Monday Newsletter time: Willie Calhoun calmed his nerves, and kept pushing through small window Rangers have given him
Some chin music Sunday didn't keep the left-handed hitter from collecting a double and a triple against lefty pitchers.
An 18-day stint at the end of the long season is not a large sample size, but that’s essentially what the Texas Rangers gave Willie Calhoun to make an impression entering the offseason.
That doesn’t seem quite right, nor does it seem particularly fair that those 2 1/2 weeks followed 10 weeks of downtime for a broken arm.
Baseball’s a tough business.
Calhoun has learned that over the years, and is better at rolling with the punches than he was as recently as 2019. The woe-is-me Calhoun might have handled things differently.
Present-day Calhoun is making the most of his chance to show club brass he should be part of the 2022 team. He went 2 for 4 on Sunday, including a critical two-run triple to give the Rangers ample breathing room in a 7-4 victory over Baltimore.
His other hit was a double, and both came against left-handed pitchers. That’s huge for the lefty-hitting Calhoun, who took a 95-mph fastball in the face in the spring of 2020 from a lefty (Julio Urias) and hasn’t been quite the same against them.
He even shrugged off a high-and-tight heater before his double.
It all provided Calhoun with a jolt of confidence and kept him in a post-injury groove that is even surprising him a little.
“I had a flashback,” Calhoun said. “I took a step out and took a deep breath for about five seconds, tried to forget about it, and I went back in with my same approach and I was able to put a good swing on a ball later in the at-bat. It means a lot, honestly, because it’s going to help me build off of that, especially against lefties.”
Calhoun is batting .314 (11 for 35) since coming off the 60-day injured list Sept. 15. He hasn’t homered, but he has been hitting balls hard. Even in games when he’s had nothing to show for the hard contact, he shakes it off because he knows he’s doing the right things at the plate.
The Rangers saw only glimpses of that earlier in the season. Calhoun has only five homers and a .353 slugging percentage in 240 at-bats. They want to see more power, whether it’s in the final week of the season or next spring.
The pieces, including his mind, look to be in place.
“To end up doubling in that at-bat, he may remember that as the moment when he had to deal with the demons and overcome them,” manager Chris Woodward said.
Road kill
Sunday’s game was the last of the season on the road for the Rangers, who went 24-57 away from Globe Life Field. Only one MLB team, Arizona, has fewer road victories.
Yeah, that’s bad and must be better. But the Rangers are bad and must be better. Their road woes, which included differences in many offensive and pitching splits, are just part of a bad season.
It’s not like they would have been a playoff team with 15 more road wins.
Road struggles are common with young teams, whose players might be heading to a venue for the first time. While there aren’t many bus rides in the major leagues, the travel is still different and is something rookies must learn.
Prediction: The 2022 Rangers will be better on the road, and not just because it would be hard to do worse. The players will have a better idea of what to expect and how ballparks play.
Yes, the Rangers want to do better on the road. But they just want to do better, period.
ICYMI …
Only one more week of the regular season to go. Lots of content still to come. Lots of it produced over the past week. Here’s a sampling in case you missed it.
The Sunday Read: Infield in motion.
Friday on the Farm: The awards go to …
T.R.'s Memoirs: Part I of the Dark Years.
Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast: Guest Ricky Vanasco.
Five prospects to know (including one who hit for the cycle Friday).
Doggy video!
In honor of the U.S. embarrassing Europe in the Ryder Cup. Pick it up. Enjoy. See you Tuesday
Great to hear about his overcoming some ghosts! After all he has been through, kinda nice to see a deserving guy come thru with confidence building example for other teammates.