Leody Taveras is showing that he can play baseball. Those that have watched him for a long time already knew that.
His slash line is .362/.393/.600/.993 with 4 home runs, 16 RBI and 5 stolen bases. He is on fire right now.
Leody also has the most at bats on the team in 2022 (105). Everyone already knows that his defense is above average. His offense is looking great so far as well.
So that begs the question: Who would he replace on the Rangers current roster? The easy answer would be Zak Reks, but he has been playing pretty well in his time with the big club.
New Merch!!
Everyone is clamoring for Kole Calhoun to be DFA’s. He is going to get more time because of his veteran status. Adolis Garcia is struggling some, but probably not enough to induce the team to send him down.
Eli White would be another option, he and Leody both share the speed aspect of the game. Eli hasn’t really done anything to deserve being sent down though.
The problem is, if you were to put Kole Calhoun in AAA for some reason, he would probably hit about the same as Leody. AAA pitching is not the same as Major League pitching.
So that leaves Reks or White. Zak looked good at Round Rock earlier this season, and White would probably also clean up AAA pitching. Willie Calhoun is not exactly lighting the world on fire there yet though.
So what does all my bloviating mean? I believe that we will see Leody Tavares in the majors by the beginning of June. Especially if he continues cleaning up at Round Rock.
The Rangers know what they have in Eli White, so I would guess that he will be the one to get sent down and Reks would stay up. The Rangers would want Leody to play center, he would be their best option.
It would be interesting to see what they do with Adolis at that time. Would he become a full time left fielder or would they put Leody and Reks platooning in left?
Also, Kole Calhoun could DH more and Adolis could move to right. Any way the Texas Rangers choose to do it, Tavares will be in Arlington sooner rather than later.
