Texas Rangers Spring Training: 3 roster “locks” who are no longer safe

CF Leody Taveras

Leody Taveras was penciled in as the Texas Rangers’ starting center fielder going into camp.

Unlike Nate Lowe, CF Leody Taveras wasn’t expected to face much competition for his starting gig.

The Rangers brought back fan favorite Delino DeShields and had Eli White on the roster, but neither of those players were thought of as serious contenders for the starting job.

It looks like we may have missed the mark on their presences, though.

This isn’t to say that Taveras, the Rangers’ highly touted prospect and center fielder of the future, won’t end up with the starting center field job when it’s all said and done at Surprise.

Combined with Eli White’s strong spring showing and DeShields’ reliability, however, it’s not looking like the Taveras scenario will occur at the moment.

Taveras is sporting an ugly .091/.167/.258 slash line in 11 spring at-bats so far.

The 22-year-old is swinging at a lot of pitches and whiffing as a result.

Of course, an adjustment period was likely incoming for the second-year outfielder, but considering his solid 2020 debut, this regression can be looked at as disappointing.

Time is still on Taveras’ side in spring training, but he needs to start piecing it together again as we get closer to Opening Day.