Looking at the 25 man Rangers playoff roster

Sunday brought tears of happiness and joy to many Rangers fans. When the season began, the Rangers lost Yu Darvish for the year and the first month of baseball was just miserable for the team. But no need to dwell in the dark past, the Rangers are in the playoffs and don’t have to participate in a play in game! As exciting as that is, we still have to play the Toronto Blue Jays who have played exceptionally well since getting David Price and Troy Tulowitzki in trades. But before the series begins, the Rangers have some decisions to make.

Starting with catcher, the Rangers have an interesting decision to make. Chris Giminez and Robinson Chirinos look to be the leaders into getting the starting roles, but Bobby Wilson has made a case for a roster spot especially with Chirinos still not looking 100% recovered from the injury. Giminez has been great defensively and has added some clutch offense to the mix as well. Because of the Rangers deep bench, it also allows for a great pinch hitter for the catcher spot in the seventh or eighth inning.

But let’s talk about the bench for a second. The last week or two of the season, Mike Napoli and Josh Hamilton platooned batting either fifth or sixth in the lineup. Nap has been hitting .364 with 5 home runs against lefties and

Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Hamilton has been hitting a solid .261 with 5 homers and 13 RBIs verse righties. Despite an incredible catch made by Hamilton earlier this week, neither one are very good defensively and the Rangers have successfully put Will Venable in as a defensive replacement in the later innings. That spot alone has 3 players for one position and adding together the catchers that is 5 roster spots taken up. Drew Stubbs is another player that has been coming in as a defensive replacement for Delino Deshields in the later innings and he is also a great pinch runner for fielder or Napoli or one of the catchers.

Here is what the roster will potentially look like:

Lineup:

1B – Moreland

2B – Rougned Odor (Hanser Alberto in case of injury)

SS – Elvis Andrus

3B – Adrian Beltre

DH – Prince Fielder

RF – Shin Soo Choo

CF – Delino Deshields (Drew Stubbs)

LF – Josh Hamilton, Mike Napoli (Will Venable)

C – Chris Giminez, Robinson Chirinos

14 players