Opening day is this Monday! It seems like forever for this spring training to end. Every sportswriter in the country has the Rangers picked at best in third place in the AL West. They did the same thing last year and the year before, and the Rangers responded by winning 96 games. Here we are again, and the question is who are the breakout players to take the team there again.
A prime candidate with the highest ceiling would be Roughned Odor. As reported on the official Rangers website: Odor is only beginning to learn how good he can be, although the Rangers were more than satisfied with what he did in 2016. Odor, who turned 23 on Feb. 3, hit .271 with 89 runs scored, 33 doubles, 33 home runs, 88 RBIs and a .502 slugging percentage for the AL West champions.
He led the team in home runs and that seems easy to forget because he is one of the smallest Rangers, he just seems to have those big time games. 2016 was probably his breakout year, but he did lead all second baseman in errors, and he needs more patience at the plate. With a fresh new contract, and fresh new horses to go with it, this guy has a very high probability of being the team leader and leading the way forward.
Nomar Mazara is another player who surprised everyone early but as pitchers figured him out he tended to fade a little down the stretch. Mazara finished 2016 with a .266 average and 20 home runs. He seems to have natural plate discipline. However, he hit .282 pre-Allstar break but only .242 after. As a left-handed hitter he did struggle more against left-handed pitching. One interesting stat is that he hit .308 when batting second in the lineup, and .318 when batting seventh. He seems to have a huge upside and his numbers should be better with a full season of expectations to push him.
Yu Darvish is in the final year of his 5-year contract. Players who are in that situation, plus this is year two in his comeback from Tommy John surgery. Those factors combined raise expectations for him. There is no reason not to expect Darvish to compete for a Cy Young award this year. He now has a career ERA of 3.29 in 76 games with a decision and 645 innings behind him. He has exciting numbers and this should be his year! I wonder if horses would do the trick in getting him to sign a long-term deal. One has to think that the Odor contract has to be a huge boost to team morale just before opening day. On a personal level I am hoping this gets Yu to sign one of those long-term deals too!!!
Matt Bush can be the most dominant player from the bullpen this franchise has ever seen. His fastball is electric, making his off speed pitches un-hitable. Everyone knows of his off the field demons he has overcome, but this kid can flat throw the baseball with speed and control. If the Rangers do make the playoffs he will be the key component to advancing, and I see big things for this young man.
Delino DeShields, came into camp and has led in every statistical category. The flexibility and speed at the top of the lineup and his ability to play anywhere in the outfield can absolutely be a difference maker. This is the guy who the Rangers picked up a couple of years ago in a Rule 5 from the Astros. Ironically, the team has a couple of other players the Astros dumped and make a difference for this team. If he continues to play at the level he has this spring, he might be the MVP of the team.
Those are my five for breakout or dominate years for the Rangers and if the other players just play to their career numbers this will be an exciting season! This is you’re defending AL West Champions, this team has better talent than they did to start last season. I expect great things, and it is so nice going into every year expecting great things. I predict they will be in the hunt all year! Let’s play some baseball and win this whole thing!!!!
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