Texas Rangers: Ranking Ian Kinsler against 2B all-time
By Manny Gómez
This offseason, Ian Kinsler decided to call it a career 1-hit shy of 2000. Where does the former member of the Texas Rangers rank among 2B all-time?
Ian Kinsler played 14 big league seasons on five different teams. He spent most of his career, eight seasons, with the Texas Rangers and will be remembered mostly for helping the 2018 Boston Red Sox secure their fourth World Series title since 2004.
For most of his career, Kinsler was mostly an understated player. With other second basemen (i.e. Robinson Cano, Dustin Pedroia, and Chase Utley) outshining Kinsler, this gave the impression that perhaps there wasn’t much that special about him. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
To begin, Kinsler is a 4x All-Star and 2x Gold Glove Award winner. That’s the same number of Gold Gloves as Cano, two more than Utley ever got. It’s also the same number of All-Star selections as Pedroia.
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In terms of wins, Kinsler fairs pretty well among second basemen all time. According to FanGraphs, Kinsler ranks 25th all-time with a 47.7 fWAR. That turns out to be higher than former AL MVP and Red Sox great Pedroia, who ranks 26th with a 46.6 fWAR.
What’s more, in terms of hits, despite retiring 1-hit short of 2000, Kinsler does happen to have more hits than the aforementioned Utley (1885 H) and Pedroia (1805 H). In all, this ranks Kinsler 33rd in hits among second basemen all-time.
Realistically, had Kinsler decided to play another season, it’s feasible that he could have finished his career 21st in hits among all second baseman.
Defensively, since the stat started being recorded, Kinsler ranks third all-time in defensive runs saved with 119. That falls behind only Utley (133 DRS) and Mark Ellis (132).
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In the end, the former member of the Texas Rangers probably won’t make the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ian Kinsler will, however, be remembered as one of the best second basemen in baseball history.