Texas Rangers: Which key pieces can settle the search for offense?
By Travis Koch
Danny Santana must thrive in the three-hole for the Texas Rangers.
Santana emerged last season, knocking 28 home runs, slugging .534, and driving in 81 runs over 130 games. He finished second on the team in all three categories.
Riding the momentum, Rangers’ manager Chris Woodward slotted him third in the batting order to begin the 2020 season. Though Santana did make history by recording the first-ever hit at Globe Life Field, he failed to reach base a second time in the series against the Rockies.
A bad stretch of games from Santana is far from incriminating, but it brings attention to the impact he has on the offense as a whole. Texas must get production out of the third place in the lineup, and Santana is the ideal man for the role.
He swings for power and average from both sides of the plate, plus he impressed last year by hitting .301 with runners in scoring position. He’s prone to the strikeout, but that should remedy with Gallo protecting him in the order.
If Santana can’t thrive in the three-hole, then the Rangers are in trouble. Andrus has hit third before, but he doesn’t offer the sufficient power that the role traditionally demands. Frazier no longer has that type of bat, and Rougned Odor‘s erratic hitting should be reserved for the bottom of the lineup. The Rangers could move Gallo up a rank, but then the same questions would fall to the clean-up spot.
Frankly, it’s Danny Santana or bust in the three-hole this season.