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Texas Rangers: 2016 Season In Review

By Bobby Mueller

Aug 2, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A general view of a Texas Rangers hat and glasses in the dugout during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Texas won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 2, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; A general view of a Texas Rangers hat and glasses in the dugout during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Texas won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 9, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre (29) celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre (29) celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

The Good

3B Adrian Beltre (6.1 fWAR, 640 PA)—The great Adrian Beltre, a national treasure, just keeps on hitting. After a slightly down season in 2015, Beltre bounced back with a 32-homer, 104-RBI season that should place him in the top 10 of MVP voting in the American League. Sometime next June, Beltre will get his 3,000th hit, which should open the doors to the Baseball Hall of Fame when he finally calls it quits in the future.

OF Ian Desmond (3.3 fWAR, 677 PA)—The Rangers signed Desmond to a bargain-basement 1-year, $8 million free agent contract before the season and got the player Desmond was a few years ago. Desmond handled the transition from shortstop to the outfield well enough that he was moved from left field to centerfield during the year. He tied for the best on-base percentage of his career and was a 20-homer/20-steals guy for the fourth time in his career. He will get paid this winter.

SP Cole Hamels (3.0 fWAR, 200.7 IP)—Along with Martin Perez, Hamels was one of only two starting pitchers on the Rangers to pitch more than 120 innings in 2016. He led the team in innings pitched, wins, and strikeouts. Hamels now has a streak of seven consecutive seasons of pitching 200 or more innings.

SP Yu Darvish (2.7 fWAR, 100.3 IP)—After missing the entire 2015 season, Darvish came back as good as ever. The only drawback to his season was that he was limited to just 17 starts. When he was on the mound, he was very good. He had the highest strikeout rate in the American League for pitchers who threw more than 100 innings and the difference between his strikeout rate and walk rate was also the best in the league.

SS Elvis Andrus (2.1 fWAR, 568 PA)—Andrus had a bizarre season. Before this year, he had established himself as a below-average hitter but good fielder. He had a wRC+ of 80 or below in each of the three previous seasons, which means he was at least 20% worse than league average as a hitter. This year, he was 12% better than league average (112 wRC+), thanks mainly to a career-high .362 on-base percentage. Unfortunately, his glove was questionable. Based on the Fangraphs’ defensive metric, Andrus was the second-worst fielding shortstop among players with more than 400 at-bats. Baseball-Reference wasn’t as critical of his fielding, though, so it’s hard to say exactly how poor his defense was. The above average offense put him in the “Good” category. 

2B Rougned Odor (2.0 fWAR, 632 PA)—Odor really packed a punch this year. His 33 home runs put him in the top 10 all-time for home runs in a season by an American League second baseman. He also scored 89 runs, drove in 88, and stole 14 bases. As good as he was in these categories, he had real struggles to get on base, finishing with a .296 on-base percentage. The low on-base percentage and favorable home park for hitting made his wRC+ just 106, meaning he was 6% better than league average after league and park effects are taken into account. He also rated poorly with the glove by both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference.

C Jonathan Lucroy (1.7 fWAR, 168 PA)—The Rangers acquired Lucroy in a trade with the Brewers and he solidified the catching position for the team down the stretch, hitting .276/.345/.539 with the team. He was worth 1.7 fWAR in just two months of playing time, which ranked him eighth for the entire year among AL catchers. All of the players above him had many more plate appearances.

RP Matt Bush (1.5 fWAR, 61.7 IP)—The Matt Bush story is interesting in many ways, but his comeback this year with the Rangers after not pitching professionally since 2011 is quite amazing. He was the most valuable reliever on the Rangers, posting a 2.48 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 61 2/3 innings. His average fastball velocity of 97.1 mph put him in the top 10 among relief pitchers in all of baseball. Let’s hope he can continue to beat the addictions that led to him being out of baseball for so many years.

RP Sam Dyson (1.0 fWAR, 70.3 IP)—The Rangers struggling to find someone to close out games for the first month of the season, then finally settled on Sam Dyson in early May. He didn’t pick up his first save of the season until May 11, but finished the year with 38, third in the American League. Dyson had a slightly better ERA than Bush (above), but his 3.62 FIP was not as impressive as Bush’s 2.74.

 

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