Stock Up: Three Rangers Making Their Case For Jobs Next Spring

As a year of evaluation comes to a close in a few weeks, three Texas Rangers are making their final case for spots on the 2022 roster.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Sep 6, 2021 5:13 PM EDT

Unless the Texas Rangers finish their season 15-11, they'll be on their way to their first 100-loss season since 1973. It's been a year of evaluation for one of the youngest teams in Major League Baseball, and the Rangers need to figure out who they have internally that can be part of the next contending core in Arlington.

Jobs for 2022 won't be won or lost in September 2021, but players can raise their stock in the eyes of manager Chris Woodward, general manager Chris Young and president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. Even though the Rangers can only do so much in terms of wins and losses come October 3, players can make their case for jobs when the club looks to improve next season.

It's only September 6, but three players have stood out over the past couple of weeks, making themselves intriguing cases for the final month of the season.

DJ Peters

Don't let the .207/.234/.474/.708 slash line fool you. DJ Peters is making a name for himself amongst players vying for a spot in the outfield in 2022.

With the eye-popping power, strong arm and highlight reel catches in the outfield, Peters has been compared to former Rangers slugger Joey Gallo. Peters is not nearly as seasoned as Gallo is currently, but the two share similar qualities from when Gallo first came up to the big leagues.

However, Chris Woodward doesn't necessarily believe Peters is on the same trajectory as Gallo.

“There’s a lot more bat-to-ball there than just a true homer-or-nothing,” Woodward said. “I like the sequencing of his swings and his hands. He’s made a lot of adjustments in games. He knows he’s going to get pitched a certain way. I’ve always said he has natural adjustability to off-speed pitches, whereas a lot of those guys don’t.”

The Rangers have worked with Peters on his swing mechanics, which include a lot of "long levers", as hitting coach Luis Ortiz describes it. However, Peters has completely bought in to the changes, and most importantly, he doesn't allow the results to affect his psyche. That's a mental toughness that is hard to find in young players.

With some of those changes at the plate producing results in the past seven games — four home runs with a 1.182 OPS to be exact — Peters is forcing his name into consideration next spring.

Taylor Hearn

The Rangers are going to need pitching in 2022, and Taylor Hearn is making a strong case for the starting rotation next spring.

Entering the 2021 season, Hearn won a spot in a piggyback role, pitching behind Dane Dunning, who has been on an innings limit this year. Amid a number of struggles, Hearn pitched in different roles through the first half of the season. On June 22, he earned an opportunity to start against the Oakland Athletics. However, it did not go well, as Hearn was unable to close out the first inning before being charged with four runs in 2/3 inning.

Hearn bounced back with a vengeance and earned his way back into a multiple-inning role. Then, Chris Woodward rewarded him with another chance to start, and Hearn hasn't looked back since.

"Taylor is probably one of our biggest bright spots of the year," said Woodward on August 29. "Just everything that he's done, coming into the year not being a starter but pitching really well. Just his composure that I talk about a lot, his demeanor, you feel like he belongs. He's got confidence. He's throwing the ball with a ton of conviction.

"There's been a maturity to Taylor. He's always wanted to start, and now he's getting the opportunity."

Since that start against Oakland, Hearn has a 2.61 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and .199 batting average against in 48 1/3 innings (15 appearances, six starts). The most important thing for Hearn is the drastic cut down on walks, issuing only 2.4 walks per nine innings (BB/9) during this span. Before that, his BB/9 was 5.3. League average this season is 3.3.

Hearn has done a lot of growing up in 2021. He switched to pitching exclusively out of the stretch and added a sinker midseason that gave him more confidence to attack hitters in the strike zone.

Hearn could flirt with 100 innings this season, which paves the way for an uptick in workload next season. If his form on the mound holds, he could conceivably give the Rangers 150 innings out of the rotation next season. But as the Rangers skipper has carefully put with a lot of his younger players, "he's gotta earn that."

Leody Taveras

2021 has not been kind to Leody Taveras whatsoever. Regression from a promising debut in 2020 was expected, but Taveras didn't make it past April 23 before he was demoted to Triple-A Round Rock after posting an abysmal .087/.160/.087/.247 slash line.

But Taveras worked on his issues at the plate in Round Rock, slashing .245/.343/.475/.818 in 87 games. Primarily, he had to work on being more selective at the plate. He got into bad habits at the big league level, trying to do too much while expanding the strike zone. When Taveras is on the bases, he is always a threat — it doesn't matter if he reaches via base hit or walk.

When he was recalled a couple of weeks ago, Taveras was unable to carry over his success from Triple A. Chris Woodward hoped he would be able to, but he saw the same guy who was trying to do too much and was caught in between decisions at the plate. His confidence was slipping, therefore his conviction at the plate was lacking.

However, the dam broke for Taveras on August 30 against Colorado. He doubled in his first at-bat of the night, then followed with a no-doubt home run the next time he was up. Prior to that night, Taveras was 0-for-19. From that night on, Taveras has slashed .333/.360/.708/1.068 with two home runs, four RBI and three stolen bases in six games.

"It's baseball," Woodward said after the game against Colorado. "Being a former hitter, I know exactly how that feels. Listen, I know he's been working on a lot of things since we sent him down. Like I said, when you don't have conviction in the batter's box, good hitters don't look good. So for him to get off the snide a little bit and get a hit, then hit another ball hard, hit a homer, it makes him come to the field a little [easier]. He sleeps a little better that night. The food tastes a little better. Then he comes the next day with a little bit of confidence."

It's obviously a very small sample size, but since that game on August 30, Taveras has played with confidence and conviction — maybe more so than anyone else on the team (although DJ Peters might have something to say about that). Couple the offensive production with the elite-level defense Taveras plays in center field, and it's easy to see why the Rangers believe the 22-year-old can be an impact player.

If Taveras can finish the season strong at the plate, he could be in line for a crack at the Opening Day spot in center field once again. Only this time, Taveras will be much more seasoned and have a better grasp on what it takes to stick in the big leagues.