Rangers notes: Choo may talk softly but his bat is loud and clear

The players with lockers near Shin-Soo Choo like to give him a hard time for being such a soft-spoken presence in the clubhouse. Mitch Moreland often jokingly chides him from a few seats away to “keep it down, Choo!”

It happened again before Friday’s potential American League West title-clincher against the Angels. Choo was talking to a throng of media cameras about the torrid pace of his bat in the month of September.

He led the majors in the month with a .515 on-base percentage and a .404 batting average. He was tied for the league lead with 42 hits and 26 runs.

He’s the first player to lead the majors in those four categories in September since Willie Mays in 1958, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

It’s not just a September streak for Choo. He’s hitting .343 with 41 RBI since the All-Star break to help ignite the Rangers’ offensive resurgence. It’s a stretch of hitting that Choo says feels more “normal” than the struggles he endured earlier in the season.

“[Thursday] night was a great experience but we’re not done yet,” Choo said in his soft-spoken, understated way. “We believe in ourselves.”

The slow start in which he was hitting .096 at the end of April and still below .200 on May 11 was agonizing because he knew that wasn’t the type of hitter he proved he was in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Despite the slow start that followed a sub par 2014 season, his first with the Rangers, Choo never lost faith that he’d turn it around. But after scuffling through much of May and June, he decided to relax more at the plate.

“Last year and the first half this year I probably tried to do too much,” he said. “I wanted to show too much because people trusted me.”

That long view has paid off. He entered Friday’s game hitting .274. He raised his average above .270 on Sept. 18 for the first time this season. The historic run in September is gratifying for Choo, but only because it has helped the Rangers secure a postseason berth.

“Especially since the team is winning. I feel like I’m helping the team. That’s what makes me feel really good,” he said. “After the All-Star break that’s how I’ve felt, the confidence is back, everything is normal.”

Kela’s time

Rookie reliever Keone Kela has made just four appearances (four innings) over nearly three weeks. Manager Jeff Banister hopes to give Kela time to rest for the postseason. Kela has thrown 60 innings with the Rangers, 11 more than his previous season high in the minors.

“We’re still trying to keep the number of appearances and the pitches thrown by Keone in a very manageable spot,” Banister said. “So I’m trying to help the kid manage the number of appearances and innings.”

Banister hopes the extra rest will allow Kela to go back to back days in the postseason.

“We’re hoping to get to that point,” he said. “I don’t know the answer to that yet. We’ll go by where his energy level is at, how the body feels, how his arm responds and try to make the appropriate decision when it comes to when to pitch him.”

Chirinos rests

Catcher Robinson Chirinos did not start Friday’s game after playing back to back games for the first time since July. Banister said Chirinos felt good after Thursday’s game.

“My guess is we could have pushed him today,” he said. “It didn’t feel like it was necessary.”

Lewis’ load

Saturday’s starter Colby Lewis has a job to do whether the Rangers have already clinched the American League West title or not.

If they’ve already clinched, the Rangers could put Lewis on a short leash to give him more rest before the playoffs. It could be another week before his next starts so perhaps the work would be advantageous.

“Any time I step on the mound I’m going to take it seriously. So it’s not like I’m going to go out there and go through the motions by any means,” he said. “You definitely want to get work in but it’s not really about getting work it’s doing my job and getting a win for this team.”

Rangers’ ratings

The Rangers’ postseason-clinching win Thursday night scored a season-best 6.4 rating on Fox Sports Southwest in Dallas-Fort Worth and was the highest-rated Rangers game on the network in over two years, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Key stat

95 Losses for the 2014 Rangers, who have made the postseason a year after having the worst record in the American League. It’s only the fifth time a team has earned a postseason berth a season after having their league’s worst record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Texas joins the ‘08 Tampa Bay Rats as the only A.L. team to do it.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Rangers notes: Choo may talk softly but his bat is loud and clear."