Isiah Kiner-Falefa Could Be the Next Shortstop for the Texas Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers were pummeled by the Seattle Mariners in Monday night's series opener by a score of 10-2. Four of those runs came on a Kyle Seager grand slam—the first in the history of Globe Life Field.
Because...who else? The Ranger killer.
It's difficult to find positives in a good ol' fashioned butt-whoopin' at the hands of one of your division rivals. One nice story is Taylor Hearn making his second Major League appearance—his first since his catastrophic Major League debut that led to arm issues that shut him down for all of 2019.
"He’s been waiting a long time for this, since last year," Rangers manger Chris Woodward said. "It’s a work-in-progress, but I thought the ball was coming out of his hand good. It was 95-96 from the left side. I thought that was encouraging to see. That was a tough spot for him. The game was tight when he came in. That’s a tough spot for a young kid. That part of the lineup is where I wanted to put him in—give him a couple lefties to maximize the pitches he can throw those guys. I thought he did fine. He should be happy with that.”
The Rangers might have also found the heir to Elvis Andrus at shortstop in Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Kiner-Falefa forced his way into the Rangers' lineup with his bat. Now he's cementing his place in the infield with his glove.
Kiner-Falefa made three spectacular defensive plays at third base on Monday night—plays that rival the game's best defensive third basemen.
"It was business as usual for him," Woodward said. "We have seen him make that play a number of times. I think he has taken five doubles away this year. His athleticism. He is playing a pretty good third base right now."
Who knows if he could be the long-term solution for the Rangers at shortstop. It could be him or prospects like Anderson Tejeda in the next couple of years or Maximo Acosta in several years. But Kiner-Falefa's glove and athleticism gives the Rangers the ability to have an elite defender at second base, third base, or shortstop.
Kiner-Falefa's bat plays more like a middle infielder. His athleticism also fits that mold as well. That athleticism was on full display with his third highlight of the night, running down a pop up in foul territory and catching it on the run. It's a very difficult play to make and Kiner-Falefa made it look relatively easy.
The Rangers have some looming decisions with Rougned Odor and Elvis Andrus. Neither one are providing anything at the plate. Kiner-Falefa is producing much more offensively and—call this a knee-jerk reaction—he may have passed both of them as a defender.
The Rangers are trying everything they can to get Odor and Andrus going. Andrus said earlier on Monday he believes there's more of the 2016-17 Elvis left in the tank. Woodward continues to praise Odor's work ethic. But results are ultimately what matter and a 60-game season demands quicker hooks for struggling players.
For right now, Kiner-Falefa's versatility is relegated to more of an emergency situation. There's no word of Andrus or Odor heading for the bench just quite yet. If things don't change quickly, the Rangers may have to make a difficult decision with two players under contract past 2020.
"We didn't go out and target other players at those positions in large part because of the commitments that we've made to them," Rangers GM Jon Daniels said of Andrus and Odor. "But I think in season, especially in this kind of a year this is, who gives us the best chance to win and as Woody said in the past to try to get guys out there that are productive and play the hot hand so competitions is plus and the more the better.
The Rangers have players now that can challenge for playing time. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is one. New signee Derek Dietrich is another. Danny Santana is making his way back from injury.
Kiner-Falefa needs to give the Rangers a larger sample size to gain the trust of being "the guy" at shortstop. But right now, he's making the other two look bad.
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