BOSTON — Joc Pederson likes bats. Like, he really likes bats, and will often order new ones, cycle through different models and give different hunks of wood a try in an effort to find one that fits him at any given moment.
He’s hit a snag in his first season with the Texas Rangers: His teammates, in his own perfectly distinctive words, are “mentally stable” and tend to stick with one singular bat. Because of that, Pederson lamented Tuesday night, “no one talks sticks here.”
Then Bret Boone walked in.
Boone, whom the Rangers hired as a hitting coach Monday, likes bats too. He likes bats so much, it turns out, that he’d sometimes have as many as six new bats delivered before each series during his 14-year career in the major leagues and would end each season with upwards of 200 bats. Pederson, the Rangers’ designated hitter, caught wind, and on Boone’s first official day of work Tuesday, the two talked sticks.
“It sounds crazy,” Pederson said after the Rangers’ 6-1 win vs. the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night, “but it’s something really relatable to me.”
That’s why Boone is here.
“I feel like he knows ball,” Jung said. “I feel like it’ll be good for us. He’s going to bring in a ton of perspective. Especially in times of struggle, getting a new voice, I think, will serve us well.”
The Rangers hired Boone, 56, to help jumpstart their stagnant offense despite the fact that he’s never coached before and isn’t an analytically forward thinker like the game now commands. That’s fine. Bochy doesn’t want Boone to concern himself with biomechanics and advanced metrics anyways. That’s a strength of hitting coach Justin Viele, who, according to Bochy, “is as good as anybody as far as providing that information.”
“The analytics is great,” Bochy said, “but we just wanted somebody that can help them through his own experiences.”
They Rangers wanted someone that can talk sticks. They wanted someone who, above all else, can be a relatable sounding board for hitters during the highs and lows of a season. They wanted someone who understands slumps, like the one that these Rangers have been stuck in to start the season, and someone who understands surges, like this lineup was often capable of two years ago during its World Series run.
Boone, a third-generation big leaguer whose brother Aaron manages the New York Yankees, may not talk wRC+ and wOBA. He talks the things that fuel those metrics, though, and, boy, can he talk as evidenced by a 25-minute chat with reporters outside the Fenway Park visitor’s clubhouse Tuesday afternoon.
Hey, he hosts a podcast, after all, and quite literally believed that Bochy called him Saturday night to inquire about a guest appearance on “Turning 2 With Boonie.”
Nah, not quite. Boone ran into special assistant to the general manager and Rangers Hall of Famer Michael Young at a USC baseball game Saturday afternoon. Boone — who did not discuss the job with Young during the Trojans’ win vs. UCLA — was there to throw out the first pitch and see his alma mater play before the season finished. He received a phone call from manager Bruce Bochy later that night.
“Boch, you want to come on the podcast again, right?” Boone said.
“No, Boonie,” Boone said, mimicking Bochy’s drawl. “We’re going to make a change and I’d love to have you put on the uni again. How much interest do you have?”
Enough, evidently, to hop on a cross country flight and join the Rangers in Boston. Bochy, who he played under for one season in San Diego, was the first to greet him at the team hotel when he arrived.
Boone’s former manager, it turns out, was “the one guy I couldn’t say no to.” He’s got a deep reverence and respect for Bochy, though, as Boone pointed out, lots of players do.
“I’ve been at the top, where I couldn’t wait to get to the ballpark because somebody was going to take a whooping today,” Boone said Tuesday, “and I’ve been at the point where I don’t want to leave my hotel room because my swing isn’t right. I can live and die with these guys because I know what they’re going through. I’m here to do whatever I can.”
The Rangers hired Boone to replace offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker. They dismissed Ecker Sunday after three-plus seasons with the club and, more specifically, after the club’s offense has only continued to worsen since the start of the 2024 season.
“Everyone here liked Donnie,” left fielder Wyatt Langford said. “Me and him had a really good relationship. It’s definitely going to be a big change with him not being here.”
Change has been the name of the Rangers’ game of late. Ecker’s dismissal was the latest team-driven effort to shake up an offense that began play Tuesday with the second-fewest runs scored in baseball. In the last week alone they’ve optioned first baseman Jake Burger to Triple-A Round Rock, switched out hitting coaches, placed outfielder Leody Taveras on waivers and recalled outfielder Evan Carter from the minor leagues.
“This game, as much as people don’t want to say it is, it’s results based,” super utility man Josh Smith said. “It’s tough, man, it’s a tough game.”
Boone, who played nearly 1,800 games with five different teams, understands that as well as his players do.
“He’s a longtime big leaguer, played second base, hit for power,” second baseman Marcus Semien said. “He’s kind of a similar profile to me. I’m excited to pick his brain.”
Boone wants to be that resource eventually but, for the time being, he wants to listen, learn and understand the Rangers’ roster. He said he’s “semi familiar” with the players but is cognizant of the fact that different things make different guys tick.
His plan, as he described it, is not to impart the “Bret Boone method” on day one. Translation: Don’t expect sweeping changes to the way in which the Rangers philosophically operate as an offense. That style of leadership doesn’t necessarily fly with professional athletes who’ve built their own habits and routines, and sometimes, it takes one to understand that.
“I’ve had enough hitting coaches in my life where I know there’s no miracle cure to anything,” Boone said. “The bottom line is you can do everything behind the scenes with these guys to put them in the best frame of mind to succeed. They’ve got to go do it. That’s the thing with coaches and managers: You do everything you can to put your individuals in position to succeed, but you’re not in the box with them.”
You can talk sticks with them though.
Maybe the Rangers needed a little bit of that.
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