Texas Rangers: Four bold predictions for the 2021 season

As we get set to close out 2020 and ring in 2021, here are four bold predictions for the Texas Rangers in the new year ahead.

2020 was mostly a year to forget, including for the Texas Rangers.

Even with a down year nearly in the rear view mirror, though, there’s always room for a little beacon of hope, or a glimmer of optimism, as we prepare to usher in 2021.

The new year gives us a time to reflect on the past, as well as on what the future has to offer.

We recently published a retrospective on the Texas Rangers’ 2020 season on Nolan Writin’, which you can check out here.

With all that said, Happy New Year and let’s look ahead to 2021 with some bold predictions for the team.

2021 Bold Prediction One: The Texas Rangers will have their best rotation since 2016.

This prediction shouldn’t be too hard for the team to attain in 2021.

Outside of Lance Lynn, the Texas Rangers haven’t had consistent performers in their rotation since Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish both left town.

That should change with the acquisitions of right-handers Dane Dunning and Kohei Arihara.

Dunning comes to the Rangers with major prospect status and a ton of promise, while Arihara was one of the best pitchers in Japan in 2020.

Dunning’s 2020 ERA was 3.97 and Arihara’s in Japan was 3.46, with a 2.46 mark in 2019.

Those figures alone would have paced the Rangers’ rotation in 2020.

Texas hasn’t had a quality starting rotation since 2016, when they had Cole Hamels, Yu Darvish, Martin Perez, AJ Griffin and Colby Lewis lined up consecutively.

Uncoincidentally, it was also 2016 that the Rangers last made the playoffs.

The team did have the makings of a good rotation in 2020 with Lance Lynn, Corey Kluber, Mike Minor, Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles, but it ultimately didn’t pan out.

With Dunning and Arihara in the fold, along with the promising righty Kyle Cody and the veterans Gibson and Lyles due for some positive regression, this could be the best starting five for Texas has had for some time.

2021 Bold Prediction Three: Sam Huff will become the starter at catcher for the Texas Rangers, supplanting current starter Jose Trevino.

Not many teams are fortunate enough to have two starting caliber backstops on their roster.

Luckily, the Texas Rangers aren’t one of those teams, as they have Sam Huff and Jose Trevino at the position.

Both players represent quality options behind the plate for the Texas Rangers, as Trevino’s offense has recently come around to match his defense, while Huff is an all-around catching prospect the team has been high on for years.

Huff, the team’s second-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, started off strong in 2020 with a 1.136 OPS across 33 plate appearances.

With Trevino being the more experienced of the two at the moment, and with a mostly young pitching staff, it would make sense that Texas would want to start him behind the dish initially.

However, Huff’s talent and potential are both undeniable, and will eventually be too good an option for manager Chris Woodward to pass up when setting his everyday starting nine.

I believe that happens sooner rather than later, and specifically in 2021.

2021 Bold Prediction Four: The Texas Rangers will remain reasonably competitive.

Whether you think the team got marginally better or significantly better this off-season, one thing that remains true is that Jon Daniels and new GM Chris Young deserve a lot of credit for being active this winter, with more possibly on the way.

Texas may be in the beginning stages of a rebuild for an uncertain amount of time, but the roster is definitely improved heading into 2021.

In the lineup, David Dahl and Nate Lowe have the ability to provide potent bats from the left side to complement the likes of Joey Gallo, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Leody Taveras, Willie Calhoun, Nick Solak and others.

In the rotation, as mentioned earlier, Dane Dunning and Kohei Arihara could become an effective top-end tandem, giving Texas their best one-two punch in years and fortifying a rotation that has seen plenty of instability over the last few seasons.

In the bullpen, promising arms like Demarcus Evans, Taylor Hearn, Brett de Geus and closer Jose Leclerc could give the Rangers some mix and match options for the late innings.

While the AL West looks competitive heading into 2021, as does the rest of the American League, the Texas Rangers aren’t a total abomination.

Their roster may not up to par with many of the projected division winners and wild card contenders, but perhaps with another year of expanded playoffs, Texas could stay reasonably competitive.

You just never know how things might shake out.

And that’s the beauty of a new year and a new season to look forward to.