These six Texas Rangers have been the most impressive at spring training
The first spring workout for Texas Rangers pitchers and catchers was Feb. 12, and the initial full-squad work out followed five days later.
The first game was a week ago, and the Rangers played their sixth Cactus League game Thursday.
They still have a long way to go before breaking camp March 21 and settling on their roster for Opening Day on March 26. Yet, two weeks’ worth of baseball is plenty of time for players to make favorable first impressions.
These six, according to five keen observers, have done just that.
Taylor Hearn
The 6-foot-5 left-hander from Royse City missed all of last season after a disastrous MLB debut, but his elbow is healthy and his stuff has been sharp.
He featured a three-pitch mix Tuesday, opening some eyes with how good his changeup was. Hearn has made a subtle change to his delivery in the offseason without it affecting his mid-90s velocity.
Pitching coach Julio Rangel: “The command has been much better. The slider is much tighter than it was last year. He’s made some adjustments with his hands. He’s not going over his head anymore. It’s more compact. He’s a tall guy, and a lot of tall guys have trouble keeping everything tight and close to the body. It’s working for him.”
Lance Lynn
The right-hander will make his Cactus League debut Friday against the Los Angeles Angels, a division foe who is likely to see him pitch as many as five times this season.
Lynn just wants to get him some work, though it sounds like he might be ready to go already.
Shortstop Elvis Andrus: “I faced Lynn a couple days ago, and he was really impressive. The way the ball was moving. The late movement, that was the best. Everyone knows these guys have great command, but late movement is what takes you to the next level.”
Jonathan Hernandez
Expect this right-hander to make the Opening Day roster as a reliever, despite some offseason talk of giving him a chance to be starter once again. That could still happen down the road, but not in 2020.
So what’s different about him now than a year ago? He’s now in his second big-league camp and has some MLB time. That means a lot to a young pitchers.
Right-hander Edinson Volquez: “He’s more mature now. He looks like he knows what he’s doing now. Last year was a little different because it was his first time in spring training and everything was hurried. But this year, he’s slowed it down a little bit, and he’s more confident. He knows he has an opportunity to pitch in the bullpen. If he keeps everything that way, I think he’s going to be really good in the big leagues.”
Leody Taveras
No surprise here, considering all that has been said and written about him.
Taveras, one of the Rangers’ top prospects, is living up to the billing as a premier defensive outfielder, but things are also starting to click with his swing. The Rangers want to see more power, and they believe it’s on the way.
Manager Chris Woodward: “The swing, I wouldn’t say I’ve been surprised, but I feel like he’s ready to take the next step. I know the organization has been waiting for that to happen, and sometimes with younger players it takes a while for things to click on a consistent basis. I think the power’s in there. I think it’s tapping into it more consistently.”
Willie Calhoun, Scott Heineman
One the outfielders, Calhoun, is on the Opening Day roster. Heineman is a candidate to be on the bench because of his ability to play center field, but he needs to be able to stay consistent while not playing regularly.
Heineman, who works out in the offseason with National League MVPs Ryan Braun and Cody Bellinger, has struck on something: Being himself instead of trying to mimic his workout partners.
They have absorbed the analytics given to them and have been open to making adjustments.
Hitting coach Luis Ortiz: “Willie, with the commitment to get better and try stuff. Filtering was big for him, but now it’s not, and remembering the next day. We used to remind him, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’ Now he’s leading us.
“The last 10 days it’s probably Heineman. Even though he worked really hard in the offseason with those guys, he had that eureka moment that, ‘I need to be me. What they do doesn’t apply to me.’ Some of those internal conflicts and battles that he wanted to make them work, he realized, ‘There’s a formula for me.’”
