‘There’s no more excuses.’ Four core Rangers players are ready to grow up in 2019
These are perilous times for the Texas Rangers, who are trying to produce young talent that can lift the franchise back to where it was the last time it went through a rebuilding phase.
The last time, the young talent was Josh Hamilton, Elvis Andrus, Chris Davis, Matt Harrison, Ian Kinsler, David Murphy, Neftali Feliz and Derek Holland. Apologies to anyone who was omitted.
This time around, at least right now, it’s Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara, Delino DeShields and Rougned Odor. Ronald Guzman and Willie Calhoun are trying to force their way into the core group.
That duo has been around only a season, if that. The others? They are as much a part of the Rangers’ rebuild as prospects Hans Crouse, Cole Winn, Bubba Thompson and Leody Taveras, and 2019 is the season they need to be all grown up.
They said as much Monday ahead of the Rangers’ first full-squad workout of spring training. They’ve been talking about it all off-season.
“There’s no more excuses,” Mazara said. “We’ve seen a lot. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, and we know how to handle things now. We’ve got to go out there and play our butts off, support ourselves and have fun. A lot of things are going to happen. I believe in this group.”
Mazara agrees that each of the Big Four core members has been through enough in his career to successfully navigate what’s to come. Mazara, for instance, couldn’t hit left-handers until last season, when he also learned how to deal with an injury.
DeShields also dealt with injuries last season, and he has twice opened a season as the starting center fielder only to be sent to Triple A.
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” DeShields said.
Odor’s wild swings, figurative and literal, at the plate have either led to time in Triple A or put his name in the discussion for the league’s worst offensive player.
Gallo, as he has heard or read on social media, is all or nothing, and, for God’s sake, why can’t he just bunt?
“There are opportunities for a lot of us to take bigger steps this year, just because we’ve gotten that experience,” Gallo said. “Now we’re ready to take advantage of it.”
Of the group, DeShields is the old man at 26. Odor just turned 25 earlier this month. Gallo, with a November birthday, is a relatively young 25. Mazara is two months way from his 24th birthday.
But they have had enough time to learn how pitchers try to get them out. They know the nooks and crannies of away ballparks. The things they have been told by veterans and coaches earlier in their careers finally make sense.
They’re young, but they’re not young.
“I feel like we already learned what we need to learn,” Odor said. “We’ve already been here a couple years. We’ve been playing in different situations, and we’ve been talking a lot about this. I think we’re ready to go now.”
The bond the core group built in the minors and earlier in their careers was strengthened during off-season workouts. They all live in Dallas, though Odor spent a few months in Venezuela, and were exposed to and became comfortable with the new coaching staff.
Hitting coach Luis Ortiz lives in North Richland Hills, so the player who spent the off-season in the Metroplex have a head start on how to process any new data or changes to their mechanics.
They all believe that the offense has a chance to be one of the best in the majors, and a big part of that is that there is room for them to grow. These are former first-round picks or coveted international signings and all-star players in the minor leagues.
They also believe that this could be their season.
“One of the things we talked about this off-season that we’re excited about is we haven’t even reached our potential yet,” DeShields said. “We made steps last year, but there’s still so much more in the tank. I think this is the year where the core group of guys really feels like this is our team. We really take pride in that.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2019 at 12:18 PM.
