Rangers 6, Angels 0. Spring training game three.
Reid Detmers started and was pulled in the second inning — 3 earned runs, Danny Jansen with a two-run homer in the first, and then Detmers just never settled. One strikeout, one walk, five batters faced in total before Suzuki had seen enough. Whether that's alarming or just Tuesday in February is genuinely hard to say at this point.
For what it's worth, Jack Leiter threw two clean innings for Texas and looked the part. He's young, he's got real stuff, and the Rangers built him properly rather than rushing him. That's a minor note that probably means nothing for the final standings but is the sort of thing that sticks with you.
The stranger number was the offense. Eight hits, zero runs. Neto went 2-for-3 and was one of the few bright spots in the box score, Schanuel got on base, but nobody could sequence anything when it mattered. Eight hits stranding everyone is partly just bad luck and partly a situational hitting pattern that Angels fans have seen enough times to have a complicated relationship with. No need to catastrophize over game three. But worth noting.
Detmers moving to the bullpen full-time has been telegraphed for a while — today felt like confirmation more than news. He's got a good arm in a relief role, a different ask than being trusted to eat innings in a rotation that already has too many questions. As long as he actually adapts to the role and doesn't spend April trying to prove he belongs as a starter again, this is probably fine.
Losing three spring games before you've even had Gatorade explained to the new guys is not a reason to panic. But there's something useful in watching what falls apart first when the games start. Today it was the command and the situational hitting. Both things the Angels know they need to fix. Good to find out early.