Both left fielder Wyatt Langford and third baseman Josh Jung — two key pieces of the Rangers’ present and future — independently described Ecker’s dismissal as a surprise. It’s the first in-season staff change that either of them have been apart of during their young major league careers.

Former big league All-Star infielder Bret Boone was hired Monday as a hitting coach for the Texas Rangers, who are last in the American League in runs scored. It will be the first time Boone, the 56-year-old older brother of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone,

Bret Boone’s weekend started off pretty normal. The biggest news on Saturday was when he went to a baseball game at USC, his alma mater, where he threw out the first pitch ahead of a big win over rival UCLA.