Rangers slugger makes Yankees broadcasters eat their words after Joc Pederson jab

When the Texas Rangers rallied to beat the New York Yankees in 10 innings last night, they managed to add some injury after announcers from the "evil empire" offered up an insult to one of the Rangers' star players who has been scuffling badly in Joc Pederson.

When Texas signed Pederson to a two-year, $20 million contract over the offseason, it thought it was getting the guy who posted a 150 OPS+ for Arizona in 2024. Instead, they've gotten a player who has hit just .132 and though he just returned from injury, continues to struggle to the point where he was taken out of the starting lineup for the last few games.

Yankees announcers’ physique remark backfires as struggling Texas Rangers DH delivers season highlight

That's why when Pederson strode to the plate in the 9th inning with the Texas Rangers down 5-4 on Monday night, Yankees announcers Ryan Ruocco and David Cone didn't seem to be all that worried. In fact, not only did they talk about the slide the designated hitter has been on, but they also seemingly made fun of his "physique" in what appeared to be calling him a bit chubbier than in past seasons.

"You can see the physique definitely has ... evolved for Joc," Ruocco commented at one point.

Not long after that rather pointed slight, Pederson had the last laugh, driving a 2-1 pitch from Devin Williams into the right field seats for a game-tying solo home run.

As final payback for making light of what has been a nightmare season for Pederson, another player who has struggled in 2025 but is on the comeback trail, Josh Jung responded to Wyatt Langford being intentionally walked ahead of him in the 10th inning by blasting a three-run homer to win the game. Safe to say the Yankees broadcasters might keep their snide comments to themselves when the two teams face off again on Tuesday night.