The subtle re-emergence of Texas Rangers 1B Prince Fielder
Plenty of the wind was taken out of the Texas Rangers‘ sails last season due to injuries galore and a managerial indiscretion on a personal level. Now Ron Washington is getting a chance at redemption, but he has some work to do if he plans to catch up with a former player under him in Texas — first baseman Prince Fielder.
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While Washington’s new squad, the Oakland Athletics, haven’t been anything to write home about so far, neither are Fielder’s Rangers. But Fiedler made the right decision to have a corrective surgical procedure fixing vertebrae in his neck last year when the Rangers’ season already appeared a lost cause. He took care of his body and long-term outlook in 2014 with some maintenance and now, Fielder is back to taking care of business.
Fielder is back stronger than ever it would appear. Even in the NFL’s offseason though, more banter and tweets about the Dallas Cowboys and their ongoing affairs seem prevalent at a higher rate in the Dallas area than there is interest for the Rangers. The Lone Star State is a football one wholeheartedly, but for anyone paying attention to sports story lines in Texas, Fielder has been a highlight.
Arguably, the 31-year-olds best season came in 2007 with the Milwaukee Brewers. Fielder smashed an NL leading 50 home runs, drove in 119 and finished third in MVP voting. He had some pretty darn good years thereafter as well, including a .299-46-141 line in 2009 and a .299-38-120 outing in 2011. The 2011 production came in his last season as a Brewer. His Detroit Tigers years weren’t as kind to the slugger.
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The most noticeable decline in production was in Fielder’s power stroke. In 2012, he failed to hit over 30 home runs in a season for the first time dating back to that incredible 2007 campaign. Then the homers dropped to 35 in 2013 and his OPS fell to .819 in contrast to his previous seven-year average of .933. The Tigers pulled the plug and traded him for Ian Kinsler that offseason to improve their middle infield situation.
After it was announced last season Fielder would go under the knife, few Rangers fans probably felt optimistic about his return. Not only has Fielder returned, he is back, and seemingly in a bigger way than ever. A stable career .286 hitter, it’s nearly June and the left-handed behemoth is slashing a very proper .341/.397/.521 (.918 OPS) with seven home runs and 27 RBI. Not only does the power appear to be re-emerging, but everything else is clicking too.
Opposing pitcher’s should be recognizant of Fielder’s return to form. He only has 11 walks this season, but that’s mostly because he is hitting everything. The left-handed hitter is getting to and turning routinely on balls down and in on him, spraying hits all over the field.
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It’s not often that a rather rotund hitter (Fielder is listed at 5-foot-11, 275 lbs) outhits all equally talented but more fleet footed hitters in the league. However, he’s doing exactly that right now. Fielder’s 57 hits currently lead all American League hitters, along with Jason Kipnis‘. Only a career .266 hitter versus lefties, Fielder is hitting them at a .286 clip this season. He is seeing the ball very well and crushing righties with a .368 batting average compared to a lifetime .296 mark.
While the Texas Rangers may not be wholly fine as the MLB season veers towards June, their blue chip bopper Prince Fielder is definitely in one piece. He helped in yesterday’s wining effort against the Yankees with a two homer, four RBI performance.