Texas Rangers: Predicting the batting lineup of the future
By Cody Smith
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Taveras has long been regarded as the team’s center fielder of the future, and we all finally got to see him in 2020 when he impressed across the board.
His offensive numbers were a little lower than where you want them to be, but they will get better over time, and he is a star on defense.
Taveras will likely have Gold Gloves heading his way in the future, which will pair nicely with Kiner-Falefa, and the next player on this list. The key for Taveras is to develop his offensive game where he can be a real weapon for the team across the board.
RF-Joey Gallo
Gallo has been a staple of the Texas Rangers now for the past four seasons. While he has shown some promise at the plate (2019), he has also seen his struggles there as well (every other season).
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2021 is going to be a very important season for Joey Gallo to find out what kind of offensive player he is after the power and elite eye. If he can make contact like he did in 2019, he will be a force in the heart of the Rangers lineup for years to come, along with his elite, Gold Glove winning defense.
Even if his 2019 offensive production was a lie, his defense is still legit enough where he helps the team by being on the field, even while having horrible offensive numbers. He accumulated a 1.2 WAR in 2020 as a result of terrific defense, even posting a negative oWAR (offense).
Time is certainly running out for Calhoun to show if the 2019 season was legit or a fluke, and he needs to prove himself in 2021 and 2022 to be an Opening Day starter in 2023.
My guess is that he finally starts to turn things around, and does just enough to win the starting job.
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Calhoun projects as a similar hitting to Josh Jung with great contact skills, as he did a good job of putting the ball in play in 2019, but just didn’t get the results anyone wanted. He has the potential to be a .300 hitter with some good power, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can get the best out of himself like he did in 2019, and use it for the future.