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Texas Rangers Who’s Hot? Who’s Not? Week Seven

Cole Hamels is gearing himself up to be a nice trade piece in July

By aboedeker
MLB: Texas Rangers at Houston Astros Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome to a new weekly series, as we’ll take a look at a few Rangers who are on heaters and more who are ice cold in something we’ll call “Who’s Hot? Who’s Not?”

The last week of Rangers baseball has been pretty much the same as the several weeks before it — a couple of really good games mixed with more stinkers, all with some encouraging performances from young guys mixed in. Plus, we got to see Big Sexy do his thing again and a two-run strikeout! Hooray. Let’s get to the action.

Who’s Hot?

Cole Hamels — The veteran lefty has apparently fixed whatever was wrong earlier in the season, and now he’s making it a near-100 percent certainty he’s traded to a contender in July. Unfortunately, he probably won’t net a whole lot in return because of a pricey team option in 2019 for a guy who’s been trending downward over the last two years, but he’ll definitely get some nice bites from contending clubs. Hamels’ last outing was brilliant, as he allowed just one hit in six shutout innings in Houston. Over the last month, he’s sporting a 2.73 ERA in five starts and has 27 Ks in 29 2⁄3 innings, proving he can still miss bats.

Brandon Mann — Cool story here. Mann, of course, is the 34-year-old who made his big-league debut last week after 16 years in the minor leagues. All he’s done is appear in two games, work 3 1⁄3 innings and allow zip — zilch.

Jurickson Profar — It’s been a pretty slow week for the Rangers’ bats, but Profar deserves some recognition. In his last five games, he’s 6-for-21 with four doubles and just one strikeout. The one thing that stands out about Profar this year is his competitive at-bats. For a guy who’s sporting a .231/.308/.392 slash line, it sure seems like he’s been more successful. He’s definitely proving he belongs in the big leagues.

Who’s Not?

Joey Gallo — The struggles continue. After last year looked to be the breakout year and discovery of the “new Joey Gallo,” he’s reverted this year. Over the last week, he’s 2-for-19 and looks pretty lost.

Matt Moore — Bye, Felicia.