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Welcome to our weekly series where 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 hasn’t been a good one. They won five straight series, then saw that streak end in a two-game set against dreaded Houston and are now coming off a three-game sweep in Boston. Remember that fun three-week stretch? Well, it’s over.
Who’s Hot?
Ronald Guzman — Hey, memo to Joey Gallo: One of the two positions you’re willing to play looks like it might be taken. Sorry, bud. Guzman has transformed from a desperation call-up into a big-leaguer in a matter of months. He’s, of course, hit his bumps, just like any other kid, but he’s on a heater at the moment. In his last six games, Guzman is batting .471 with a 1.176 OPS and he’s an above-average defender at first base.
Jurickson Profar — The former top prospect in all of baseball, turned huge disappointment, has become an everyday player for the Rangers in some way or another. In his last five games, the utility player extraordinaire is hitting at a .316/.381/.526 triple-slash and is finally arriving as a viable big-leaguer, albeit a bit later than the Rangers would’ve liked, as his trade value is severely diminished by the fact he’s about to be arbitration eligible.
Shin-Soo Choo — #TheStreak lives on. Choo, who has been vastly under appreciated in his time with the Rangers because of his huge contract, is finally an All-Star for the first time in his career, and he now has the longest on-base streak in Rangers history and the longest in all of baseball this season. For the year now, Choo is batting .290 with a .399 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. That’s the definition of an #elite player.
Who’s Not?
Delino DeShields — The speedy center fielder is likely to miss a few games after a collision with Ryan Rua on Wednesday, but it just might do him some good. In his last six games, DeShields is batting a good ol’ .000 with one walk and eight strikeouts in 22 at-bats. Disgusting.
Joey Gallo — Remember my memo to Gallo? Well, he’s losing much leverage for any positional demands with his performance this year. In his last six games, he’s batting .111 with a putrid .606 OPS. He’s now batting .186 for the year.