Texas Rangers: How Did The Young Core Do In 2019?

At the beginning of the season for the Texas Rangers, Joey Gallo, Normar Mazara, and Rougned Odor were identified as the three young players that would carry the team out of the retooling stage.

For the three youngsters for the Texas Rangers, they were hoping that the trio would all see a significant improvement from 2018 to 2019, and each player separated himself from the others.

We start with the emergence of Joey Gallo…

Joey Gallo

Entering the season, most were expecting Joey Gallo to be similar to what he was in 2017 and 2018, where he was essentially a home run or bust player with over 400 strikeouts, 81 home runs, and a .208 batting average in 293 games.

Instead, Gallo came out in the first half of the season on fire. Prior to the All-Star break, Gallo was sensational, hitting .275 with 20 home runs in 61 games, and a .417 on base percentage, which earned him his first career All-Star Game appearance.

It was a terrific breakout season for Gallo, but unfortunately he was only limited to 70 games due to injuries, causing him to miss most of the second half of the season. Thanks to his first half of the season, it appears as if Joey Gallo has the makings to be more than just an all or nothing player, and the potential to be a cornerstone piece for a franchise for the foreseeable future.

Nomar Mazara

The Texas Rangers entered 2019 hoping that Nomar Mazara would have a breakout season for the third straight season. Unfortunately for both parties, it was more of the same.

At times, Mazara looked like a player that should be in the minors, while at other times he showed his vast potential, and what could be if he can ever find a way to get there. When Mazara is hot, he can easily play at a MVP level, but the other side of the spectrum is pretty brutal for Maz…

As a result of his inconsistencies, he has been just a slightly above average player, that has really just been a replacement level player throughout his four years, and has never hit over 20 home runs, or above .270.

The Rangers may look to trade Mazara this off-season to see if a team believes they can help him reach his potential, but if not, 2020 will most definitely determine whether or not Mazara if worth keeping around or not, due to the team’s logjam of corner outfielders/designated hitters.

Rougned Odor

Perhaps the player that gets the most talk of this group. Rougie’s career has been… interesting. In his first three seasons, he hit .265, and added power to his game each season. Then in 2017, he became a home run or bust player and was horrible over the course of the year, posting maybe one of the worst seasons in MLB history for someone who played all 162 games.

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2018 seemed like it was going to be another struggle, as he hit .239 before the All-Star break, before turning it on in the second half of the season that included him hitting .341 in June, on his way to a solid .253 batting average.

In 2019, Odor reverted back to his 2017 ways, struggling for most of the season, which has resulted in him being on the hot seat for if he will even be a starter in 2020. He did show signs of life in July and September, when he hit above .260, but it’s pretty hard to rebound from three different months of hitting below .175.

For 2020, Odor’s situation is similar to Mazara’s, except his seat is much hotter, as both players have struggled to find consistency, and tend to spend times of the season either playing really well, or really bad, which frustrates not only the fans, but the coaches, and front office as well.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the three players that the Texas Rangers were hoping will eventually become their core is still intact, but it is much cloudier today than it was this time last year, due to the lack of improvement from Mazara and Odor.

Next. How soon do the Rangers plan to contend?. dark

Gallo took the necessary steps in 2019 to become a core player in the future, but he can’t do it all by himself. He is going to need some teammates to step up. Fortunately for him, and the Rangers, they have a plethora of young players that can step up and are eager to become part of the core in Willie Calhoun and Nick Solak, if Mazara and Odor are never able to take the next steps in their development.

Published on 10/14/2019 at 12:45 PM
Last updated at 10/14/2019 at 11:18 AM

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