3 up, 3 down, and 3 things to watch for in Week 3 for Rangers Spring Training

Spring seems to have arrived in Arizona this last week. After the first couple of weeks of cold and rainy weather, the Arizona sun came out and warm weather rolled in. Unfortunately for the Rangers the win-loss record was not as kind as the weather was. The Texas Rangers had a 1-5 record this past week.

The main issue was late-inning relief pitched by players who will not be on the Opening Day roster. They were shut out by the Arizona Diamondbacks last Wednesday 2-0. In the other five games they scored 6,11, 7, 10, and 8 runs. Offense is finding their rhythm as the countdown to Opening Day is nearing two weeks away. The losses have mainly been the fault of the pitching staff.

Jose Leclerc made an appearance in Monday afternoon's game against the Diamondbacks and pitched a scoreless inning. Jon Gray pitched three scoreless innings last Wednesday. Jacob deGrom made his first live game action in a Triple-A game on Monday afternoon and pitched two innings and struck out five batters. Nathan Eovaldi also pitched in a minor league game this afternoon as well. That was the week in camp. Lets take a look at three players that were up this week, three that were down, and then give you three things to watch for over the next seven days.

3 UP

1. Corey Seager

Corey Seager has played at a superstar level this spring. He has a .500 batting average (13-26), three home runs, 8 RBI's, and a 1.437 OPS. He was one of the most shifted players last season and is now playing without a shift in 2023. The lack of the shift will seriously help improve his overall numbers. I expect a higher batting average, OPS, and for him to put up more hits than he had last season. He has been the Rangers' best offensive weapon this Spring and maybe one of the best players in all of the Cactus League. He is a dark horse MVP candidate this season if the Rangers are competitive. Right now at Vegas Insider they rank Seager right outside the top 10 at number 11 on their AL MVP Odds heading into the 2023 season.

2. Jacob deGrom

This past offseason the Rangers were ridiculed by many in the national media for signing Jacob deGrom. Well we are 16 days away from Opening Day and deGrom is on track to make his debut that day, Jose Quintana is out maybe till the All-Star break, and Carlos Rodon will open the season on the injured list. deGrom in his live batting practice and in game-action today was throwing a free and easy 100mph and looking much like the dominant self that he has been for his entire career. This doesn't guarantee long-term health, but it is good that he is on track to be ready for Opening Day.

3. Josh Jung

Last week I put him in the down section. He had been scuffling at the plate showing little power and wasn't producing. That all changed last Tuesday. Since March 7th he is 5-12 with two home runs, 3 RBI's, 4 runs, and hits in each of the four games he has played. He is starting to tune up for Opening Day. He is also fully healthy and as long as that remains the same he will be in line to run out there on Opening Day as the starting third baseman.

3 Down

4. Josh Sborz

Josh Sborz has been in the Rangers organization since February 2021 when he was traded over from the Los Angeles Dodgers. I went in-depth on the dilemma the Rangers face with Sborz in my roster projection article. He is competing for the last spot in the bullpen and so far hasn't been great. He has struggled with his control and has been prone to giving up big hits. In his last two appearances, he has given up a combined seven earned runs. His last appearance was last Friday against the Oakland A's. He came in with the score 8-1 in the 8th inning. It is a situation that if he makes the team he will likely be called upon in the regular season. He could not get through the inning. He gave up four runs and Chase Lee was brought in to finish the inning. It was 8-5 when the Rangers went to the 9th.

5. Reyes Moronta

Veteran Reyes Moronta was brought in to start the 9th. He also is competing for that last spot with Sborz, Ian Kennedy, and a handful of other relievers. He started the 9th inning on Friday against the A's. The score was 11-5 as the Rangers had scored three runs in the top of the 9th. Moronta proceeded to give up three hits, one walk, one hit-by-pitch, and had a wild pitch as well. He threw to five hitters retiring none and was taken out with runners on 2nd and 3rd and the score 11-8.

6. Jake Latz

Latz was then brought in to try and clean up the mess left by Moronta. He then walked his first batter to load up the bases and then gave up a walk-off grand slam to Kevin Smith. It was a stunning show of ineptitude by all three pitchers that led to this loss. Latz then followed up his performance on Friday with a start on Monday against Arizona. He went 0.2 of an inning and gave up four runs on five hits before being taken out. Latz is one of the only players to pitch in a major league regular season game, yet never be on the 40-man roster. He made his debut in 2021 under the pandemic rules that allowed for teams to bring up players without rostering them if they had players out due to covid illnesses. He will likely be demoted at some point in the coming days. He is not making a case to be brought up at any point in 2023.