Texas Rangers: 3 players who have something to prove down the stretch

The home stretch of the 2021 season doesn’t involve a playoff run for the Texas Rangers. Rather, it provides something even more meaningful: auditions for future roles.

We’ve already begun to see a handful of players get their chance to audition in the second half of the season, including the likes of Curtis Terry, Andy Ibanez, Joe Barlow, Yonny Hernandez, Yohel Pozo and Nick Snyder. And we can expect plenty more Texas Rangers to follow in their footsteps the rest of the way.

But there are also incumbent roster spot occupants who need to prove their respective values heading into the season’s final stretch so that they’ll remain in the mix for the 2022 Texas Rangers.

Lets’ look at three who seem to be in this position.

Kohei Arihara

The Japanese righty signed a two-year deal with the Texas Rangers in the off-season and struggled before getting injured

Expectations were moderately high for Kohei Arihara, who had a relatively successful career in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, coming into his first MLB season.

Unfortunately, the early results weren’t so promising. He was on the losing end of the Padres’ Joe Musgrove’s no-hitter back in April and posted an unsightly 6.59 ERA in seven starts. His 1.53 WHIP and just 17 strikeouts in 28.2 innings pitched were concerning as well.

The 29-year-old then hit the shelf for an extended period of time due to a shoulder aneurysm, an injury expected to keep him out for the season. In a positive development, the righty is on a rehab assignment and could join the Texas Rangers in September.

Arihara, should he make it back this season, has a lot to prove in his second active stint to show he should be in contention for a starting spot again in 2022. Otherwise, he’ll be chalked up as a bust signing.

Leody Taveras

The promising center-field prospect and 2021 Opening Day starter for the Texas Rangers hasn’t been good as a big leaguer this year

Leody Taveras is back, tell a friend!

In the wake of roster re-shuffling due to a team-wide COVID-19 outbreak, Taveras was among the names called up to replace the infected players.

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As the Opening Day center fielder for the Texas Rangers in 2021, the 22-year-old really struggled to capitalize on the momentum he’d found after making his big league debut in 2020, as he’s hitting just .078/.145/.224 this season with no home runs.

He was optioned to the minors in late April, where he showed off his power (17 homers in 322 minor league at-bats) and seemed to re-kindle his stroke while keeping up with his solid outfield defense.

And then in his first game back with the Rangers Tuesday in Cleveland, he went… 0-for-5 with two punchouts. Not great!

If Taveras wants to make his case for the center field job again in 2022, he’ll need to really kick things into gear with this second chance he’s being given in 2021. Though he’s still young at 22 and has time to figure things out, the leash can’t be elongated forever.