Texas Rangers Have One Important Spot in Opening Day Lineup Still Up for Grabs

The last few weeks of spring training will determine the biggest positional battle the Texas Rangers still have to decide.

Apr 6, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Evan Carter (32) runs the bases to score during the second inning against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field. / Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers look poised to bounce back in a big way during the 2025 season after an incredibly disappointing 2024 campaign.

Injuries and ineffectiveness marred their World Series defense. The team won only 78 games and wasn’t even able to defend their title in October, missing the postseason altogether.

As things currently stand, they are in a great position to return to the rank of contender with the moves that were made this offseason to reinforce their roster.

But, even the teams who look to have the most complete rosters have a thing or two to still figure out with a few weeks remaining in spring training.

For the Rangers, their biggest positional battle remaining, in the opinion of Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, is for the starting spot in center field.

Texas is set in right field with former American League Gold Glove Award winner and two-time All-Star Adolis Garcia and in left field with emerging young star Wyatt Langford. Who they will be flanking is yet to be decided, as Evan Carter and Leody Tavares are still both in the running.

This isn’t a situation in which one player will be cut if they don’t win the starting job. As Landry noted, they will still be on the Opening Day roster but as a bench player.

“Both are natural center fielders, but they are also capable of playing all three outfield positions if necessary as the fourth outfielder,” they wrote.

For the last three years it has been Tavares manning center field. His hold on the job will come down to whether or not he can hit enough.

In his career, which has spanned 1,743 plate appearances to this point, he has been a below-average hitter with an 86 OPS+. He does offer a little bit of pop with double-digit home runs in back-to-back years and speed on the base paths with at least 10 stolen bases in four straight campaigns.

But until he shows that he can produce regularly with the bat, holding down a full-time starting job will be difficult.

Carter burst onto the scene in 2023 as one of the top prospects in baseball.

He lived up to the lofty billing right away with a .306/.413/.645 slash line across 75 plate appearances and didn’t slow down in the postseason.

For that stretch he was playing left field alongside Tavares. With Langford now locked into that spot, he is competing for the everyday job in center.

A nagging back injury derailed his 2024 campaign and he has a lot to prove heading into 2025. He exhibited the best hitting stretch at the Major League level between the two thus far, which could end up getting him the starting nod.

Regardless of who starts, you can be sure that both Tavares and Carter will play important roles in the team’s success throughout the season.

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