Rangers Recap: The Good and the Not So Good From April
ARLINGTON, Texas — The first month of the Major League Baseball season has come to an end. Like most people expected, the Texas Rangers sit at the bottom of the American League West with a record of 11-16. The Rangers' .407 win percentage is the second-worst in the A.L., and third-worst in MLB.
The 2021 season was never going to be about wins and losses. If you ask anyone on the Rangers, they're trying to win every single game. They take it personally when they lose. However, this season is all about player growth and seeing what the Rangers have internally as they begin to establish a core that can compete in the future.
While one month is far too small a sample size to make any finalities with any player, we can still go back and see what went well, what went wrong, and what to keep our eyes on as the calendar rolls over to May.
This surely doesn't encapsulate the entire month, but highlights some of the biggest issues from April.
The Good
1. Nick Solak looks like a ballplayer — and no, not because he wears his socks high now. Through 27 games, Solak is slashing .293/.375/.535 (.910 OPS) with a team-high seven home runs and 14 RBI.
That's an All-Star player.
The defensive metrics don't love Solak, as he currently owns a -0.3 defensive bWAR. However, Solak looks like an improved defender at second base. He still needs a lot of work around the bag and turning the double play, but if he hits anything close to what he's done in April, the Rangers will gladly take the trade-off.
2. It's not time to overreact just yet, but Nate Lowe sure looks like he could become the first baseman this team has needed for a long time. Lowe began the year on a blistering tear and has since cooled off. However, he remains a productive bat in the middle of the order, slashing .277/.360/.485 (.845 OPS) with six home runs and is second in the A.L. with 22 RBI.
Lowe isn't the defender that Ronald Guzmán is at first base, but he seems like a much more polished and controlled hitter. The Rangers will gladly take that.
3. Adolis García burst onto the scene with five home runs in his first 10 games and earned A.L. Player of the Week honors for April 19-25. Like Lowe, he has since cooled off as the league took notice and began to adjust to him.
However, there is a lot of intrigue around García. His talent level is off the charts, not only at the plate, but in the field as well. This is the year to see if the Rangers potentially struck gold with a potential late-bloomer like García. He's 28 years old and still has his rookie status intact. He's earned a longer look while prospects like Leody Taveras put the finishing touches on their development as the Triple-A season begins.
4. In a vacuum, Kyle Gibson looks like an ace. His big league career to this point says otherwise, but outside of a train wreck on Opening Day, Gibson has dominated.
Through six starts, Gibson is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA (eight ER in 33 1/3 innings) with 11 walks, 27 strikeouts, and a 1.14 WHIP. Since his 1/3-inning, five-run start on Opening Day, Gibson has a 0.82 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and the opposition is batting only .195 against him.
That is pure domination.
While Gibson did add a cutter to his repertoire that has helped him attack hitters, his sinker-slider combination is as effective as ever. Who knows how long Gibson can keep this up. Is this the new normal? Or did Gibson just have a hot month?
Some Good, Some Bad
The Rangers currently rank 11th in the AL and 23rd in MLB in bullpen ERA. However, there are a few arms that have done very, very well. John King, Kolby Allard, and Joely Rodríguez have become go-to options for manager Chris Woodward as of late. Hyeon-jong Yang only has two appearances, but both were impressive 4 1/3-inning outings that saved the bullpen after a rough start.
Josh Sborz and Rule 5 pick Brett de Geus have also looked good more often than not. In addition, Ian Kennedy looks more like the guy that recorded 30 saves for the Kansas City Royals in 2019.
The Rangers bullpen enters Saturday night having pitched 19 consecutive scoreless innings. They are definitely trending in the right direction.
The Not So Good
1. Leody Taveras was thought to be the everyday centerfielder as far back as the end of last season. However, he didn't even make it until the start of the Triple-A season on May 4 to get demoted.
Outside of a .087/.160/.087 (.247 OPS) slash line, the most alarming thing about Taveras was a wild approach and inability to control the strike zone. Throughout his professional career, that's something he's always been able to do. Warning signs were seen as far back as his big league debut last year, but they were especially evident in April.
Taveras will get the chance to finish off his development with the minor league season set to begin next week.
2. Kohei Arihara looked like a quality No. 5 starter in his first four starts. However, his advanced metrics were lacking, and they reared their ugly head in his past two starts.
In his previous two outings, Arihara has combined for 4 2/3 innings with 11 earned runs allowed. Concerns about pitch-tipping arose with his start in Chicago against the White Sox, and his velocity dipped in Friday night's loss to Boston.
Things have escalated so quickly, Chris Woodward and the Rangers are seriously considering moving back his starts in case the uptick in his workload is wearing him down too quickly. Big league starters typically pitch on four-days rest. In Japan, they pitch once per week.
Whether it's fatigue, pitch-tipping, or a drop in velocity, stuff and control, there are many concerns with Arihara right now.
3. The two pitchers that earned jobs as piggybacks in the two tandem spots in the rotation, Wes Benjamin and Taylor Hearn, lost their jobs before the calendar rolled over to May. Benjamin was demoted to the alternate training site, and Hearn's usage has gone down after "easing into" too many outings.
With the emergence of King, Allard, Sborz, and de Geus in the bullpen, who knows when each pitcher will get the opportunity to fight for more innings.
4. I hate to put Joey Gallo on this part of the list, especially considering he reached base successfully in the first 23 games he played. However, the extra-base production remains a concern. He only has three extra-base hits (two home runs, one double) through the first month of the season. And despite a high .409 on-base percentage, his OPS is just .710.
Gallo made adjustments to stay more on top of the ball to hit more line drives and not pop it up as much. However, he is struggling with a lot of swing-and-miss in the strike zone. He leads all of baseball with 40 strikeouts, which is on pace to set a career-high.
I believe the power is still there. His two home runs have been absolute rockets. But it's not outlandish to be concerned about missing pitches in the zone. He does a great job laying off pitches out of the zone. If he can damage pitchers when they have to come back in the zone, he'll be the best version of Gallo we've ever seen.
READ MORE: Rangers Troubled as Arihara's Issues Worsen
READ MORE: Rangers' Chris Woodward Calls For Change to Catcher Interference Rule
READ MORE: 'I Trust Him Against Anybody': Allard, King Helping Reverse Rangers' Bullpen Struggles
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