Monday Newsletter time: Have the Texas Rangers found a righty-hitting version of Joey Gallo?
DJ Peters is tall and fast, plays good defense, and hits for power but without a very high average. Yet.
DJ Peters’ second home run Sunday at Angel Stadium traveled to Nelson Cruz territory, deep to left-center field and part of the way up the incline that rises to the outfield concourse.
Statcast measured it at 428 feet, whereas the Cruz blast on a Sunday afternoon in 2012 (during a lengthy game that nearly caused me to miss my flight) went 484 feet. Cruz’s homer might have been further, but not 56 feet further.
Anyhoo, the point is that DJ Peters has power. It’s nothing new to those who have followed the Texas Rangers since they claimed Peters on waivers in early August. He has hit nine home runs in 30 games.
He went 3 for 4 on Sunday in a 7-3 victory to raise his average with the Rangers to … .204. Lots of power and not a lot of average. Gee, that sounds familiar.
It’s probably not fair to compare Peters to Joey Gallo, who has hit 40 homers twice in his career and has won a Gold Glove. Gallo, of course, has never hit for much of an average.
The former Rangers right fielder is batting .198 this season and only .134 in 34 games since being traded to the New York Yankees. He does have 31 homers, though.
But Peters is long and lean like Gallo, plays solid outfield defense like Gallo, and is surprisingly fast like Gallo.
What say you, Chris Woodward? Is Peters a righty-hitting version of Gallo?
“There’s a lot more bat-to-ball there than just a true homer-or-nothing,” Woodward said. “I like the sequencing of his swings and his hands. He’s made a lot of adjustments in games. He knows he’s going to get pitched a certain way. I’ve always said he has natural adjustability to off-speed pitches, whereas a lot of those guys don’t.”
It’s hard to find a bigger believer in Gallo than Woodward, who at the end of the first half was batting .239 and was at .223 when he was traded. Gallo’s trademark this season was his ability to draw walks.
Teams throw Peters more strikes. He misses a lot of them (42 strikeouts, three walks). But he is showing improvement at the plate as he and the Rangers’ hitting coaches work to make his “long levers” work in unison as he swings.
“Every day I want to get better,” Peters said. “I think my at-bats have been good for the most part. Today I was watching film, saw something, and talked to [the hitting coaches] and we addressed it. I think that’s the big thing moving forward, not only the in-game adjustments, the at-bat to at-bat adjustments but also the day-to-day adjustments.”
Otto survives
All Glenn Otto had to do Friday night to match his MLB debut was toss another five scoreless innings on two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
He almost didn’t make it out of the first inning.
But he did, albeit on his 36th pitch and after two runs had scored. All he could do from that point was to pitch as long as Woodward would let him keep the ball.
Otto rebounded and lasted into the fifth inning, allowing only those two first-inning runs in the Rangers’ 3-2 loss to the Angels. No, it wasn’t as good as his debut Aug. 27 against Houston, but he showed the Rangers how he handles stressful situations.
“After that first inning, I just really wanted to get back in the dugout and kind of hit the refresh button,” Otto said. “I wanted to go out and start over and get back into attack mode. I was able to do that. It didn't look great, but I was able to go out and just compete and pitch to my strengths.”
Otto was pulled after 4 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out four. The ability to limit further damage, which requires knowing how to pitch and staying composed, left a favorable impression.
“He doesn't seem to get too emotional out there,” Woodward said. “He's very composed. I’ve seen veteran pitchers who get squirrelly out there. It’s in his DNA to not get rattled.”
ICYMI …
Labor Day weekend and the start of college football, especially the start of college football, can take up a lot of your time (it was a three-game Saturday me). We’ve got your covered on our Texas Rangers coverage in case you missed it.
Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast, Episode II: Josh Jung (also a Spotify link below).
The Sunday Read: A look at Leody Taveras.
Friday on the Farm: Native Texan learning the pro-ball ropes.
T.R.’s Memoirs on Ivan Rodriguez: Part I. Part II.
Jon Daniels talks money, money, money.
Doggy video!
A reminder from this doggo that it’s Labor Day and to take the day off. Enjoy. See you Tuesday.
Gallo’s strikeouts failed to advance runners and killed rallies. Yes, the moonshots were mesmerizing to be sure. But you can see how expectations in NY are getting to him. He never had that kind of pressure here. I wish him well, but don’t miss him. Fingers crossed on DJ. Seems more level headed.
It's an inevitable comp, but we need to see a bit more. Joey's walks equal OBP. I like what I see from Peters, though. He's big, fast, plays good D and has a plus arm. If he can get a few walks and/or improve contact, he be a huge find. I'm certainly interested in seeing where it goes with him.