2018 Remarkable! Season Preview – Texas Rangers

by | Feb 27, 2018 | Baseball

 

2017 Record: 78-84 (T-3rd in AL West)

The Texas Rangers come into the year with core veterans and some budding young stars. Joey Gallo has light tower power and Adrian Beltre continues his Hall of Fame pace with stellar defense at the hot corner. Will they be Remarkable! enough to make a splash in the AL West? Here’s our Rangers preview for 2018:

Starting Pitchers

 

Cole Hamels
  • Opponents had a line drive rate of 18.9% (84/445) against Cole Hamels in 2017 (Rank: 16th of 158 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 22.0%).
  • Left-handed batters hit .161 against Cole Hamels (19-for-118) in 2017 (Rank: 3rd of 155 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .263).
  • Opponents had a miss rate of 40.4% (147/364) against Cole Hamels on non-fastballs in 2017 (Rank: 17th of 157 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 31.1%).

 

Matt Moore
  • Opponents had a line drive rate of 31.3% (26/83) against Matt Moore on curves and sliders in 2017 (Rank: 140th of 141 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 21.2%).

  • Hitters chased 105 of Matt Moore’s 205 breaking balls down out of the zone (chase rate of 51.2%) in 2017 (Rank: 3rd of 155 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 36.0%).
  • He threw his off-speed pitches for a strike 65.7% (635/967) of the time in 2017 (Rank: 19th of 159 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 61.7%).

 

Martin Perez
  • Left-handed hitters had a chase rate of 38.2% (134/351) against Martin Perez in 2017 (Rank: 5th of 158 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 27.7%).
  • He induced opposing hitters to ground into 32 double plays in 174 opportunities (18.4%) in 2017 — 4th best among qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 12.5%.

  • Left-handed hitters had a groundball rate of 57.0% (65/114) against Martin Perez in 2017 (Rank: 20th of 154 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 44.3%).

 

Bartolo Colon 
  • Opponents had a miss rate of just 12.6% (135/1,069) against Bartolo Colon in the 2017 season — worst among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 22.8%.
  • He had a strike rate of 67.6% (1,545/2,286) in the 2017 season — highest among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: 62.9%.
  • He allowed an OPS of .909 (648 PAs) in the 2017 season — 2nd worst among non-qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .773.

 

Doug Fister
  • He allowed a slugging percentage of .318 (55 Total Bases / 173 ABs) vs right-handed batters in 2017 (Rank: 7th of 157 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .437).
  • Opponents hit .137 against Doug Fister (22-for-161) as a starter with two strikes in 2017 (Rank: 16th of 156 qualified SPs in MLB; League Avg: .180).

 

Mike Minor
  • He struck out 35.3% (36/102) of left-handed batters he faced in 2017 (Rank: 16th of 236 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 22.7%).
  • Mike Minor has not allowed a home run in any of the last 15 innings he’s appeared (Stephen Strasburg has the longest active streak at 67.0).

 

Relief Pitchers

 

2017 Bullpen Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .268 29th
OBP .347 29th
SLG .434 28th
OPS .781 29th
BB% 9.9% T-19th
K% 20.4% T-26th
GB% 46.0% T-11th

 

Alex Claudio
  • Opponents had a groundball rate of 75.9% (120/158) against Alex Claudio on fastballs in 2017 – 2nd highest among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 44.6%).

  • He has allowed no extra-base hits in his last 18 innings pitched (Steve Cishek has the longest active streak at 22.0).
  • He walked 15 of 323 batters (4.6%) in 2017 (Rank: 15th of 250 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 9.2%).

 

Matt Bush
  • He recorded 45 of his 58 strikeouts (77.6%) with his fastball this season (Rank: 16th of 205 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 47.6%).
  • He threw at least two strikes in his first three pitches to 73.6% (78/106) of opposing right-handed batters in 2017 (Rank: 23rd of 232 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 63.6%).
  • Opponents had a Well-Hit Avg of .099 (7/71) against Matt Bush against the heart of the order this season (Rank: 21st of 219 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .172).

 

Jose Leclerc
  • He walked 40 of 200 batters (20.0%) in 2017 — worst among qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 8.8%.

  • Right-handed hitters have a miss rate of 45.8% (104/227) against Jose Leclerc in 2017 (Rank: 2nd of 250 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 26.9%).
  • Opponents batting in the heart of the order hit .080 against Jose Leclerc (4-for-50) in 2017 (Rank: 1st of 219 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .252).

 

Keone Kela
  • He allowed an OPS of .370 (91 PAs) vs right-handed batters in 2017 (Rank: 3rd of 250 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .720).
  • He has a strikeout rate of 33.8% (51/151) in 2017 (Rank: 13th of 250 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 23.4%).
  • Opponents hit .107 against Keone Kela (8-for-75) on non-fastballs in 2017 (Rank: 13th of 223 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: .211)

 

Tony Barnette
  • Tony Barnette has a strikeout rate of just 10.5% (14/133) against division opponents this season (Rank: 237th of 241 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 23.0%).
  • Hitters have chased 136 of Tony Barnette’s 409 fastballs out of the zone (chase rate of 33.3%) this season (Rank: 17th of 250 qualified RPs in MLB; League Avg: 25.2%).

 

Hitters

 

2017 Offense Ranks

Stat # Rank
AVG .244 T-26th
OBP .320 T-18th
SLG .430 15th
OPS .750 16th
BB% 8.9% T-11th
K% 24.4% 27th
QAB 2552 19th
wOBA .331 T-13th

 

Joey Gallo
  • He struck out 196 times in 531 PAs (36.9%) in 2017 — 2nd worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 19.3%.
  • He had 62 Extra-Base hits out of 94 total hits (66.0%) in 2017 (Rank: 1st of 145 qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 36.2%).

  • He slugged .966 (56 total bases in 58 ABs) on the first pitch of at-bats this season (Rank: 4th of 144 qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .585).

 

Elvis Andrus
  • He batted .410 (50-for-122) on fastballs away in the 2017 season — 2nd best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .283.

  • He stole 25 bases in 2017 (Rank: Tied for 13th in MLB).
  • Elvis Andrus slugged .596 (87 total bases in 146 ABs) on elevated fastballs in the 2017 season — 14th best among 145 qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .435.

 

Adrian Beltre
  • He had an OBP of .482 (83 PAs) versus LHP in 2017 (Rank: 2nd of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .326).

  • He struck out 52 times in 389 PAs (13.4%) in 2017 (Rank: 13th of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 21.6%).
  • He slugged .597 (129 total bases in 216 ABs) versus starting pitchers in 2017 (Rank: 7th of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .440).

 

Rougned Odor
  • He had an OPS of just .532 (327 PAs) on the road in 2017 (Rank: 145th of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .733).

  • He had 11 HRs in 138 ABs (12.5 AB/HR) with RISP in 2017 (Rank: 12th of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 28.4).
  • He had a swing rate of 70.8% (471/665) with two strikes in the 2017 season — 6th highest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 60.9%.

 

Nomar Mazara
  • He has 1 HR in 123 ABs (123.0 AB/HR) versus LHP in 2017 — 9th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 25.3.
  • He came to the plate with runners in scoring position in 184 of his 616 plate appearances (29.9%) in 2017 (Rank: 5th of 145 full-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 24.9%).
  • He put just 26.3% of his swings in play (57/217) on breaking pitches against RHP in the 2017 season — 8th lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 36.4%.

 

Delino Deshields
  • He had a groundball batting average of .415 (54 GB hits out of 130 GBs) in 2017 (Rank: 1st of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .249).

  • He grounded into 2 double plays in 70 opportunities (2.9%) in 2017 (Rank: 5th of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 11.1%).
  • He attempted to bunt for a hit 50 times in 440 plate appearances (11.4%) in the 2017 season — 8th highest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 2.5%.

 

Robinson Chirinos
  • He had an OPS of 1.113 (82 PAs) against LHP in the 2017 season — 6th best among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: .745.

  • He had 17 HRs in 263 ABs (15.5 AB/HR) in 2017 (Rank: 13th of 176 part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 27.1).
  • He had a line drive rate of just 15.2% (20/132) against RHP in the 2017 season — 5th lowest among part-time hitters in MLB; League Avg: 22.1%.

 

Shin-Soo Choo
  • He slugged .723 (86 total bases in 119 ABs) on fastballs away in the 2017 season — best among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .458.
  • He batted just .166 (24-for-145) on inside pitches in the 2017 season — 5th worst among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: .264
  • Shin-Soo Choo chased 29.1% of pitches out of the zone (118/405) with two strikes in the 2017 season — 7th lowest among qualified hitters in MLB; League Avg: 41.2%.

 

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