Texas Rangers 2017 preseason profile: Delino DeShields
After a great rookie season with the Texas Rangers in 2015, DeShields slipped a bit last season. Now he’s ready to prove that was a fluke.
While he didn’t necessarily light the world on fire, Texas Rangers outfielder Delino DeShields played solid baseball in his rookie season. He finished seventh in American League Rookie of the Year voting and entered 2016 as a shoo-in to start in the outfield. Now one year later, he finds himself fighting just to make the roster.
What happened to DeShields last season
Many things went right for DeShields as a rookie. He hit well, he hit often and he found a groove batting leadoff. But that wasn’t the case last season. His production dropped immensely and by May he found himself back in AAA.
DeShields began striking out way more often, raising his strikeout percentage from 20.5% to 26.6% and his strikeout-to-walk ratio raised from 1.91 to 3.6. He also saw drops in his line drive percentage and in-play percentage while his at bats per strikeout and walk percentage numbers dropped. To make a long story short, he just stopped playing with the intensity he showed as a rookie.
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After a demotion to Round Rock in May, he came back in July. But he never won back his everyday starting job after that. He platooned a bit throughout the final four months, but he came in late and finished games far more often than he started them.
By the end of the year, he saw his batting average drop to .209, his OBP to .275 and his SLG down to just .313. To put those numbers in perspective, the game’s 11 best batting averages last season all finished above his season-long slugging percentage. Thus, offseason expectations sunk and DeShields became an afterthought.
What happened to DeShields in the offseason
With a new outlook on his career, the 24 year-old broke camp with the Rangers 30 pounds under his previous weight. He told Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer Stefan Stevenson that he’s taken up yoga, among other things to improve his health and get back into shape.
If his spring numbers are any indication, it’s helped. He’s currently batting .275 with a .413 on base percentage. While he is only slugging .294, his biggest improvement has come in his ability to work counts.
Through 66 spring training plate appearances, he has 12 strikeouts and 12 walks. DeShields appears to be seeing the ball better this spring and has gotten back to what made him an everyday player in 2015: his speed.
In 21 Cactus League games, DeShields has 11 stolen bases and has yet to be thrown out. While that kind of pace probably won’t hold up in the regular season, it’s at least legitimized the work he did this offseason.
What will happen to DeShields in the regular season
In his own eyes, as well as the eyes of many Texas Rangers fans, DeShields has something to prove this season. He may not find himself starting as often as 2015, as he sits behind some great everyday outfielders.
The future for DeShields will hinge on what happens with Jurickson Profar and Nomar Mazara. Those two stand in the way of his chances for everyday play in the outfield.
DeShields won’t out-power either of them, but he can certainly play defense better. With his speed and range, he gets to more line drives and fly balls than they can on average. Plus, his ability as a better baserunner gives him a leg-up. (Yes, that pun was completely intended)
As a platoon outfielder, DeShields will get a handful of starts and see a lot of late inning work as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. It’s imperative that he makes the most of those opportunities and I’m of the opinion that he will.
By season’s end, he’ll amass about 57 games played and will have started in around 40 of them. He’ll collect roughly 25 stolen bases and his batting average will raise significantly to around .270. DeShields won’t hit many home runs, and frankly, he shouldn’t. That’s not his job.
Next: Rangers preview: Nomar Mazara
He’ll get on base at a clip of about .395 and will raise his walk percentage to a nice 15%. His strikeout percentage will drop a bit to around 22%. If all goes according to plan, 2017 will be a nice turnaround season for DeShields.