Why a longer leash for Willie Calhoun has gone a long way in making him a Rangers regular
The Los Angeles Angels started a left-hander late Tuesday night against the Texas Rangers, the same lefty who carved them up for 14 strikeouts a week earlier.
The Rangers countered with a lineup that included Willie Calhoun, a lefty hitter, in the clean-up spot.
One more time: Calhoun, a lefty hitter, batting fourth, against a lefty pitcher, Andrew Heaney.
Granted, the Rangers placed Hunter Pence, a right-handed hitter, on the 10-day injured list before the game with a bad back, and they continue to be without the prodigious power of Joey Gallo as he recovers from surgery for a broken right hamate bone.
But Calhoun has also been one of the Rangers’ most productive hitters the past month. He’s doing the things that allowed him to flourish in the minors and become the centerpiece of the 2017 Yu Darvish trade.
He just needed to be assured that playing time was, finally, coming en masse.
“It kind of feels like the minor leagues again where I’m going to the field knowing that I’m going to be in there,” said Calhoun, who homered off Heaney on Aug. 20.
“Playing loose and relaxed is always a lot better than having to go the field thinking you have to get four hits every day.”
He’s hardly the first player to thrive without having to worry about failure.
Nelson Cruz started to become the player he is in 2008 after the Rangers promoted him from Triple A in September and told him he would play every day, whether he went 0 for 4 the previous day or 4 for 4.
Gallo first found some big-league success in 2017 after Adrian Beltre opened the season injured. Gallo played the first two months without looking over his shoulder at who might becoming from the minors to replace him.
Gallo even felt some apprehension about his playing time entering this season, but became an All-Star with the fear of failing removed in spring training by manager Chris Woodward.
“That was the complete difference-maker for me,” Gallo said.
Woodward didn’t promise playing time to Calhoun upon his return from the minors July 26 after what he felt was a shocking demotion to the minors 10 days earlier. Woodward, though, told Calhoun that he wanted to see him every day and would play him regularly as long as Calhoun kept doing things the right way.
That didn’t mean collecting three hits a game. He would play the next day after an 0-fer as long as he wasn’t straying from the process that makes him good.
Calhoun has a better idea of what pitches he drives the best and how opposing pitchers are trying to get him out. He has maintained his improved conditioning from the off-season, and his new body is allowing him to repeat his swing mechanics.
He has also stopped putting so much pressure on himself, perhaps a lingering side effect of being the focal point of a major July 31 trade.
“I don’t like to promise anybody anything, but I did tell him I wanted to see him on an everyday basis,” Woodward said. “But he was going to have to earn that, which he clearly has. These have to earn every at-bat they get.
“Now, you’re going to have failure, and I’m not saying you can’t go 0 for 4. It’s just how you do it. I’m really proud of him. He’s really digging into a lot of things.”
Calhoun opened Tuesday batting .286 with 15 home runs and 34 RBIs in only 199 at-bats. He was slugging .568 and owned a .895 OPS despite a 3-for-16 showing over four games against the Chicago White Sox to open this road trip.
He had multiple hits in seven of his past 12 games and was batting .348 (16 for 46) in those 12 games.
And since the July call-up? A .295 average with 10 homers and 21 RBIs in 105 at-bats.
A little more leash can go a long way.
“It’s relieving,” Calhoun said. “In the minor leagues you know you’re playing every day and can have a bad game. The previous two years I would come back in and sit on that and be like, ‘Well, when’s the next time I’m going to play?’ The next time I did play, I felt like I had to get four hits.
“It’s hard playing like that, especially at the highest level. Honestly, that helps you out a lot, especially being a younger guy, being able to have a bad at-bat and know you can fix it the very next at-bat.”
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 8:44 PM.
