PEORIA, Ariz. — Here’s an idea to boost the Texas Rangers’ chances in the AL West and ease their road woes against the Seattle Mariners: less of Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, where they’re 5-13 over the last three years, and more of the Peoria Sports Complex, where they’re undefeated this calendar year.
We’ll wait and see how the Mariners respond to this proposition.
The Rangers beat the Mariners 9-2 in their first game against the division foes Saturday. Now they just need to find a way to apply that to the regular season.
Here are three observations from the game.
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Camp crusher: Minor league infielder Cam Cauley continues to rake. He went 2 for 3 against the Mariners with a 112.9 mph solo home run against All-Star right-hander Logan Gilbert and a 98.1 mph single against right-hander Jimmy Kingsbury. He’s slashed .364/.391/.682 with five extra base hits in eight games and carries an average exit velocity of 95.6 mph. Just for a statistical reference: last year’s MVP winners Aaron Judge (95.4 mph average exit velocity) and Shohei Ohtani (94.9 mph) didn’t hit that threshold.
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Yes, it’s an incredibly small sample size, and yes, it’s in Cactus League play, so only so much stock can be put into a week’s worth of data. But the 23-year-old infielder has so far taken advantage of his opportunity to show off in front of the big league staff.
On the topic of hard hits: First baseman Jake Burger hit a 107.4 mph single off of right-hander Gabe Mosser in the sixth inning and now has a 91.9 mph average exit velocity on 11 batted balls in six games.
The sample size caveat stands here too, but it’s encouraging to see the 29-year-old get strong swings off as he begins his second season with the club. Burger’s 90.4 mph average exit velocity last season was the lowest of his career and down a full tick from the year prior. His spring data is so far in direct alignment with his 2023 season when he hit a career-best 34 home runs in 141 games.
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Helmania is back: Outfielder Michael Helman, who’s among a group of players in contention for a spot on the Texas bench, hit a 105.7 mph two-run home run off of Kingsbury in the sixth inning. The 29-year-old has had a relatively quiet spring thus far (.143/.125/.357 slash line in six games) but should still be considered a roster candidate given his defensive flexibility.
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Twitter/X: @McFarland_Shawn
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