A little bit about the new infielder Tommy Field

The Texas Rangers recently acquired former Los Angeles Angels infielder Tommy Field.  After the huge injury mess the Rangers suffered last season it really isn’t a surprise that they are trying to reload in the minors.  It seemed like at one point last season that the Texas Rangers was mainly comprised of minor league players from Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.

Tommy Field is probably an unknown to most fans, including myself.  Even though he played for the Angels during the 2013 season I don’t recall hearing his name at all, but if the Rangers are picking him up there must be some value to him.

Here’s a little bit about Thomas Field.  He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies during the 2008 amateur draft in the 24th round and is a native Texan.   During the 2011 Baseball America named Tommy Field the Best Defensive Infielder prospect for the Colorado Rockies.  He made his major league debut with the Rockies on September 11, 2011 at the age of 24 years old.  During his short season with the Rockies he had a batting line of .271/.314/.271/.585.

During the 2012 season he only appeared in 2 games and most of his time in Triple-A where he had a batting line of .246/.315/.400 of 494 plate-appearances as the team’s shortstop.  After the 2012 season Field was claimed by the Minnesota Twins from the Rockies and just 4 weeks later was claimed by the Angels. By now he had only appeared in 18 major league games in his career and some wondered what impact he would have with the Angels.  Would he make it to their big league roster or just float around Double-A and Triple-A.

While with the Angels he was recalled a few times during the season, but only appeared in a few games during the 2013 season.  He did do well in Triple-A that season having one of his best seasons with a batting line of .303/.391/.484/.875, but he couldn’t bring that to majors that season.  He had a batting line of .154/.185/.154/.339 with 7 strikeouts with the Angels.

He was placed on waivers by the Angels and was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in August 2014 and was later granted free-agency by the Pirate in November.

Now that he’s with the Rangers he’l likely be with the Triple-A Round Rock to start the season.  He has shown in the past he is a good middle-infielder and has a decent bat in the minors, but he probably will only be playing on the major league level if players need time off or are injured.  His minor league offensive numbers while with the Angels do look good, but the Pacific League typically has inflated offensive numbers, meaning now that he’s in the Texas League his batting average could go down.

The Rangers might see something others don’t in Tommy Field and he just might be able to turn things around in Texas.  I hope the best for him and hope he does succeed with the Rangers.