4 Texas Rangers players who need to play well to secure a roster spot

2. Justin Foscue

The 2020 MLB draft will go down in the history books for the Texas Rangers. That is the year they drafted Justin Foscue in the first round, Evan Carter in the second round, Thomas Saggese, and then signed Aidan Curry as an undrafted free agent. Carter made his debut last September and is positioned to be one of the young stars in baseball in 2024. Foscue is in camp this season and will be given a long look at making the team. He already is taking ground balls at first base as he is looked at maybe a backup first baseman for Nathaniel Lowe. He is in the running to be the starting DH and can play second and third base as well.

Foscue has been a great hitter at every level he has played at. He now has an opportunity to show out against major league pitching. Foscue in 2023 had a .266 batting average, 18 home runs 84 RBIs, and an .862 OPS. He spent the entire season at Triple-A Round Rock and played 122 games. He is not the best defender, but his bat will translate to the majors. The question becomes is he ready? The only way to find out is to throw him out there. I would expect him to stay in camp until the very end as Texas tries to determine the answer to the readiness question.

The one thing to watch with Foscue is how does he do if he gets behind in the count. In 2023 at Round Rock he had a .197 batting average, 41 strikeouts, and zero walks when he fell behind in the count. In the majors he will need to show an ability to work a count when he gets down 0-1 or 1-2. He can't give up on the at-bat. If he can get ahead that shifts to a .295 batting average. He will need to show that he can succeed when working from behind. He has the ability to hit left-handers and right-handers, he can hit with runners on base, and the ability to get on base. He just needs to show improvement when falling behind in the count. It would be a player development success story if he does make the team.