Texas Rangers: Robinson Chirinos has a severe case of the all or nothings

Robinson Chirinos has given the Texas Rangers all or nothing results in 2018. This is not an oddity for him, though, the case is a bit more extreme now than in the past.

The Texas Rangers are known to have a few all or nothing hitters, most prominently Joey Gallo. However, it’s the Texas catcher, Robinson Chirinos, that takes the cake as the team’s most notable all or nothing hitter thus far in 2018. Heck, he may even be the most notable all or nothing hitter in all of baseball.

The MLB has become an all or nothing league. Home runs are at an all-time high, as are strikeouts. The Three True Outcomes statistic, assessing the number of strikeouts, home runs, and walks for a player, has taken over as a legitimate evaluation of a player’s productivity. No longer does batting average and OBP carry as much weight. Rather, everyone just digs the long ball.

Robinson Chirinos has six home runs in 77 at-bats this season. In addition, he has five walks, five doubles, and 34 strikeouts. Out of Chirinos’ 14 hits, only three of them are singles. His numbers are startling, stunning and disappointing all at once.

Let’s compare Chirinos to a couple of Bronx Bombers for some perspective. Few players scream all or nothing more than Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. According to Fangraphs, Aaron Judge currently has a K% of 30.5, a BB% of 19.5, and an ISO (Slugging % – batting average) of .267. Giancarlo Stanton has a 33.6 K%, 9.4 BB% and .195 ISO. Lastly, Robinson Chirinos owns a 38.6 K%, 5.7 BB%, and .299 ISO.

Aside from Judge’s BB%, all three players are similar in the statistical categories. Though, Judge separates himself with a .317 batting average, a .453 OBP and a .446 BABIP.

The point is, Chirinos does not necessarily thrive in the Three True Outcomes stat, due to his few number of walks. Nor is he considered an offensive threat in the likes of Judge or Stanton. Regardless, if Chirinos connects, there’s a good chance the ball is headed to the gap or over the fence. For this reason, he continues to be in the lineup almost everyday.

It helps that his hits have been timely. Chirinos was the sole offensive contributor in the game in which the Texas Rangers earned a win against Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros. Chirinos had a go ahead home run and double in that game. He also contributed greatly to a win in Toronto, a game in which he hit two homers. And he had a go ahead home run in yesterday’s game against Trevor Bauer in the 7th inning. That lead was short-lived, but you get the point.

Next: Texas Rangers April Report Card

It’s not always easy to watch Robinson Chirinos at the plate; however, the long time Texas Rangers catcher always seems to provide his version of a spark. He’s a team player that Jeff Banister loves to have in the game. As long as Chirinos continues to hit home runs and drive runners in, his all or nothing outcomes will be welcome.