Walk-up remix: Re-imagining the Texas Rangers’ entrance song selections

When Edwin Díaz entered the Mets game on Wednesday night, the moment was electric. His walk-out song — “Narco” by Blasterjaxx and Timmy Trumpet — was played live by Timmy Trumpet himself at Citi Field as Díaz emerged from the bullpen to pitch the ninth inning. It was the sort of big-production moment that baseball could use more of. The Mets are one of the best teams in the sport, charging head-first toward an exciting October, and just about any time Díaz enters the game, it’s a sign that they’re closing in on one more win.

It finally happened 🎺@TimmyTrumpet performed Edwin Diaz’s walkout song LIVE at Citi Field.
🎥 @SNYtv
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 1, 2022

But a team doesn’t have to be a World Series contender to have these moments. The upstart Orioles now have Félix Bautista walking out to Omar Little’s signature “Farmer in the Dell” whistle from “The Wire.” This all has me wondering: as the Rangers look forward to a better 2023, could they upgrade in the walk-out/walk-up music department? No, we’re not going to have any Diáz moments for a backup catcher coming to the plate in the fourth inning, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for incremental improvement, so let’s give it a shot, player by player.

If you have any suggestions, leave those in the comments section, or feel free to come up with some for the guys I didn’t include.

(Note: all “new” songs are queued to the spot I think works best for the walk-up.)

Starting position players

Jonah Heim

Current song: “Home Sweet” by Russell Dickerson

Heim’s current song is a soaring country music anthem, which is certainly fine for a summer night ride to the drive-in movie theater in Ennis, but it doesn’t really get the blood flowing for a big moment. While I am going to try to do my best to stick more or less with the styles the players picked, in this case, I couldn’t resist a regional tip-of-the-cap to Heim’s roots near Buffalo, N.Y. That’s also the hometown of Benny the Butcher, and this song feels a lot more like somebody about to do some damage at the plate.

New song: “Flood the Block” by Benny the Butcher

Nathaniel Lowe

Current song: “Desires” by Drake (feat. Future)

This is the third (I think) Drake song that Lowe has used this year, and while it was tempting to go with another pun (“Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks), I tried to stick with the genre. Unfortunately, all of Drake’s songs seem to me to give the energy of desperately trying to seem cool enough to convince his best friend’s girlfriend to make out with him, so we’re going to have to shake it up just a bit. Some of these songs I will pick because there’s a theme or a lyrical connection — this one just bops.

New Song: “Holy Ghost” by Young Fathers

Marcus Semien

Current song: “X” by Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz, Schoolboy Q, Saudi

This one is already great — nobody does it better than Kendrick right now — but I think he has two other songs that work better for walk-up music. Since Joey Gallo already made “Humble” his own during his time with the Rangers, we’re going with the other one, from that same album.

New Song: “DNA.” by Kendrick Lamar

Corey Seager

Current song: “Raise One Up” by Kameron Marlowe

Like Heim, this is a pretty straightforward country anthem. I’m not going to shut country music out completely (keep reading), but I’m sorry, the modern country anthem simply does not slap. Marlowe’s music conjures up “stride into the bar and have a great night with the boys,” not “destroy whatever this pitcher is about to try to throw me.” Meanwhile, Seager is kind of a baseball robot, opting not to keep his emotions to himself. Let’s see … robots … destruction … a nod to his bat in the title … aha, I have just the thing.

New Song: “Hammer” by Dirtyphonics and Sullivan King

Ezequiel Durán

Current song: “Con Calma” by Daddy Yankee and Snow

Like Semien, Durán already has a pretty great walk-up song, but if we’re nit-picking, it does feel a little too much like a party at a beachside bar. I’m cranking up the energy just a little bit.

New song: “Bombón” by Daddy Yankee, El Alfa and Lil Jon

Bubba Thompson

Current song: “How You Did That” by Gunna and Kodak Black

We all know Thompson’s primary weapon: speed. So we’re going to stick with his chosen genre but switch it up to one of the fastest rappers in the world. Also, I just think this intro is an excellent walk-up song.

New Song: “Face Off” by Tech N9ne, feat. Joey Cool, King Iso, and Dwayne Johnson (yes, The Rock)

Leody Taveras

Current song: “Las Avispas” by Juan Luis Guerra

If they’d start playing the animated beehive part of the music video on the big screen, I would insist on sticking with the one Leody already picked. Instead, we’re shifting from Spanish to Portuguese with this banger from Brazilian a capella group Barbatuques.

New song: “Baiana” by Barbatuques

Adolis García

Current song: “Nazareno” by Farruko

10/10, no notes. We are not changing this one; it’s perfect already.

Starting pitchers

Martín Pérez

Current song: “Manduko – Victor Porfidio Remix” by Jimmix, Alfredo Naranjo, Oscar D’Leon and Victor Porfidio

Starting pitchers get a bit more time with their intro songs than the rest, so for these, it’s more of a full-song feel than it is about a five-to-eight-second snippet. “Manduko” is very energetic, but it’s a bit too happy for what we’re going for here. Pérez isn’t the sort of overpowering flame-thrower who needs to lean into a song that screams intimidation, but this song feels more like an invitation to the dance floor than a statement about what’s to come. Let’s darken it up a bit, as this one builds to a pretty intense crescendo near the end.

New song: “Dákiti” by Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez

Jon Gray

Current song: “Addict” by Destiny Potato

As we established when we asked him for a song recommendation, Gray is a metal guy. This one suits him well, but (I can’t believe I’m saying this), it’s not quite catchy enough to create a moment. I know, I know: “catchy” isn’t the point of metal, but hear me out. The guitar riff on this track — which vaguely resembles a yowling cat — makes for a great song, and we stay with the metal genre.

New song: “Stranded” by Gojira

Dane Dunning

Current song: “Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe

This one isn’t bad, but with Dunning’s first-inning woes, maybe we need something that doesn’t quite kickstart his heart as much. We want angry Dane, so we’re going with something that summons less adrenaline and more seething rage.

New song: “Car Crash” by IDLES

Glenn Otto

Current song: “Let it Rock” by Bon Jovi

Kudos to Glenn for picking a deep cut — if I had given you the name of the artist, I’ll bet good money that it would have taken you a few guesses before you got to “Let it Rock.” Alas, it is simply not a great walk-out song. I promised I wasn’t going to abandon country music, so we’ll stick with the 1980s theme. Native Texan Otto is getting the country treatment — this one is more Appalachia than red dirt, but it does the job when it comes to setting the mood.

New song: “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle

Dallas Keuchel

Current song: “I Am” by Rock Mafia (feat. Wyclef Jean)

I love a good reggae song, but it always provides more of a calm-down than a pump-up effect. And with the positive self-affirmations in the lyrics, maybe that’s the point of this one for Keuchel: to put him in a good head space before he pitches. Alas, without knowing for sure (and having only spoken to him once since his arrival in Arlington) we’re going to just pick something that suits our purposes a little better. And while we’re at it, we’re going to go with something that fits Keuchel’s aesthetic — long beard, tattoos, and slicked-back hair … yeah, this feels right.

New song: “Drive” by Brutus

Closers

Rather than go through the whole bullpen, I opted to stick with the three guys most likely to come out of the bullpen in the ninth inning — where this entire exercise began.

Matt Moore

Current song: “More Than a Feeling” by Boston

I’m taking the opportunity to be a bit selfish here — my suggestion doesn’t really have anything to do with Moore, but I’ve always thought this song would be brilliant for a ninth-inning closer situation. The big instrumentation, the group chant that fans could sing along to (if they wanted to learn a bit of Arabic) and the tom-heavy drum fills. It’s a perfect walk-in song, and I stand by it.

This one is queued to the last chorus, which has a better lead-in, but I would edit it slightly — as soon as the song hits the final fade-out note, I would go back to the 1:00 mark, which just has sleigh bells and kick drum playing quarter-notes.

Yes, I have thought about this one a lot.

New song: “The Dryness and the Rain” by mewithoutYou

José Leclerc

Current song: “Incompleto” by Onell Diaz and Farruko

It floored me to learn that the current best walk-up song (“Nazareno”) and the worst walk-in song (this one) are by the same artist. “Incompleto” sounds like an emotional altar-call worship song at the end of a church service, and I’ve found myself putting up a hand and quoting Pam Beasley from “The Office”: “I feel God in this Chili’s tonight.”

So we’re giving Leclerc a musical makeover — something that better fits his nasty slambio and high-velo fastball. I was going to go with “Bulls on Parade,” but Walker Buehler already uses that one. As far as I know, this one hasn’t been used since Matt Albers, who hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2019. That means it’s fair game.

New song: “Sleep Now in the Fire” by Rage Against the Machine

Jonathan Hernández

Current song: “Así Soy Yo” by Anuel AA and Bad Bunny

OK, when you hear the artist I’m about to recommend, you’re probably going to balk, but just trust me. Ignore the bizarre music video — for this exercise, I mean. It’s very cool, but for now, just hit play, close your eyes and imagine this playing as Hernández leaves the bullpen and trots out to throw triple-digit turbo sinkers past the opposing hitters.

New song: “Army of Me” by Bjork

(Photo of Martín Pérez: Tom Pennington / Getty Images)