SURPRISE, Ariz. — Part of the allure of spring training in Arizona is all the “fests” that take place. Just this weekend, in Tempe, they held the Innings Fest, featuring Blink 182, among others. Next week, it’s Extra Innings fest, leaning heavily into country.
And in Surprise: Walk Fest, ‘26.
On the way to a 9-5 win over Colorado Sunday, the Texas Rangers took 11 walks on the way to wiping out an early three-run deficit. This might also have something to do with the state of the Rockies’ pitching, but, hey, it’s spring. Optimism abounds. It was the most walks they took in a spring game since 2024. The 4,539 fans who came for Sunday walks in Surprise left happily.
Anyway, here’s a walk-filled edition of observations:
Rangers
— Before games began, the talk of live batting practice was that the one hitter making solid contact was Josh Jung. Well, look, we have to have something to talk about during the live BP portion of the program, but games are a different animal. Even spring training games. And, yes, Jung is scorching balls out of the gate. He had hits in both of his at-bats Sunday, including a 109.4 mph double that started a fourth-inning rally. In four at-bats over two games, Jung has put all four balls in play; nothing softer than 98.4 mph. The ball is coming off his bat at an average of 102.5 mph. A year ago, his 89.3 mph average exit velo ranked in the 39th percentile in the league, well below average.
Related
— Evan Carter’s first live look at a lefty in a game was a success. Carter took a four-pitch walk from Brennan Bernardino in the second inning. The final pitch, a fourth consecutive sinker from Bernardino, was a hair below the zone. While Carter’s at-bats vs. lefties will be heavily scrutinized, he did have a 14% walk rate against lefties in a small sample size last year. If he can maintain that, it bodes well for his chances of playing more regularly against lefties.
Carter was, however, picked off by Bernardino. Expect a few spring training pickoffs as the Rangers try to push limits on leads to be more aggressive on basepaths. Biggest verdict off the pickoff: Carter’s trying to push those boundaries.
— As his namesake suggests, handy Willie MacIver made something out of nothing to start a three-run Rangers rally. In the fifth, MacIver fought back from an 0-2 count, fouling off a pair of pitches before working his way to a walk before Jonah Bride’s two-out bases-loaded double cleared the bases. In the sixth, MacIver did it again, and Cam Cauley followed with a run-scoring double. In the minor leagues, MacIver had a very attractive 11.3% walk rate.
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