3 reasons to be excited about Texas Rangers’ rookie center fielder Eli White

A hot bat

Eli White is tearing the cover off the baseball at Texas Rangers spring training

The young center fielder opened eyes this spring when he came out of the gates hotter than the sun.

He has since cooled off as the spring has progressed, but is sitting on a .276 batting average currently.

Add to that a .400 OBP, three stolen bases, one homerun and four driven-in over 29 at-bats, and you’ve got the makings of a quality big leaguer.

Undoubtedly the hottest outfielder not named Joey Gallo, Eli White has far surpassed that of his main competition in Leody Taveras.

Taveras has struggled mightily to start the spring, but has begun to find his rhythm and more plate discipline of late.

Is White’s hot bat enough to propel him into the starting lineup over Taveras? Maybe, but a lot can happen over the last few spring games.

So far, he is the leading candidate to take the Opening Day job, solely based on performance, but if Taveras heats up, it will make for a difficult decision.

As for White, though, he’s more than done his part.

Versatility is key

Eli White can do it all for the Texas Rangers

As a Clemson Tiger, Eli White was a primary shortstop.

When he was drafted, he remained at that position, but moved around the infield with the Oakland Athletics.

After his trade to the Texas Rangers, he was given an extended glove and thrown out in the outfield grass.

More from Nolan Writin'

• Framework for a potential Max Fried trade to the Texas Rangers
• Early 2023 MLB mock draft has Texas Rangers selecting an Ohtani-lite
• 3 Texas Rangers outfield trade targets not named Bryan Reynolds
• Did Jacob deGrom really mean what he said at his Texas Rangers press conference?
• Where do Texas Rangers prospects Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker stand after the DeGrom signing?

From shortstop to centerfielder, Eli White’s versatility is very reminiscent of Ben Zobrist.

The Rangers over the past several years have turned their focus on developing super-utility players like White, using a plug-and-play system at times.

White’s ability to play the middle infield is an added bonus when he makes the Texas Rangers’ roster, but he made another move just a few days ago.

White traded his outfielder’s glove for a first base mitt and looked really comfortable at the position.

Assuming Eli White stays as hot as he has been, there is no doubt in my mind that we’ll see him all over the diamond in 2021.

Is he potentially the 2021 version of Danny Santana?

Final Thoughts

Eli White is making a name for himself this spring at Texas Rangers camp

Eli White’s offseason featured plenty of adjustments.

As noted by Kennedi Landry of MLB.com, he stayed home this off-season and worked with his former hitting coach Matt Morella on fine-tuning his swing.

“I tried to put myself in a better posture to hit those pitches. I also had a relatively big leg kick and a lot of movement in my pre-swing last year, and I tried to just simplify that and just to be on time, more consistently.”

His diligence has paid off so far and for it, he is on track to become an everyday big leaguer in his first full season at the game’s highest level.

With Opening Day just over a week away, the Texas Rangers and manager Chris Woodward will have a very difficult decision on their hands regarding the centerfield job.

Do they start Taveras and use White as a utility player? Or do they start White and find Taveras back in the minor leagues?

These questions and more will be answered soon enough, but the presence and maturation of Eli White has made them even more difficult to answer.