Texas Rangers: Everyone Is Winning This Experiment

Sometime in baseball and in life you swing and miss and other times you swing and belt the ball into another zip code. The Texas Rangers swung by taking a chance signing a talented Shortstop who wanted to make the move to the outfield, they hit the leather off of that ball.

Yes, I had to use that cheesy baseball/life phrase above. Let’s go back to the beginning of the 2016 season when the Texas Rangers didn’t have a left-fielder on their roster.It was believed they may attempt to sign OF Austin Jackson who would be an instant starter in the outfield and would provide good numbers at the plate.

That didn’t happen, instead GM Jon Daniels got the Texas Rangers owner to open their checkbook and sign a shortstop. Wait, we have Elvis Andrus and Jurickson Profar who are both above average at that position so why make that move? Well, they signed an athlete who had always dreamed of playing OF in the major leagues. That’s right a team thought to be a champion contender was going to toss a shortstop into the outfield and roll with that.

This experiment worked and has actually been the best thing for the Texas Rangers in 2016. With 18 games left in the 2016 regular season, Ian Desmond has put up phenomenal numbers for the Texas Rangers. Desmond has played in the most games for the Rangers with 141 at this point. He has a accumalated 164 hits during 569 at bats with a batting average of .288. He has become the first Ranger since 2012 to score over 100 runs in a season.

His 29 doubles are tied with Rougned Odor of the team lead and his 20 stolen bases puts him just 1 behind Elvis Andrus for the team lead in that category. Let’s finish up this impressive presentation pointing out he is tied with Rougned Odor with 82 RBIs, a stat that puts him just behind Adrian Beltre who has 96.

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Now all of those stats are just what he displays at the plate, let’s talk about his defense. While he originally was signed to predominately play LF, he has since made the move to CF. His adjustment in the field hasn’t been seamless and still has moments when a mishap occurs but he has been a solid fields. As a fan, you can tell that his favorite part of playing CF is anytime he gets to try and throw a runner out at any base.

His pure athletic ability has allowed this experiment to be a success but ultimately his best attribute has been his attitude. Anytime you hear him talk, he picks the right things to say and carries himself the same way. Just adding an individual like this to the clubhouse could boost moral and that is evident that occurred for the Texas Rangers.

Next: Texas Rangers: To Rest Or Continue To Build Momentum

The Texas Rangers benefitted greatly by taking a chance on Ian Desmond. It appears that they will have heavy competition trying to re-sign him in the offseason as he may be the most sought after free agent on the market. No matter what happens, he has been another successful move that the Texas Rangers have made in this magical season.