'It's Not Baseball': 5 Takeaways From Rangers’ Tie

The Texas Rangers ended in another tie on Tuesday afternoon against the Chicago White Sox, in a game that would make baseball purists cringe.

Chris Halicke | Mar 2, 2021

If you're a baseball purist, you would probably loathe Tuesday's contest between the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox.

Five innings were rolled (three by Texas, two by Chicago), the game lasted only six innings, and it ended in a 5-5 draw.

It's early in spring training, teams don't have access to JICs (Just In Case players) from minor league camp, so temporary rules were put in place to protect the health of players in camp throughout baseball.

That doesn't mean — even after exercising his right three times to do so — Rangers manager Chris Woodward enjoys rolling over innings.

"I hate doing it. It's not baseball," Woodward said. "It's not something we want to do. Obviously, for a guy who's never pitched on this side, we're going to take care of him. We're not going to put him in harm's way."

Kohei Arihara's Rangers' Debut

That guy is Kohei Arihara, who made his first appearance of the spring for the Rangers.

It didn't go exactly how he planned, having to be bailed out in both of his innings by the temporary rule that allows managers of the defensive team to end (or roll) an inning if a pitcher has thrown more than 20 pitches.

Arihara's pitch count was north of 40 pitches.

"Honestly, I thought he looked good," said battery mate Drew Butera. "I didn't think he struggled. There were a few close calls behind the plate. He had some jam-shot hits. The ball came out really well."

Arihara did give up a three-run home run in the first inning to White Sox designated hitter Andrew Vaughn, but was able to limit the damage elsewhere.

Gallo, Guzmán Go Deep

Very few players were ready to move on from 2020 more than Joey Gallo. He's out to prove his breakout in 2019 was not a fluke, and his spring is off to a great start.

Gallo hit his second home run of the spring on Tuesday, which was also his second game of the spring.

Ronald Guzmán, who's coming off an offseason where he won the MVP of the Dominican Winter League, continues to impress in camp.

Guzmán has earned the praise of his manager, coaches, and front office executives for his change in mechanics and mindset alike. He's also been able to carry it over into the field.

Guzmán went 1-for-2 with a single in Sunday's Cactus League opener against the Kansas City Royals. On Tuesday, he did one better, crushing a Lucas Giolito fastball in the second inning.

It's early in camp, but Guzmán is carrying over every bit of the hype he earned in winter ball. He has a long way to go before he claims the starting job at first base, but he is off to a great start.

Kyle Cody Impresses in Spring Debut

Kyle Cody came onto the scene in 2020 with an impressive big league debut after missing over two years due to Tommy John surgery.

He's one of nearly a dozen pitchers battling for a spot in the Texas rotation, and got off to a great start with his inning of work on Tuesday.

"I was impessed," Butera said. "That was my first time catching him this whole spring. The ball jumped out of his hand. It's heavy. It's got good life. It gets on hitters really quick."

Khris Davis, The Base-Stealer?

Over the course of his career, Khris Davis has earned the nickname Khrush because of his track record to hit home runs.

A base-stealer? Not so much. Davis has only stolen 18 bases over the course of his eight-year career, and has not stolen a base since before he turned 30 in 2017.

However, Khris Davis swiped third base in Tuesday's game off Jonathan Lucroy. And it's proof that Davis is buying in to Woodward's philosophies on the basepaths.

Davis approached third base coach Tony Beasley when Chicago's pitching coach came out to have a word with Zack Burdi, pointing out that Burdi had no intention of holding Davis close to second.

"Those are the type of things that we don't want to miss," Woodward said. "A lot of the time, these guys who are not base-stealers, they get ignored, basically. If they're going to ignore us, we're going to take advantage."

Josh Jung Finally Gets a Spring At-Bat

Rangers top prospect Josh Jung has seen action in each of the team's three Cactus League games, but didn't get an at-bat until Tuesday's contest with the White Sox.

He made the most of it with an RBI single that broke a 3-3 tie in the fifth inning.

On top of that, Jung remained focused on the basepaths and advanced to second base on a sacrifice fly by Adolis García.

"When we see our younger players do that, we get really fired up about it," Woodward said.

Promo photo: Kelly Gavin / Courtesy of the Texas Rangers

Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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Published Mar 2, 2021

CHRIS HALICKE