DALLAS — In a year where the Rangers were not expected to contend, but still had most of its position players cemented coming out of Spring Training, rookie sightings might not have been expected until the second half.
However, with a couple of significant injuries that plagued the Rangers often in the first half, Texas had to open its eyes to two of its young guns a little earlier than expected. All told, Texas has three players that could have received the title of First Half Rookie of the Year based on eligibility.
Carlos Tocci, the Rule 5 acquisition from Chicago by way of Philadelphia, was never going to be in serious consideration. On top of missing around a month of the first half with a “hip injury,” Tocci has garnered all of three hits in 41 plate appearances, even after taking over for Delino DeShields when the starting center fielder went down with an injury of his own.
Tocci has also made a couple of highly impactful baserunning mistakes that would be considered inexcusable by other Major Leaguers. If he can’t even prove to be a savvy pinch-runner, there’s no telling how long Tocci will actually remain with the organization after Texas has completed his Rule 5 commitments and sends him back down to resume developing in the minor leagues.
Ronald Guzman, however, is a strong candidate. The 6’7” first base defensive wizard was actually recalled when Elvis Andrus suffered a broken elbow and went on the 60-Day DL back in April. This set up a chain reaction of defense-related events. It pressed Jurickson Profar into service at shortstop with a questionable shoulder. When Rougned Odor went on the disabled list, it pressed Drew Robinson into a rotation in the infield as well.
Adrian Beltre ended up on the DL as well, which put Ryan Rua into the infield mix. With Guzman as a first-base only glove, Joey Gallo went to left field. Guzman, however, more than held his own while utilizing his length which garnered him the nickname Condor to make plays at the bag that the others simply cannot.
While Texas still committed 38 errors from the second base, shortstop and third base positions combined, there’s no telling how many more that would have been without the highly flexible and more than adept Guzman at first base. Guzman’s bat, however, leaves something to be desired.
Guzman was on fire at the plate during his first month up but has considerably cooled off in the two months since then, despite a grand slam in Baltimore to close out the first half,
Instead, our focus shines on a Hawaiian who doesn’t hold down any position. He currently functions as the team’s backup catcher, but has been the fill-in third baseman, fill-in second baseman and fill-in shortstop. He’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa and he’s been everything the Rangers have needed wherever they have needed it.
After several years of trying to make Jurickson Profar a super-utility player, Isiah Kiner-Falefa just got called up at the start of April and became it. It’s not that Kiner-Falefa excels at any one position but can play others – it’s that he can play at practically any position and not be a black hole.
He is sure handed, strong armed and has the right instincts to play at any point on the diamond. In fact, in the minors, Kiner-Falefa played everywhere except right field and never stepped on the mound. Don’t rule that out, though.
Perhaps even more impressive is Kiner-Falefa’s approach at the plate. He’s not a total machine with the stick, and just like in the field, he hasn’t excelled at either power or average, but most players see a dip in production at the plate when they’re bouncing around as much as he has. That’s not the case for “IKF.”
Since its highest point after 19 games of .292, Isiah has leveled out and sat at around the .250 line for two and a half months running. Overall, Kiner-Falefa ended the first half with a .251/.322/.349 slash, really a serviceable line for a fairly unheralded player who can catch and play shortstop without killing you.
The emergence of Kiner-Falefa as a catching possibility has been eye-opening. He’s caught everyone in the rotation, including some great blocking of pitches that have come in the dirt from Yovani Gallardo and Cole Hamels.
Kiner-Falefa also has developed a great rapport with fellow hyphenated player Austin Bibens-Dirkx, with IKF helping ABD to his two best pitching performances of his Major League career. He’s also thrown out three of six attempted base stealers, including one to end a game in his first start as a big league catcher.
Kiner-Falefa hasn’t exactly lit up scout’s eyes, drafted in the 4th round of the 2013 Draft and never appearing on a list of the Rangers’ Top 30 prospects on MLB.com. For a player like that to make the sort of impact he has – that is, unnoticed, except for the fact that you don’t feel like there’s a huge hole where he’s filling – is impressive.
To that end, the Rangers have determined that they can always find a spot for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, even when there have been opportunities to send him down. For that, he’s worthy of being the Rangers’ First Half Rookie of the Year.
Do you think Isiah Kiner-Falefa is the catcher of the future for the Rangers or could he end up manning third base? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
