Rangers Andrew Heaney Looks Sharp On Backfield

Originally posted on FanNation Inside The Rangers
By Stefan Stevenson | Last updated 3/4/24

SURPRISE, Ariz. — Andrew Heaney was looking for feedback from his teammates.

Instead, they may have been the ones looking to learn something.

The Texas Rangers left-hander made his second spring training appearance Friday morning during a camp game on the backfields at the Rangers complex.

He wanted to get some real-time reaction on his pitches from his bat-wielding teammates, such as Evan Carter, Adolis Garcia, and Nathaniel Lowe, among others.

Heaney got Carter, Garcia, and Lowe swinging in the first and left after three scoreless innings in which he allowed only one hit while striking out five. He threw 44 pitches, including 30 for strikes, and faced the minimum of nine batters thanks to a double-play after Josh Smith reached with a single.

"It was good," Heaney said. "Just working on a couple of things. It's nice to face our own guys and be able to come pick their brains."

Andrew Heaney, March 1 (0:34)

In that first, Heaney said he was mixing up his pitch sequences which led to some deep counts against what will be the heart of the Rangers lineup.

"I think all of them were 3-2, so probably not exactly ideal, but ended up good," he said. "[I was] mixing some different things in there and just trying to get some feedback from our guys."

What sort of feedback? Heaney was changing his tempo, throwing pitches to different locations and "trying to mix it up a little bit, using some different pitches that I don't normally throw the hitter."

"We've got really good hitters," he said. "We're lucky to have those guys, and they see the ball well, so I value their opinion a lot."

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Rangers and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: