Kane tries to come face to face with Aaron Judge and the Rangers click

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The Texas Rangers are threatening to upend their 68-94 record from last year, and this weekend looks set to wipe out a week (ending) in baseball. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal – Welcome to The Windup!

Descriptive: Very talented, without a few notes

The challenge in writing Rangers’ 2023 season isn’t pinpointing what works, it fits everything that works in a division. This is an incomplete list:

• Marcus Simien hits .303 (.877 OPS) and has a 23-game hitting streak.

• Josh Jung was named Rookie of the Month for April and May. Not only does he hit for power (. 518 runs batted in, 12 home runs), but he also hits after a dazzling play at third base.

• Nathan Ivaldi since May 1: Six games, 5-0, 0.82 ERA, four runs allowed.

• John Gray since May 1: Six games, 5-0, 1.60 ERA, three runs allowed in last five games.

• Jonah Heim – already one of the best defenders in the league – hits .293 / .345 / .478 (.823 OPS) and his 2.2 fWAR ranks second among players (Sean Murphy, 2.9).

• Both Corey Seeger and Mitch Garver – who missed a lot of time with injuries – are now in good health, and both have over 1,000 surgeries. Seager has more RBI (29) than games played (27).

• Adolis García is tied with Yordan Alvarez for the league lead with 51 RBI.

• Since 1900, the 1936 Yankees have recorded the most double goals (16) in their first 58 games.

• Travis Jankowski hit .301 and stole a home run (and another would have busted it) in yesterday’s 12-3 loss to the Mariners. By the way, the Mariners’ pitching is objectively very good, and the Rangers have knocked down 28 runs in their last two games, outscoring them 30-9 in three straight games.

• Leads the league in runs (376), RBI (362), home run difference (+167), batting average (. 278), on-base percentage (. 345), fewest runs allowed (52), and fewest hits allowed the hits are (451) and I’m in the top three in another group, but we don’t have enough space.

They’re doing all of this during a season in which Seger missed five weeks with a hamstring strain, Garver and Jankowski also missed big time, and Jacob DeGromme has been out since April 28 with sore right elbow.

GM Chris Young has been consistent this offseason: He didn’t expect the team to go from 68-94 to the World Series in a year, but he insisted they would race for a playoff spot, which seemed optimistic for many.

They still have to back up the Bulls at the trade deadline (although Grant Anderson has struck out eight of the thirteen batters he’s faced since his debut), but it looks like the team could overcome even Young’s optimism.

Kane’s Corner: Looking at Aaron Judge

On Saturday, some people who watched my postgame interview with Aaron Judge on Fox noticed a slight height difference between us. In fact, anyone who watched the interview with at least one active eye probably noticed. Then some on Twitter pointed out that Judge was pretty much the size of the Empire State Building and I wasn’t much taller than your average dachshund.

Either way, it was all for fun, before SI.com dropped the slightest jabs on Sunday. An article titled “MLB Fans Crack Jokes as Yankees’ Aaron Judge Towers Over Reporter” included this line: “Judge is listed at 6-7, while Rosenthal claims he is 5-4 1/2 in his Twitter bio.”

Does he claim to be? Do I have to fix it? Did he brag about it?!?!

It wasn’t the first time I’d interviewed the judge on television, shoulder to shoulder. It was the first time I interviewed him at Dodger Stadium, where the cameras were positioned very low, just above the roof of the stadium. And let’s just say the angle doesn’t quite capture us when we gaze into each other’s eyes.

For the record, being short is not a new condition for me. Some family members who will remain unnamed have asked if I could stand on a box when interviewing tall players, but Fox never asked me to, and I never wanted to engage in such shameful duplicity.

Also, for the judge, I need a ladder, not a box.

Here’s the good news for SI and any other powerful entities that might want to jump on the breaking news that Aaron Judge is taller than me. Yankees on Fox over the next couple of weeks, from Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. If the judge jumps on the Green Monster or, better yet, runs through it, we will be together again. Like Simon and Garfunkel. Or maybe Laurel and Hardy.

Me, just counting the days until July 8, Mariners at the Astros, with my favorite player for an interview: Jose Altuve. Who “claims to be” 5-6.

I sweep until I fall asleep

Rangers was just one of them cinque (Potentially six) teams completed sweeps over the weekend. the others:

• Pittsburgh beat St. Louis, who fell to the NL worst 25-35. David Bednar compiled saves in all three games for the Buccaneers.

• He swept the Blue Jays Mets. Both teams entered the series with identical 30-27 records, but the Mets’ play faltered and it looked like Vlad Guerrero Jr. was about to turn around.

• The Marlins have been making the rounds of Zone A, which honestly feels a little predictable and mainstream at this point. Come on Marlin. Also, some advice to A fans about crowdfunding for a related giveaway on June 13th.

• The White Sox beat the Tigers, including one game in which all three runs were scored on a wild home run, including a run when the pitch hit the umpire with a facemask. Special moment: Liam Hendrix, who returned from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma on Monday, earned his first win of the year on National Cancer Survivors Day. On the Tigers’ side, Cody Stavenhagen has a compelling story about teammates Zack Short and Jason Foley who are two of three Sacred Heart players to make it to the major leagues.

• The Brewers can sweep the Reds tonight, like Jesse Winker He’s back to where he spent the first five years of his league career, and so far he’s triumphant.

Do you miss the thief who let you into heaven?

Baseball is better with Joy Photo. The Reds senior captain has previously attempted a stint in rehabilitation this year as he recovers from bicep and rotator cuff surgeries, but it has been cut short. He started the second over the weekend and talked about it with C. Trent Rosecrans before leaving.

“I couldn’t catch the balls. I couldn’t connect when I wanted to. If you can’t get the ball and you can’t get the bat, you can’t play,” Votto said (in his first stint in rehab), “You can play but in the end you won’t play.” When I got out of my first rehab, nothing felt like me. I felt weak. I felt pain all the time. I wasn’t strong at all. I lacked everything I needed to perform consistently. With about the last 6 weeks of rehab, live work, and work in progress, I feel like I’m in a place to start rehab (major).“

Foto’s last year may have been in Cincinnati – the team has a $20 million option for next year with a $7 million buyout – so I hope you play chess, hand written history, oral, ps -taking, The future college basketball star could finish the season strong.

So far, the second rehab bout hasn’t yielded much — it’s a 0 in 6 with a walk, but timing takes time.

Handshakes and high fives

Speaking of crosses between baseball and basketball: Did you know that Buck Showalter was once a staple for high school and college basketball? This is interesting, but Buck’s quotes about the impact of this on his career as a manager are truly remarkable.

We’re dealing with broad terms in this newsletter, so here’s the must-have: Jayson Stark’s overview of what we learned in our first 60 games of the season.

Aaron Judge is still Aaron Judge. Other than home runs, his defense has been sensational this year. Over the weekend, Kool-Aid put up a wall in Los Angeles. Please watch the video embedded in that story and appreciate how the man in the chair narrowly avoided death. The judge could have caught his toe.

The Astros drafted Forest Whitley in the first round in 2016. Now 25, he has yet to make it to the major leagues, and his recent injury makes his future with the organization even more confusing.

Andy McCullough’s Mailbag Starts With A Sausage: How Do We Feel About Shohei Ohtani Mall?

Zack Meisel has completed his Cleveland Baseball countdown and at number one is Jim Thome.

Roger Craig, an accomplished major league player and beloved former head coach of the San Francisco Giants, has died at the age of 93.

From late last week: A fascinating profile of Vanderbilt baseball coach Tim Corbin’s wife, Maggie, who helps run the program.

It’s time once again for Stephen Nesbitt and I to preview upcoming MLB action on the On Deck Podcast.

It’s hard to beat Rays this year. It gets harder when you do something like this:

(Photo di Markus Semin: Sam Hodde/Getty Images)