Texas Rangers: Four reasons to be excited about THIS SEASON

The 2018 season has not been easy on Texas Rangers fans. However, there is actually a lot to be excited about. Not just in regards to future seasons, but also the rest of this one.

It has been painful to watch the Texas Rangers for much of the year. I mean “roll your eyes or slap yourself in the forehead” painful. The 2018 season might be a wash in terms of contention; however, I’m here to offer multiple reasons to stay tuned in.

Friday night’s 8-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals was an exciting one. It included all the desirables: home runs, triples, solid pitching, flashy defense and fundamentals. Of course, games like this happen over the course of the regular season. What separates this one from the others?

Every exciting play was made by a player under age 26 and/or under team control. Nomar Mazara and Ronald Guzman (both age 23) homered. Isiah Kiner-Falefa (age 23) made two outstanding defensive plays at 3rd base. Jurickson Profar flashed the leather at shortstop and contributed his 15th double in 45 games. Delino DeShields executed a squeeze bunt and hit a triple. Lastly, Mike Minor, the 30-year-old veteran of the bunch, earned the win by pitching six strong innings.

Each performance leads into the four reasons to actually be excited about the rest of the 2018 season.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa

It’s natural to be skeptical of rookies. Even if they get off to good starts in the major leagues, you just can’t trust them until they prove consistent. After all, baseball is a streaky game and MLB is not generally kind to newcomers.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ronald Guzman have finally played enough to turn doubters into believers. The composure of each is startling. They reach the highest possible level of the game, yet, they look completely unphased and up to the challenge.

Kiner-Falefa passes the eye test with flying colors. His approach at the plate is consistent and mature. In fact, he puts some of the more tenured position players to shame in regards to plate approach. Kiner-Falefa can drive the ball from line to line, square the ball frequently, and execute any task in practically any game situation.

Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wrote an excellent article in which he compared Isiah Kiner-Falefa to Michael Young, even getting Michael Young‘s opinion on the comparison. While Kiner-Falefa is not expected to reach the career success of the Texas Ranger great, he does have a strikingly similar style and makeup. It’s definitely a thought worth running with. Plus, the thought gives that much more reason to pay close attention to the Texas Rangers rookie in 2018.

Ronald Guzman

Ronald Guzman’s success sample has been much more brief. Therefore, his write-up will be much more brief. Guzman has been the Rangers’ best player over the last six games. Over the last six games, the big lefty has gone 7-for-14 with eight RBI and six runs scored. He hit four home runs in that span, two off left-handed pitchers.

Guzman has earned himself regular playing time at first base. He’ll need to keep up the good work in order to stay at first once Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre return and shakeup defensive positioning and lineups. Regardless, Ronald Guzman is as exciting of a watch as any Texas Rangers player at the moment.

Nomar Mazara

Nomar Mazara is the Rangers player with the highest ceiling. When it comes to maturity and composure, Mazara is the poster boy. The 23-year-old is already in his 3rd big league season. Texas has watched Mazara progress as swimmingly as they could have hoped. Specifically, he is on pace to outdo his previous season’s numbers for the 3rd consecutive season.

Mazara already has 11 home runs, just 9 short of his career high. In addition, he is on pace to surpass his 101 RBI from 2017. Strikeouts are up, but that just speaks to the cautious way in which opposing pitchers are approaching Mazara.

If you want to dive deep, perhaps the absences of Andrus and Beltre are exactly the nudge Nomar Mazara needed to take the next step in his career. There is no doubt the team has leaned on him more so this season than in prior seasons. As a result, Mazara has carried more than his weight and much of the team’s weight.

There is reason to doubt the other young Texas Rangers; however, there is no reason to doubt Nomar Mazara. He will only continue to improve. Don’t be surprised if he is crowned an all-star as early as this season.

Joey Gallo

Don’t jump off the Joey Gallo bandwagon just yet. Yes, he has been abysmal at the plate as of late. And yes he will continue to display abysmal baseball at other points in his career. Gallo is as streaky as they come in MLB, but he also has a gift that only a few other MLB players possess.

Joey Gallo’s power is otherworldly. He has 62 home runs in just 248 career games. That averages to a homer every four games. He also accounts for some of the hardest hit balls and some of the longest home runs throughout the MLB season year after year.

Joey Gallo’s power is so elite that it would be very difficult for the Rangers to let him go. The thought of him reaching his potential with another team brings back nightmares of former Rangers like Adrian Gonzalez, Carlos Pena and Chris Davis. Gallo has the ability to be a greater power hitter than each of those blasts from the past.

Gallo has made it difficult to believe in him lately, but look at the big picture. I certainly still believe in him.

Jurickson Profar

Profar is doing his best to turn a tragic baseball story into a joyful one. After years of setbacks, it appears the former MLB top prospect finally has staying power with the Texas Rangers. He has been among the top candidates in entertaining Rangers to watch in 2018.

Profar has stepped in for Elvis Andrus and has truly done an excellent job. He has not played shortstop like Andrus, but you can’t expect a guy with a history of shoulder injuries to excel at the game’s toughest position. Profar will likely find himself at second base or left field once Andrus does return.

What has been really great is Jurickson Profar’s offensive performance. He puts forth tough at-bat after tough at-bat, he drives the ball gap to gap from each side of the plate, and he produces. As evidence, Profar has driven in 11 runs in his last 7 games played. Ultimately, it’s players like Profar, Kiner-Falefa and Mazara that keep the Texas Rangers from being among the most unwatchable offenses in baseball. That’s okay for making up a third of the lineup on a nightly basis.

Delino DeShields

DeShields is a tough player to figure. At times, he performs as a prototypical leadoff hitter, consistently hitting the ball on the ground or on a line, swiping bases and scoring runs. Though, there are also times when he looks completely helpless as a leadoff hitter.

The Texas Rangers would love some consistency from DeShields at the top of the lineup. The team certainly scores more runs when he is at his best. DeShields at age 25 has as much to prove as any Ranger over the next few years.

He is under team control through 2021 and he has  a few of the organization’s top prospects in waiting. Prospects that project to be ready for their big league debuts around the 2021-2022 seasons. If DeShields wants to stick around, he’ll need to stay healthy and prove his role as the team’s speedy, high on-base leadoff hitter. Three years should be enough time to prove worthy or unworthy.

Mike Minor

The Texas Rangers signed Mike Minor to a 3-year contract this past offseason. They’ve instilled a lot of faith in him by converting him from a relief pitcher to a starting pitcher. Thus far, Minor has impressed. He has not dominated, but he has stood out as a starter that can hold his own and progress as the season progresses.

Mike Minor’s name has already floated around in trade rumors. He’s still relatively young; therefore, the Rangers could move him for some relevant talent if he does post solid numbers by the trade deadline.

Traded or not, Mike Minor will be an anxious watch for the rest of his time as a Texas Ranger.