Tuesday Newsletter time: Texas Rangers might not have many roster options, but here's one to consider
Leody Taveras is off to a hot start this month at Triple A Round Rock, and the Rangers could use him.
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The Texas Rangers did not play a game Monday, which is probably a good thing considering the state of their pitching staff.
And the state of the lineup, for that matter.
These are the dog days for every MLB team, but especially a team like the Rangers. They’re struggling to just compete consistently, and it’s probably the first time since 2014 that the roster has been this short on talent.
At least last season’s team, which finished with the second-worst record in baseball, kept bringing up prospects who have talent and were fun to watch. Leody Taveras, Anderson Tejeda, Sam Huff and Kyle Cody even inspired some hope.
Their 2021 seasons? Well …
Actually, it seems Taveras will be back in the majors at some point soon, based on manager Chris Woodward’s recent comments, and a few coaches are lobbying for Huff to join eventually join the team. Tejeda is still searching at Double A Frisco, while Cody’s recovery from an early-season shoulder bruise seems to be ongoing.
The top two prospects at Frisco, Josh Jung and Cole Winn, don’t seem to be under consideration for a promotion to the big leagues. At least not right now.
No one should be writing off Taveras based on his really bad April showing (.087 average). He remains incredibly good defensively and has elite speed, and the switch-hitter batted fourth Monday night for Triple A Round Rock.
He had upped his average to .250 with a career-high 16 homers thanks to a .414 average the past nine games. With Eli White down indefinitely with what appears to be a strained flexor tendon and the Rangers working with only three true outfielders, it makes sense to bring Taveras up sooner than later.
Hearing problem
The Newsletter doesn’t want to dive too deep into the scandal/non-scandal involving the Colorado Rockies fan and his now-debunked use of a racial epitaph directed at Miami Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson.
Brinson was the Rangers’ first-round pick in 2011, selected 29th overall and 10 picks ahead of Joey Gallo. Brinson, who is black, was at-bat when a fan was thought to have yelled the n-word multiple times at him.
There was swift and immediate outrage. The Rockies, the MLB Players Association and others denounced the act. The Rockies launched an investigation.
It turns out that that the fan in question was yelling the name of the Rockies’ mascot, Dinger.
Oh.
The good news, I suppose, is that the fan was not being horribly racist. There’s more bad than good, though, like the rush to judgment without simply listening to what was very clearly not an epitaph.
Of course, it’s absolutely no good that other black athletes have been targeted with slurs in just the past few weeks. That would lead people to immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion.
What seems to be forgotten is that there are many more good people in this world than the extremely bad who would do something like the Rockies fan was suspected of.
Yet, the instinct was to go directly to Defcon 1. And, naturally, on Twitter.
Will any lessons be learned from this? Maybe, but it seems doubtful.
Hardest grounder ever
New York Yankees fans don’t particularly care for Giancarlo Stanton these days. He’s not worth his massive salary, with all the injuries and inconsistency at the plate.
But he still hits the ball harder than anyone in baseball. However, that doesn’t always translate into a home run or even a base hit.
Try a double play.
Stanton crushed a ball Monday night at 122.2 mph, right at Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield. He started a 4-6-3 double play.
That’s some bad luck. That grounder is the hardest-hit ball in the Statcast era.
John Sterling Calls @JSterlingCalls
The Yankees' specialty rears its head in the first inning! https://t.co/PzR03OVwgxDoggy video!
This pooch was safe at home. Enjoy. See you Wednesday.
With the current status of Rangers, checked out Beltre on friendly exchanges. Fun to see what absolute joy he had playing the game.