Results tagged ‘ Leury Garcia ’
What If Hamilton, Napoli Et Al Were Still Rangers?
I’ll start this out by saying what I’ve said in these pages many a time before: I’m NOT a major proponent of WAR. I understand the concept of it, I just don’t totally agree with it because of the subjectivity of the defensive metrics. I don’t “speak” sabermetrics, but a great sabermetric argument for the way I feel was published today, as a free article, on Baseball Prospectus.
A way I can use WAR, though, would be as a comparison tool that doesn’t involve delving into a lot of different stats. I thought it would be interesting to see, at the 1/4 point of the season, how the Texas Rangers might look, record-wise, had they decided to keep everyone from last year’s Rangers team, instead of adding the pieces they added. To do that, I examined the respective WAR of the departed Rangers to their counterparts from this year’s team.
For this study, I’m using essentially the Texas Rangers team that essentially comprised the Rangers following the July 31st trading deadline.
Here’s how the former Rangers are faring so far in 2013, based on bWAR (via Baseball Reference.com):
Mike Adams (Philadelphia) 0.4
Ryan Dempster (Boston) 0.5
Scott Feldman (Chicago Cubs) 0.8
Josh Hamilton (Los Angeles Angels) -0.6
Mark Lowe (Los Angeles Angels) -0.3
Mike Napoli (Boston) 1.0
Koji Uehara (Boston) 0.5
Michael Young (Philadelphia) 0.3
Roy Oswalt, Mike Olt and Jurickson Profar have not logged any major league time yet in 2013.
Total: 2.9
Now let’s look at this year’s Texas Rangers counterparts:
Jeff Baker 0.7
Lance Berkman 0.6
Jason Frasor 0.0
Leury Garcia 0.1
Derek Lowe 0.0
Leonys Martin 0.7
Joe Ortiz 0.0
A.J. Pierzynski 0.6
Nick Tepesch 0.0
Total: 2.7
The two biggest things that jump out at me: Leonys Martin‘s defense (the subjective part) has led to a much higher WAR figure than I thought, while, of the former Rangers, Ryan Dempster and Scott Feldman have both far exceeded what I most Rangers fans would have expected of them. Overall, the former Rangers out-WAR the current Rangers, but only by .2. If you’d like to extrapolate that to an actual record, WAR suggests the Rangers would be just where they are, at 24-14 or maybe one game better at 25-13, had they just stood pat with last year’s team. Of course, they’d have that record for a significantly higher payroll than they currently have, which would be a discussion for another day.
Two Official New Faces For The Texas Rangers Roster
While there are still two more slots in the bullpen to fill, the Rangers made it official that the roster beginning the regular season on March 31st will contain at least two rookies.
Leury Garcia has won the utility infield position which, outside of the long man in the bullpen, is the most thankless job on the Texas Rangers team. Garcia’s job will be to back up mostly Elvis Andrus. Jeff Baker probably will back up Ian Kinsler at second more than Garcia, since Baker is a proven vet with more pop in his bat. And, since Elvis is a 150 game per season player, Garcia’s biggest problem will be to keep himself fresh and ready for that once every other week appearance in the line-up. The odds are pretty good Garcia will see more action as a pinch-runner than he will in the field.
Meanwhile, rookie Nick Tepesch has officially been named the Rangers’ #5 starter. Tepesch, who has pitched no higher than the AA level, turned some heads this spring. Despite an underwhelming effort his last time out against the Rockies, he showed enough to get the nod over Michael Kirkman. It’s also likely Kirkman is viewed as a more valuable bullpen asset than a starter. Tepesch isn’t needed until an April 9 start against the Rays. The move is also only expected to last for the first two months of the season, unless he pitches at an All-Star caliber. Colby Lewis is expected to return by June, which would push Alexi Ogando into the 5 slot.
Two more rookies still have a shot at getting bullpen slots- lefty Joe Ortiz and righthander Cory Burns.
Having as many as 4 rookies earning spots on the team is a contradiction to the supposition that Ron Washington is biased against rookies. I’ve never believed it to be true. Almost any manager will shy away from rookies when the championship window is open, as it has been for the Rangers the past few years. In 2013, with expectations perhaps a little bit lower, Wash is more open to give inexperienced players like Garcia, Tepesch, Ortiz, Burns and Leonys Martin more of a shot. I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ll respond to the opportunity.
Related articles
- Rangers clear way for Nick Tepesch to be No. 5 starter (sportsblogs.star-telegram.com)
- Derek Lowe is the Rangers’ long man (sportsblogs.star-telegram.com)
Prospecting
Most Spring Training exhibition games are worth listening to the first four or five innings. The starters are in for a few innings, the pitchers you expect to be on the team are getting their innings in.
By the fifth inning or so, only the diehards tend to stick around, as the line-ups become more of the minor leaguers who have no chance of making the team this year. Some of them you’ve never heard of, even though you tend to glance at minor league box scores on a regular basis. So I’m sorry Johan Yan, I’m not paying much attention to you right now. Same goes for you, Juan Apodaca. I admit I didn’t even know you were a part of the Rangers organization when you came to the plate yesterday.
Today’s exhibition game with the White Sox is a little different, though. There are only two Rangers regulars in the starting offensive line-up today- Nelson Cruz and Geovany Soto. Despite that, this game has my interest and I wish I could be at the game in person to watch.
Mike Olt – Texas – 2012 Batting Practice (Photo credit: BaseballBacks)
Jurickson Profar – Texas – 2012 Road (Photo credit: BaseballBacks)
Why? Because the starting line-up has all four of the players who have a real shot at making the Opening Day roster. Mike Olt at third base, Leonys Martin in center field, Jurickson Profar at shortstop and Leury Garcia at second base. Of the four, Martin is the best bet at sticking and most expect him to platoon with Craig Gentry in centerfield in 2013. Garcia is the second best bet, whose versatility make him a strong possibility for a utility role. Profar and Olt are the two best offensive prospects overall, but unless a trade or an injury occurs (or Nelson Cruz is suspended), it’s becoming unlikely there’ll be enough at bats available to justify putting them on the major league roster. Instead, they will more than likely start 2013 in Round Rock.
Still, having all four in the starting line-up today is exciting. All but Martin have reputations as good defensive players. All but Olt have speed on the basepaths. They’re all scouted to be decent to above average bats.
The best I’ll be able to do today is listen, and my work schedule may not even allow me to do that. If you happen to be able to see this game or listen to it, please do. The first few innings could be a taste of the future of the Texas Rangers franchise.
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