Adolis Garcia, Joey Gallo and the Texas Rangers look to get the bats back on track
A no-hitter can throw an offense for a loop, and so can the next day’s opposing starting pitcher if he’s as effective as Domingo German was Thursday against the Texas Rangers.
No-hit a day earlier by Corey Kluber, the Rangers managed six hits off German but were blanked once again.
They carried a 22-inning scoreless streak Friday into the opener of a three-game series against the Houston Astros.
The Rangers can hit fastballs, and teams know that. Kluber and German pounded away with off-speed pitches with great success, and teams are going to keep doing that until the Rangers make them stop.
Not every Rangers player is susceptible to spin. It just seems that way.
There are talented hitters in that lineup, and the best of the best each has a trait that separates him from the others.
So, who’s the best? It’s not quite that easy to define that in the day and age of analytics.
Manager Chris Woodward, though, broke it down Thursday morning before German and two relievers blanked the Rangers.
Best hitter right now: Adolis Garcia
The biggest thing Garcia has going for him is his consistency, Woodward said. Garcia is consistently hitting the ball hard and hitting them where fielders aren’t stationed more than any of his teammates.
He had the highest exit velocity Thursday, Rangers or Yankees, at 112.4 mph on a 98.7 mph pitch from Aroldis Chapman, and produced a hard out (105.3 mph) Wednesday against Kluber. That ball traveled the furthest of any batted ball in the game.
Garcia entered Friday batting .287 with 11 home runs and an .888 OPS.
Best pure hitter: Willie Calhoun
Woodward went with the lefty-hitting Calhoun, who has been a fixture atop the lineup against right-handed starting pitchers. Calhoun is hitting to all fields this season and is doing damage on high fastballs that others frequently swing through.
He collected a double Thursday off German, one of three balls he hit with an exit velo of at least 104.4 mph. Calhoun finished the day with a .274 average and .793 OPS. He was the last out of Kluber’s no-no, with a grounder at 99.1 mph.
Best bat-to-ball skills: Isiah Kiner-Falefa
If any Rangers player was going to break up Kluber’s gem, Woodward thought it would be Kiner-Falefa. He and Charlie Culberson, who was the Rangers’ only base runner, were the only starters who did not strike out vs. Kluber, and Kiner-Falefa lined out twice.
Kluber was around the strike zone, and Kiner-Falefa is among the league leaders in contact rate. On pitches in the strike zone, he is making contact 92.9% of the time. He’s at 82.8% overall.
Kiner-Falefa is batting .276, though his average was flirting with .300 only a week ago.
Best strike-zone recognition: Nate Lowe
The first baseman has been a hit in his first season with the Rangers. He has cooled off some since a torrid start that saw him lead baseball in RBIs over the first week of the season, but was still hitting .250 with a a .763 OPS.
Lowe has drawn 26 walks and is changing the way teams position their fielders with 40.2% of his batted balls going to the opposite field. That requires a hitter to let pitches travel deep and still make a good swing.
His chase rate of 20% is the best among Rangers regulars.
Most talented hitter: Joey Gallo
Some would probably label Gallo as the Rangers’ most frustrating hitter (.213 average), but the guy has one of the most unique set of skills in baseball.
His power and hard-hit rates are usually among the best in baseball, as is his walk rate this season. Gallo is always going to strike out a lot and yank balls into defensive shifts, but he’s a feared hitter when everything is clicking.
Gallo’s power has shown up more the past three weeks as he has expanded his strike zone and as pitchers throw him more strikes thanks to being sandwiched between Lowe and Garcia.
