Nevada, native's offensive game. He is tied with Bryce Harper for the MLB lead with 63, and his 35.2 strikeout percentage is right in line with what he did in 2017 and 2018.
But whereas Gallo's whiffs were a genuine problem before 2019, it's hard to see them as such now relative to his solid .285 batting average and outstanding .419 on-base percentage. Feeding into those improvements are not only a better walk rate but also a higher batting average on balls in play.
Unlike Pirates slugger Josh Bell, Gallo hasn't made any obvious changes to his hitting mechanics. The real difference is merely in how he's approaching hitting.
Gallo has been much more disciplined with his swings but not to the point of passivity. Per Baseball Savant's most detailed strike zone, he's found an ideal balance of swinging at more pitches in the heart of the zone and at fewer pitches that are clearly outside the zone:
Note: Gallo's 2015 and 2016 seasons were combined because he had only 153 plate appearances between them.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com, this is what the Rangers wanted to see from Gallo this year. Still, the difficulty he faced in making their wish his command can't be understated.
"It's hard as f--k," Gallo told Passan. "It's really hard. Especially nowadays when pitches are starting down the middle and end up three inches off the plate at 100 mph. It's pretty tough to do. But experience helps. You see it over and over again, and it starts to become the norm."
Gallo's improved discipline offers a straightforward explanation for his walk rate spike. But contained within is also an explanation for his BABIP improvement, which can't be separated from the decrease in his average launch angle to 19.2 degrees.
Generally, launch angle is a good thing. But Gallo knows all too well that too much of it can be a bad thing. To wit, he had a .051 average and .184 slugging percentage on batted balls with launch angles of 40 degrees or more across 2017 and 2018. Given that those comprised an MLB-high 24.9 percent of his batted balls, that was a problem that needed fixing.
Gallo must have noticed his batted balls with extremely high launch angles came mostly against high pitches. Because, on average, his swings are now happening against lower pitches:
2017: 2.37 ft
2018: 2.40 ft
2019: 2.30 ft
Sure enough, Gallo's rate of batted balls with launch angles over 40 degrees is down to 18.8 percent. Practically speaking, that means fewer fly balls and infield pop-ups, which is good for the ol' BABIP.
Gallo's power hasn't suffered, however, in part because he's still excelling at keeping the ball off the ground but more so because his power simply can't be held in check. He's built his reputation on hitting lasers. Per his MLB-best 102.5 mph average exit velocity on fly balls and line drives, those lasers remain Death Star-like in their potency.
It's a good thing for pitchers that they can still strike Gallo out—especially since he teased the end of that habit early in the season. If that had continued, facing him would be a nigh impossible task right now.
As it is, it's certainly hard enough. And the longer Gallo keeps up his newfound talents, the sooner he'll be treated less like an oddity and more like a bona fide superstar.
