The Rangers have been dealt a serious damage blow on Saturday when DH Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch of their loss to the White Sox. Pederson initially stayed within the recreation however was later lifted for a pinch-hitter. Supervisor Bruce Bochy revealed to reporters (together with Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News) that Pederson suffered a fracture in his proper hand when he was struck by the pitch. Pederson informed reporters, including McFarland, that he expects a restoration timeline of six weeks for the damage.
It’s a blow to a Rangers membership that has already struggled to remain wholesome this 12 months. Pederson will now be a part of Corey Seager and Evan Carter on the shelf from the membership’s lineup, along with accidents suffered by reliever Chris Martin and starters Kumar Rocker, Jon Gray, and Cody Bradford. These accidents have contributed to Texas’s struggles this 12 months, as they’ve posted a lackluster 25-28 document that’s left them three video games out of each a Wild Card spot and the AL West. With Josh Smith masking for Seager at shortstop and Sam Haggerty holding down middle subject instead of Carter, the Rangers will seemingly be pressured to get artistic with changing Pederson.
One possibility could possibly be first baseman Blaine Crim, who didn’t document successful in a five-game cup of espresso earlier this 12 months however sports activities a .301/.369/.558 slash line this 12 months. One other could possibly be outfielder Dustin Harris, who has a 104 wRC+ in 45 journeys to the plate on the large league stage and is the membership’s solely left-handed hitter already on the 40-man roster at Triple-A. Harris could possibly be a very enticing possibility if the Rangers want to proceed beginning backup catcher Kyle Higashioka at DH towards left-handed pitchers, a task by which the membership is already carrying third catcher Tucker Barnhart to be able to accommodate on a extra common foundation.
Turning again to Pederson, it should be acknowledged that for nonetheless a lot shedding his offensive prowess from the lineup could sting on paper, he hasn’t delivered a lot manufacturing in his first season with the group. Signed to a two-year, $37M assure over the winter, Pederson has hit a paltry .132/.266/.240 (51 wRC+) in 144 plate appearances thus far within the season. That’s hardly manufacturing a membership will miss from their lineup, but it surely’s unlucky timing nonetheless giving that Pederson had simply begun to look extra like his regular self on the plate: he’s hitting .220/.429/.444 with 4 extra-base hits and an eye-popping 26.5% stroll fee over his final 16 video games.
The Rangers can solely hope that he’ll be capable of choose up proper the place he left off when he returns to motion later this summer season. A six-week timetable would depart him poised to return in early July, shortly earlier than the All-Star break. Tough as his begin to the 2025 marketing campaign was, it goes with out saying that Pederson generally is a dynamic addition to just about any lineup when wholesome; whereas he virtually completely performs towards right-handed pitching, the slugger slashed a wonderful .262/.365/.485 with a wRC+ of 135 and 61 homers in 387 video games over his final three seasons. That’s the Sixteenth-best wRC+ amongst all hitters with at the least 1000 plate appearances in that span, sandwiched between Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Jose Ramirez on the leaderboard. If Pederson can supply that form of manufacturing to the Rangers within the second half, it needs to be simple for followers to overlook his first-half struggles and damage woes as long as Texas hasn’t already fallen out of the playoff dialog earlier than he returns.
