Rangers Fans Can Look To Bruce Bochy For Hope
Highly decorated MLB manager Bruce Bochy had been retired since 2019, his last year in front of the San Francisco Giants.
However, after a three-year hiatus, he has decided to return to professional baseball: the Texas Rangers chose him as their new manager and signed him to a multi-year contract.
For the 67-year-old Bochy to get out of the comfort of his house and return to the grind of having to be at the ballpark early and travel every week, you would think that the opportunity in front of him is, at the very least, exciting.
The 68-94 Rangers were disappointing in 2022, but do have the pieces to think about contention in a couple of years.
Bochy, clearly, likes what he sees.
“Bruce Bochy feels good enough about the direction of our Rangers that he is coming out of retirement. That excites me. Ok that’s the end of my Bochy tweets for now,” The Prospect Times, who covers the Rangers’ farm system, tweeted.
Bruce Bochy feels good enough about the direction of our Rangers that he is coming out of retirement.
That excites me.
Ok that’s the end of my Bochy tweets for now.
— The Prospect Times (@ProspectTimes) October 21, 2022
Let’s start with the offense: the Rangers had four players finishing with 25 home runs or higher: Corey Seager (33), Adolis Garcia (27), Nathaniel Lowe (27) and Marcus Semien (26).
That’s a good foundation.
The Rangers Need Better Player Development
Jonah Heim is a very good defensive catcher, and Josh Jung is ready to take over third base.
Outfielder Leody Taveras is another exciting piece for 2023, as is Ezequiel Duran.
They also have good hitting catcher Mitch Garver on the roster.
If they can bring Martin Perez back, that would be a huge step forward on the pitching side.
They need to address the area anyway, as Jon Gray is the only trustworthy hurler available to start.
The Rangers need to overhaul their pitching development and analytics department to get the best out of formerly promising arms such as Spencer Howard, Dane Dunning, Glenn Otto, and others.
Impact prospects Jack Leiter, Cole Winn, Owen White and Evan Carter are relatively close to the majors, and they also have Kumar Rocker.
If Bochy can oversee their progress and help the major league roster take a step forward, these Rangers have a future.