Changing location
Tanner Scheppers reached the big leagues last season and spent most of the final four months with the Rangers. That proved to be enough time for him and his wife, Jessica, to embrace the area and make the decision to move from Southern California to Southlake this off-season.“We just fell in love with it because it’s similar to Clovis, Calif., which is where my wife is from,” Scheppers said. “We love the family atmosphere and everybody is super nice.”Scheppers, competing for a bullpen spot in camp, is trying to make the big-league team for the full season. The Star-Telegram caught up with the hard-throwing right-hander about living in Texas and a new addition to the Scheppers’ family. What’s the biggest difference between DFW and Southern California? The people are completely different, the weather is different. The people in Texas are a little more laid-back than California. But there’s a little more to do in Los Angeles and Southern Cal with the mountains two hours away and the beach 20 minutes away. How close were you to the beach? I was about a five-minute drive. I surfed, body-boarded. I miss that occasionally, but I don’t have much free time. And in the off-season the water is pretty cold there, so you have to go somewhere warmer. Have you found any good restaurants in DFW? We liked Truluck’s, but we really haven’t been to downtown Dallas. The Fort Worth Stockyards were pretty sweet, but I don’t spend too much time going out. Baseball keeps me busy. I usually just hang out with my family and dogs.” You rescued a Boston Terrier this off-season and now have two. How has that been? Man, it’s kind of completed the family. And I don’t feel so bad when we leave them and go out and go to the game because he’s got someone to hang out with. We’ve fallen in love with her, too. What are their names? I don’t know if I want to say her name … it’s Ritzy. But we did not choose it, it was given to her. And my other is Bob. He’s an angel and he’s probably the best thing that happened to me ... besides my wife.By the numbers1 More tenured GM in Rangers history than Jon Daniels, who is going into his eighth season. Tom Grieve spent 10 years as GM from 1984-94.He said it“We’re not holding no fort together. We’re going out there to kick some butt right out of the chute.” — Ron Washington on the Rangers’ approach in AprilInjury report RHP Colby Lewis (flexor tendon surgery in July): Scheduled for another bullpen session Thursday. LHP Martin Perez (broken left ulna): Expected to miss two months. RHP Kyle McClellan (shoulder soreness): Threw two innings vs. Milwaukee on Tuesday. RHP Joakim Soria (Tommy John elbow surgery in April): Threw a bullpen session Tuesday. RHP Neftali Feliz (Tommy John elbow surgery in August): Throwing out to 75 feet. C Eli Whiteside (mild left calf strain): Day-to-day. RHP Wilmer Font (mild shoulder tendinitis): Threw scoreless inning in “B” game vs. Royals on Tuesday.Video of the dayAs always, catch manager Ron Washington’s daily briefing on our Rangers blog, Foul Territory, at star-telegram.com/rangers.Drew Davison, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @drewdavison
