Rangers Call Up Veteran Hitter Ahead of Friday Night Matchup

The Texas Rangers are shaking things up at the top of their lineup on Friday by calling up this veteran switch hitter.

Mar 5, 2024; Peoria, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners outfielder Sam Haggerty against the Texas Rangers during a spring training baseball game at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports | Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers are shifting things around at the top of their lineup, as the team announced they are calling up veteran hitter Sam Haggerty ahead of their pivotal Friday night matchup against the Detroit Tigers.

Haggerty, who signed a minor league deal with the Rangers ahead of the 2025 season, will take the leadoff spot for the Rangers on Friday after having a very productive start to the season at Triple-A Round Rock.

The 30-year-old has hit .313 with one home run, one triple, two doubles and 12 RBI across 22 games so far, and has also been a force on the base paths by swiping seven bags.

The team also announced that they are sending down struggling outfielder Dustin Harris as the corresponding move.

Rangers transactions for Friday:

-OF Sam Haggerty (#0) contract selected from Round Rock (AAA).
-OF Dustin Harris optioned to Round Rock (AAA).

— Texas Rangers PR (@TXRangersPR) May 9, 2025

This shuffle comes as Texas desperately tries to find some consistency at the plate after getting off to a very poor start to the season offensively. Just about every hitter in the lineup has underperformed to this point, and as such, the team has been unable to string together many wins.

Manger Bruce Bocy will now turn to Haggerty in the hopes that he is the missing piece his club needs to jumpstart the bats.

The production is there at the Triple-A level, and Haggerty does posses a decent amount of experience against MLB pitching, so it's not like this is a blind-faith move.

It will be interesting to see if Haggerty can provide the boost the Rangers nee at the top of the lineup.