Rangers notes: Hamilton swinging again, hopes to return as pinch-hitter soon

Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton swung a bat for the first time Wednesday since having surgery Sept. 11 to repair a tear in his left knee.

Hamilton hit in the batting cages and waited to see how it responded. A couple hours later it was fine, he said, so he went back and hit some more.

An improvement was detectable immediately following surgery, Hamilton said. He hopes he’s available to pinch-hit by Sunday.

“As soon as I came out of surgery I straightened my leg to see if I could fire my quad, which I hadn’t been able to do the past month,” he said. “Every day it’s gotten better.”

Hamilton still hopes that he’ll recover enough to be more than just a pinch-hitter. At this point, it’s more about re-tuning his swing after being out for much of the past month.

“At least when [I] pinch-hit, not needing to be pinch-run for, that’s the first step,” he said. “We’re not all worried about the knee now. It’s being out of the baseball routine for a while. Biggest thing now is making sure your legs are in shape and make sure you don’t pull or strain anything.”

Hamilton said the team’s success has made his absence easier to take.

“Just to watch the jelling that’s happened. It was good before but when you win and grind some of these games out like they’ve been grinding out and come out on the winning side, it makes you closer as a team,” he said. “We fought and Banny has made sure we stayed focused on one game at a time. We’re not done yet. But we’re in a good spot.”

Rangers manager Jeff Banister said the team will not try to speed or slow Hamilton’s recovery.

“We’ll take him when the medical people and Josh decide that he’s ready,” he said. “I’m not sure what we get past pinch-hitting. We’ll take that. If it’s more, that’s a huge plus for us.”

Choo having fun

Shin-Soo Choo is having fun again. And certainly it’s the most fun he’s had since joining the Rangers in 2014. That season he struggled through two nagging injuries as his batting average plummeted during the summer. He finished at .242, the lowest in his 10 full seasons.

It got worse before it got better for Choo. He started 2015 in the worst slump of his career. He didn’t break the .200 barrier until May 12. But since the All-Star break, Choo is hitting .328. He went 4 for 5 on Thursday.

It’s the winning, Choo said, not the personal success, that is making it fun again.

“I picked the Texas Rangers because they were winning. I wanted to be part of a winning team,” he said. “Winning brings a lot of energy and energy makes it fun. The second half has made it fun, but mostly the winning.”

Choo said he turned it around at the plate after taking the long view. Instead of trying to raise his average 50 points in one game, he used patience to rediscover his comfort zone at the plate.

“I tried to fix it in one game or one at-bat, but it’s impossible,” he said. “I feel good. Comfortable with confidence. It’s how I’ve felt in the past in Cincinnati and Cleveland.”

Beltre honored

Third baseman Adrian Beltre won the 2015 Lou Gehrig Award, the first Rangers player to earn the honor that goes to players who best exemplify the character of Gehrig. The award has been presented annually by the Columbia University chapter of Phi Delta Theta since 1955. Beltre received the award before Thursday’s game.

Quotable

“First night I pinch-hit him every fan in the house was standing on their feet chanting Napoli. How could I not play him again?” — Banister, kidding about using Mike Napoli in left field again Thursday against a right-hander pitcher

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Rangers notes: Hamilton swinging again, hopes to return as pinch-hitter soon."