Woodward shares his early thoughts on how he might shape Rangers’ batting order in 2019
When it comes to putting together a starting rotation, manager Chris Woodward doesn’t know where to start.
After all, the Texas Rangers have only three starters, two of whom are coming off Tommy John surgery, and are in the market for at least two more starters. Maybe two more Tommy Johns.
But the vast majority of the position players are returning from 2018, certainly enough for Woodward to contemplate who might fit where on Opening Day 2019 and beyond.
“I have, just for fun exercises, I guess,” he said Monday during his 30-minute session at the MLB winter meetings.
The biggest takeaways from his thoughts on how he might stack Rangers hitters are A) to put as much pressure on the opponent as possible at the top of the lineup; and B) On-base machine Shin-Soo Choo is the leading candidate to be the leadoff hitter, but don’t be surprised if Delino DeShields gets another crack at it.
“If he gets on base more, that, obviously, makes sense,” Woodward said. “I think it’s pressure. The one thing I’ve addressed to our team, everything we do, from a hitting standpoint, from a base-running standpoint, from a pitching standpoint, is all pressure. I want to apply the most pressure possible in the most efficient way on the other team, and they should know that.”
Beyond that, Woodward said that he wants to have to put hitters in a consistent spot in the lineup, something that differs to a degree from former manager Jeff Banister. One of the first catchphrases he uttered was “be comfortable being uncomfortable” batting in varying spots in the lineup.
That didn’t fly too well with some hitters, especially the creatures of habit who want to know each day where they are going to hit. Woodward can relate.
“I think players tend to be more successful when there’s a little more consistency,” he said. “That’s not to say that I won’t change the batting order or they shouldn’t be ready to change the batting order, but I don’t know that I’m going to go nine different guys every day in a different order. I don’t think I’m going to do that.
“I think being a former player, I appreciated it when I knew kind of where I was going to stand. But at the same time I was always ready for anything, and they’ve got to be ready.”
The Rangers have to fill the cleanup spot, which was held for multiple seasons by Adrian Beltre, who retired last month. Nomar Mazara received some time there late in the season, and others spent time there while Beltre was dealing with injuries.
This story was originally published December 10, 2018 at 6:28 PM.
