Four Texas Rangers who will have breakthrough seasons in 2019

Player development can be just as important as free agent signings. Here are a few Texas Rangers who could take a leap next season.

We all love the thrill of the chase. Checking Twitter every hour becomes a habit this year, hoping the Texas Rangers signed a franchise altering free agent. And while there’s nothing like your favorite baseball team landing a star, I find it way more satisfying when a homegrown player turns into a star themselves.

There’s nothing like watching a young player make improvements to their game and turn weaknesses into strengths. You get to see them overcome their early career struggles and become national stars. It’s why I’m usually unwilling to give up on a player that came up through the Rangers’ farm system, sometimes to a fault.

With that in mind, here are four Rangers that I think will have a breakthrough season next year. If you have someone else in mind, comment below.

Joey Gallo Will Post a Career-High On-base Percentage

With just fifteen additional walks and twenty additional hits, Gallo would have posted a career high on-base percentage of .372. That’s a big increase from his OBP of .312 from last season, but it’s not unreasonable. Next year will be Gallo’s third full season in the majors, and the game should start to slow down for him.

Gallo will never hit for a high average. That long, looping swing that’s responsible for so many dingers also causes a lot of strikeouts. But if he improves his plate discipline even a little, his OBP should go up tremendously. Combined with his phenomenal power, that would make Gallo one of the Rangers’ most valuable players.

Nomar Mazara Finally Puts It All Together

I think Mazara was ready to put together a breakthrough season last year, his third year in the majors. But a thumb injury slowed him down, and while he put together a decent season, it wasn’t the leap we were all expecting. Mazara is one of the Rangers’ more well-rounded hitters, hitting for average and slugging well, with good pop. He’s hit 20 home runs in every season of his brief career.

If Mazara can remain healthy, I think a .280/.340./.770 slash is a very reasonable expectation. He might even see a little improvement in his power. Already an RBI machine, Mazara increasing his average and OBP would be a huge boon to the Rangers’ offense.

Keep in mind, Mazara is still young and has room for improvement. At 23, he’s younger than Willie Calhoun. I think the best is still yet to come for the Texas Rangers outfielder.

Rougned Odor Becomes an All-Star

After a promising 2016 season which earned him a $49 million contract, Odor struggled in 2017, hitting just .204 and posting a career-low .252 on-base percentage. It seemed like 2018 was going to be more of the same until Odor turned it around in July. The Rangers’ second baseman hit .305 in July and August before tailing off in September. He still finished with a respectable .253 average, a nice bounce-back from a dismal 2017.

But more important than the numbers was the eye test. Just watching Odor play, you could see he’d figured things out. He was a completely different player the second half, and I think you’ll see that carry over into 2019. Odor is just 25 years old. It’s easy to forget how young he is because he broke into the majors so young. There’s still room for improvement, and I think you’ll see it next year.

2019 will be Rougned Odor’s first All-Star appearance, with many more likely to come. It’s time to get your hopes back up for the Rangers’ slugging second baseman.