The Rangers announced that they’ve recalled outfielder/designated hitter Willie Calhoun from Triple-A Nashville and placed shortstop Elvis Andrus on the 10-day injured list due to a hamstring strain. Texas also optioned righty Wei-Chieh Huang to Nashville and recalled left-hander Jeffrey Springs.
Calhoun, of course, isn’t going to step into shortstop duties in Andrus’ absence. He’s in the lineup at designated hitter tonight, while veteran utilityman Logan Forsythe is getting the first look at short in place of Andrus. Calhoun figures to split his time between left field and designated hitter; he played second base earlier in his minor league career but has logged just three games there in 2019 and didn’t play the position at all in 2018.
It’ll be Calhoun’s third straight season of at least partial duty with the Rangers since being acquired as the centerpiece of the trade that sent Yu Darvish to the Dodgers. At the time, Calhoun was considered to be one of the game’s premier minor league hitters but lacked a defensive home. While the questions about his glovework haven’t subsided, his 2018 struggles at the plate in the Majors (.222/.269/.333) and a decrease in his production in Triple-A (.294/.351/.431) caused his stock to slip a bit.
Still just 24 years of age, however, Calhoun has begun to rebuild his credentials with a robust .304/.416/.557 start to the season in Nashville. After hitting just nine home runs in 470 Triple-A plate appearances in 2018, he’s already slugged eight long balls in 138 trips to the plate so far in 2019. He’s still viewed as a potential long-term piece for the Rangers, and Delino DeShields’ recent demotion to the minors has pushed Joey Gallo from left field into center field, thus creating some room for Calhoun to join the roster. So long as Calhoun hits, today’s promotion could prove to be a move with long-term ramifications.
As for Andrus, it’s not yet clear just how much time he’s expected to miss, but any trip to the injured list is critical for a player with an opt-out clause at season’s end. The 30-year-old had gotten out to a terrific .325/.373/.510 start to the season. Through 169 plate appearances so far, Andrus has tallied six home runs, nine doubles, a triple and eight stolen bases while striking out at just a 16.6 percent clip. He’ll have the ability to opt out of the final three years and $43MM remaining on his contract after the season, though given the fact that he’d receive a qualifying offer in that scenario and would be entering his age-31 season in 2020, exercising that provision could be a long shot.
Willie Calhoun is turning into a major disappointment after coming over from the Dodgers. The Dodgers knew Calhoun was a limited commodity and just didn’t fit in their organization.
The Rangers and their non baseball GM bought it hook line and sinker.
Deserves one more extended look though. No more benching him for two days because he put up an 0-for-4.
Agreed….I believe he can become a decent hitter at the high level….my concern is, can he find a position he can field at a high level …… ideally a replacement long term for Shoo and Pence.
I am glad Dodgers let Calhoun go he was going no where with them! Only bad thing was Darvish was not worth it!
Worth the shot though tot ale on Calhoun. They only gave up Darvish who stinks and is injury prone.
Willie has homered 2 days in a row since coming up, Hopefully he will get a decent shot at staying.
Finally!
The Rangers are lost in space. Pretty pathetic organization.
Lol pathetic organization? The Rangers were in back to back world series in the current decade. How many other teams have done that this decade? If they actually pull it off in 2011, none of this domino effect happens, because JD isn’t having to deplete the farm system to make up for his players blowing two leads in a close out game. He tried to squeeze the farm to get them back, but it just proved that they weren’t one guy away anymore. It’s not pretty right now, I admit, but “pathetic organization” seems a bit much. Everyone loves to dog the Rangers for some reason. Just go root for your team and leave ours alone. We will be fine.
baffling… apparently after a decade of winning and holding a very talented Astros team back for much longer than they should have, people have decided that the Rangers are the worst organization in baseball? What kills me is these dopes won’t be around when Texas wins again, they will be silent. classic internet trolling. I stand with B-minus.
I think most of them are really young. Or the remenants of the bandwagoners we gained during the good years. They don’t watch enough baseball to remember the days before JD, or the slick trades that netted Elvis and Cliff Lee. We have some young talent, its just that everyone is 20. Hold thy comments until 2021 my friends haha!
Smh,Pathetic organization really,as of a couple days ago Texas was still number one in runs scored per game,Houston may have passed us by now, we have never had a problem hitting, Our downfall has been pitching, I to wonder who is judging our talent at times because we let someone walk and next week MLB shows are talking superstar status of him, I also know in the last 10 years Texas has been the top 5 in wins, I do believe the summer heat kills our team in the second half of the season, Example of our pitching taking I.V. bags before game time, but hey that problem is fixing to be solved with the new stadium. As for pitching we had it in 2010-2011 in the World Series runs. We will get it again and go back to the show.
As for Willie Calhoun,He needs to stay up at this level and get a decent look.
I am hoping for one of Crouse, Winn or Ragans to turn into a legit ace. If we can grow an ace, coupled with a new ballpark, then I think we can get a rotation togethor behind that one guy. There are some promising young arms in the org., but everyone is 20
It is disappointing that DeShields, Odor and Mazara still have not progressed. I have read that Choo is now considered a better defensive player that Marzara. The jury is still out on Guzman. The young pitching we have counted on continue to struggle with health issues. These are not good signs.
Gallo and Andrus are encouraging. Minor and Lynn look like solid starters. A new stadium makes signing good FA starting pitching possible for Texas.
I don’t see anyone other than Calhoun in the minors as an immediate help for this team, at least at this point in the season. The Rangers FO did another stupid premature call up of a prospective SP and damaged him.
There are genuine mixed signs out there.
A Pollyanna evaluation on this team is just as ridiculous and an Eeyore one.
What did you expect from Deshields? The guy was a rule 5 for a reason. Hearn was in AAA for a reason, he is close to ready. Is a starting pitcher in the mlb really more likely to get injured in a game than a AAA pitcher? How did they break him? I do not understand the hate the FO garners. Yes people get hurt. rebuilds take time, even minor rebuilds. Everyone is young. patience is a virtue. I think we will be good again.
All that to say, I do share your concern with Odor. I didn’t love that extention when JD made it. Especially now that it looks like we have some young middle infielders in the system that are getting into AA and probably AAA by the end of the year.
Willie Calhoun just hit a 2 run homer.
Willie homered again today
I love how all these Astros fans are calling the Rangers a “pathetic organization.”
It’s almost like they forgot their beloved Astros had to tank for half a decade to get to this point.
more than half haha
Glad to see Willie Calhoun get another chance but I saw no real change. Yeah he hit a couple of home run against some pretty weak KC Pitching and made some contact, That’s a plus for him. Still swinging at high pitches out of the trike zone. Well see in the next few days if he has made any improvement.
The Rangers problems are pretty easy to spot. JD Daniels has done nothing in the last two years to make improvements. He says he’s rebuilding one thing for sure hes not seeking players in the peek of there careers., But hes not spending any money either.
Just a guess on my part but we have a 1.3 Billion dollar stadium eat to open in 2020,The local radio station bring this up as well,He’s holding money for 2020 and 2021, Rumors here are Garret Cole and the 3rd baseman from the Rockies that’s a free agent in 2020, all we fans can do is buy into the gossip and wait. As for all the cheap pitching we have now, Daniels was trying to strike it rich at the trade deadline, he’s got two possibilities maybe three,Minor,Smily, and a relievers. Hope it all pans out, I will say this,Texas is in the top 5-10 in all offensive categories.
Set to open, not eat to open