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Texas Rangers 2017 preseason profile: Mike Napoli

By Stephen Francis

The much-anticipated return of Texas Rangers first baseman Mike Napoli is one of the offseason's biggest stories. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
The much-anticipated return of Texas Rangers first baseman Mike Napoli is one of the offseason's biggest stories. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports /
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First baseman Napoli returns to the Texas Rangers for his third stint with the team. He brings a great presence to the team for multiple reasons.

The Texas Rangers are quite familiar with the resumé of Mike Napoli and he’s quite familiar with them. Now that he comes back to play a third time for a fanbase that absolutely adores him, his signing brings some great excitement.

What Napoli did in 2016

Napoli played more games last season than any other year in his career. This resulted in more hits, home runs, runs batted in and total bases than he’s had any other year. he clearly had a great offensive season, but there are still some areas of concern.

The first thing that stands out from last season about Napoli is his strikeout total. He whiffed a shocking 194 times in 2016, which rivals only his 2013 season where he struck out 187 times. On the flip-side though, he drew 78 walks, which tied a career high for the 35 year-old. Looking through his career though, there’s a possible explanation for this.

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Napoli worked a full count in 146 plate appearances last season. That was far more than most of his previous ten seasons as a major leaguer. He went down on strikes in 45 of those plate appearances and walked in 46.

So when his chances of striking out or walking were pretty much 50-50, he played it right down the middle. But, keep in mind that Napoli worked the count a lot more last season than he had in years past. This wore down pitchers, which paid dividends for hitters following him in the lineup.

But then, there’s the fact that he hit nine of his career-high 34 home runs on the first pitch of the at bat. So even when he didn’t work the count, he displayed talent as an ambush hitter and batted .426 with a ridiculous 1.046 slugging percentage on the first pitch.

What we’ll see from Napoli in 2017

Without a doubt, Napoli will need to cut down on the amount of times he goes down on strikes this season. If he cuts that number in half, or even by a third, it would make a drastic difference to this Texas Rangers lineup.

Yet, they’ll still need him to work the count. He’s a veteran, though. He typically doesn’t swing at the first pitch unless it’s something he is ready to absolutely crush. This will lead to more first pitches out of the strike zone, leading to more 1-0 counts, where he batted .500 last season and will bat close to that again this year.

He’ll also re-take his role as a clubhouse leader, which is invaluable to a team like this. Napoli’s veteran presence has impacted every team he’s played for. That’s why his teams have made the playoffs eight times in 11 seasons. He and third baseman Adrián Beltré will captain this Rangers dugout and stretch players beyond their limits.

Next: Rangers preseason preview: Jeremy Jeffress

Napoli will also see the benefits again of Globe Life Park where he’s a career .257 hitter with 34 home runs in 177 games in Arlington. He’ll finish 2017 with 30 home runs, 97 runs batted in and a a batting average of .247. He’ll find success working the counts again this year to draw 82 walks and he’ll strike out 150 times. He won’t be perfect, but he’ll be everything the Texas Rangers need him to be. And ultimately, that will be perfect.

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