Rangers Notes: DeShields Earns Texas Rookie Honors

Delino DeShields stole 25 bases for Texas last season while leading the ballclub with 10 triples.

Outfielder Delino DeShields was named the 2015 Texas Rangers Rookie of the Year by the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the BBWAA, wrapping up a breakthrough campaign in which he emerged as an everyday player and helped spark the top of the lineup.

Acquired last winter as a Rule 5 Draft pick from Houston, DeShields started the season on the bench behind incumbent center fielder Leonys Martin. By the beginning of May, however, Martin’s playing time had become more sporadic, and DeShields saw his batting average climb as he received more starts.

Martin made what turned out to be his final start in a Texas uniform on Aug. 2, and he had just one more at-bat the rest of the season.

DeShields, meanwhile, saw action in a total of 121 games for the American League West champion Rangers, hitting .261 with 25 stolen bases, 22 doubles and a team-high 10 triples.

He also drove in 37 runs and showed terrific plate discipline by drawing 53 walks, the most by an A.L. rookie last year and trailing only National League rookies Joc Pederson (101) and Kris Bryant (77).

Other than a mid-summer stint on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, the 23-year-old DeShields spent the bulk of the season as Texas’ regular leadoff batter, allowing Shin-Soo Choo to move further down in the lineup.

Mazara Headlines Roster Additions

The Rangers added four players to their 40-man roster Nov. 20 – outfielder Nomar Mazara and three pitchers – in order to protect them from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.

Mazara is considered to be the team’s top minor-league prospect after Joey Gallo reached the majors last summer while Jorge Alfaro and Jake Thompson were traded to Philadelphia.

Joining Mazara as first-time 40-man roster additions were left-hander Yohander Mendez and righties Jose Leclerc and Connor Sadzeck.

Texas also traded right-hander Spencer Patton to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for 19-year-old middle infielder Frandy Delarosa.

Profar, Brinson Named to All-AFL Squad

Former top prospect Jurickson Profar was one of two players from the Rangers’ system selected for the All-Arizona Fall League Team by MLB, along with 21-year-old outfielder Lewis Brinson.

Profar was in line to succeed Ian Kinsler at second base when Texas traded Kinsler to Detroit, but he spent much of the last two seasons coming back from a right shoulder injury instead.

Limited to designated hitter duties in the AFL, Profar hit .267 across 20 games for the Surprise Saguaros with six doubles and 20 runs batted in.

Brinson, who was the Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2012 draft, batted .300 for Surprise and connected for three triples with five stolen bases.

Gimenez Signed; Jones, Tepesch Non-Tendered

The Rangers and catcher Chris Gimenez agreed to a one-year, $975,000 contract this week while outfielder James Jones and right-hander Nick Tepesch were non-tendered by the ballclub, thus becoming free agents.

The 32-year-old Gimenez spent the first four months of last season at Triple-A Round Rock, but he joined the big-league club down the stretch when Carlos Corporan went down with a bruised thumb.

In another roster move, third baseman/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan was acquired from Seattle to complete the November trade that sent Leonys Martin to the Mariners.

Rangers Notes: Big Win Secures Sixth A.L. West Title

Cole Hamels is mobbed by teammates after his complete-game effort on Sunday helped Texas capture the division crown.

Having already defied expectations by remaining in the playoff hunt well into September, the Rangers stamped their ticket to the postseason last Thursday and won the American League West division outright with a 9-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday’s win also eliminated Los Angeles from playoff contention and, in turn, helped Houston nail down a postseason berth as the second A.L. Wild Card. The Astros had maintained first place in the division for much of the summer before stumbling and finally falling behind a hard-charging Rangers club in mid-September.

“I never stopped believing in this team,” Texas skipper Jeff Banister said. “They welcomed a rookie manager with open arms. We’ve had our backs to the wall a lot of different times this season, and every time we did, we’d fight and kick and scratch to get off the wall.”

Banister inherited a ballclub that finished last season with the worst record in the American League, then watched as projected No. 1 starter Yu Darvish was lost for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in spring training.

The Rangers got off to a rough start under Banister, losing eight of their final 10 games in April and finishing the month with a 7-14 record. Texas found itself as many as 9.5 games out of first place in mid-May.

Less than one week before acquiring Cole Hamels at the July trade deadline, the Rangers suffered an embarrassing 21-5 defeat to the Yankees at Globe Life Park. It was their third loss in a row and dropped them eight games behind the division leaders.

Instead of writing off the season and selling trade chips to front-running contenders, Texas made a heavy investment in Hamels with the hope that he would fortify the rotation heading into next year.

Although the Rangers lost each of his first two starts, Hamels proved his worth down the stretch with solid outings against divisional foes, and Texas went 10-0 over his final 10 starts from mid-August on.

His signature performance came when the Rangers needed it most, bouncing back from two early runs and throwing a complete game on Sunday to help Texas clinch the American League West.

Hamels allowed a two-run homer to Albert Pujols in the first inning, then limited the Angels to just one hit the rest of the way while his teammates went to work against L.A. starter Garrett Richards.

Prince Fielder delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the first to trim the Angels’ lead to 2-1, and Adrian Beltre turned the game around with a two-out, two-run homer off Richards in the fifth.

Texas then broke the game open by scoring six unanswered runs against the Los Angeles bullpen in the seventh inning, and Hamels sealed the victory by retiring the final six batters he faced in order.

“All I was thinking about was trying to manage the game and limit base runners and go as deep as I could go,” Hamels said. “I knew we were going to score runs. It was just a matter of time.”

Sunday’s win came just 24 hours after a gut-wrenching loss Saturday in which the Rangers gave up five runs in the top of the ninth inning, watching the Angels storm back for an improbable 11-10 victory.

Closer Shawn Tolleson was called upon to protect a 10-6 lead for Texas, but he gave up back-to-back homers to Erick Aybar and Kole Calhoun before being replaced by Ross Ohlendorf.

Angels catcher Carlos Perez tied the game with an RBI single off Ohlendorf later in the inning, and Johnny Giavotella followed with a base hit into center field to drive in Kaleb Cowart with the go-ahead run.

The Rangers will travel to Toronto this week ahead of the American League Division Series, which begins Thursday at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays will host Games 1 and 2 while Texas will host Games 3 and (if necessary) 4 at Globe Life Park.

Gallardo Tabbed to Start Opener

Opening Day starter Yovani Gallardo will get the nod for the Rangers in Game 1 against former Cy Young award winner David Price, who posted a 9-1 record with an earned run average of 2.30 for Toronto after getting traded from Detroit in late July.

Gallardo won both of his outings against the Blue Jays this season, highlighted by a 4-0 victory at Rogers Centre on July 27 in which he scattered three hits over eight-plus innings of shutout work.

He will be followed on the mound by Cole Hamels in Game 2, with some combination of Derek Holland, Colby Lewis and/or Martin Perez starting the third and fourth games for Texas.

In a minor roster move, right-handed reliever Spencer Patton was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock Sunday morning to bolster an exhausted Rangers bullpen, but his services were not needed thanks to Hamels’ complete game.

Beltre, Choo Garner A.L. Honors

It was announced Monday that third baseman Adrian Beltre had been named the American League Player of the Week (Sept. 28-Oct. 4) while outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was named A.L. Player of the Month for September.

Beltre, 36, batted .448 over the final week of the regular season with two homers, four doubles and 14 runs batted in. His go-ahead two-run shot on Sunday was the 413th long ball of his career, moving him past Alfonso Soriano and into 50th place on the all-time home run list.

The 33-year-old drove Choo in 20 runs and collected 12 extra-base hits in September while leading the American League in both batting average (.404) and on-base percentage (.515).

Rangers Notes: A’s, Jays Wrap up Series Wins over Texas

Keone Kela (left) gets a visit from Robinson Chirinos and pitching coach Mike Maddux during Thursday’s 6-3 loss to Oakland.

Since reaching a season high of six games over .500 (36-30) on June 17, the Rangers have lost eight of their last ten ballgames to fall back into third place in the American League West.

Oakland rolled to a series sweep of Texas last week at Globe Life Park in Arlington, beginning with an 8-6 win on Tuesday that featured the first rough outing of Chi Chi Gonzalez’ young career.

Gonzalez allowed two runs over the first five innings but ran into more serious trouble in the sixth, giving up an RBI double to Ike Davis before Josh Phegley delivered a two-run, game-tying double to drive Gonzalez from the game.

Reliever Keone Kela surrendered another run-scoring double to Marcus Semien before getting out of the frame, then gave up a two-run homer to Ben Zobrist in the seventh inning that proved to be the difference in the game.

Left-hander Wandy Rodriguez was hit early and often in his start Wednesday against the Athletics, who cruised to an 8-2 blowout victory behind a first-inning grand slam from Brett Lawrie and two RBIs apiece from Josh Phegley and Stephen Vogt.

Colby Lewis turned in a quality start Thursday but could not protect a pair of brief leads given to him by the Texas lineup. And the Rangers bullpen was once again shaky in a 6-3 defeat as Kela and Sam Freeman combined to allow three runs in just two-thirds of an inning pitched.

Moving on to Rogers Centre in Toronto for a weekend series versus the Blue Jays, Texas was shelled in Friday’s opener by a 12-2 final. Backup infielder Adam Rosales tossed the ninth inning in mop-up duty and turned out to be the Rangers’ most effective pitcher of the night.

On Saturday, Yovani Gallardo was backed by solo home runs from Mitch Moreland, Robinson Chirinos and Rougned Odor en route to a 4-0 victory, but Texas batters on Sunday went just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position as the Rangers dropped the rubber game, 3-2.

Beltre Returns Sooner than Expected

Despite making no rehab appearances after missing three weeks with a sprained left thumb, third baseman Adrian Beltre was activated from the 15-day disabled list last Tuesday, batting cleanup against Oakland and going 1-for-4 with an RBI in his return.

Right-handed pitcher Jon Edwards was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock in order to clear a spot for Beltre on the active roster.

Beltre had been placed on the DL on June 2, two days after he suffered the thumb sprain and laceration while sliding into second base trying to break up a double play against Boston.

“I don’t pretend to think he’s 100 percent,” Texas general manager Jon Daniels said of Beltre, “but whether we wait a week or have him go take a few at-bats on rehab, [the injury] was going to be there a while.”

Outfielder Michael Choice was recalled from Triple-A on Wednesday as left-hander Alex Claudio was optioned, although Choice returned to Round Rock the following day when reliever Spencer Patton was recalled.

Former Outfielder Hamilton Killed

Longtime major-league outfielder Darryl Hamilton was found dead last Sunday at his home near Houston, the victim of an apparent murder-suicide involving the mother of his youngest child.

The body of Hamilton, 50, was discovered in the front entrance to the house while his girlfriend, 44-year-old Monica Jordan, was found dead in another part of the home. Jordan died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Pearland Police Department.

The couple’s 14-month-old son was also in the house at the time of the shootings but was unharmed.

Hamilton spent just one of his 13 MLB seasons with the Rangers, but it was a memorable one as he was the leadoff batter and center fielder during the team’s first playoff appearance in 1996.

Rangers Notes: Gonzalez Spins Shutout in Second Start

Chi Chi Gonzalez (left) is greeted by catcher Robinson Chirinos after his 4-0 shutout Friday in Kansas City.

Making just his second major-league start, Texas right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez scattered three hits and tossed a complete-game shutout in the Rangers’ 4-0 win over the Royals last Friday at Kauffman Stadium.

Gonzalez, 23, very nearly made the team out of spring training before he was sent to Triple-A for more seasoning, and he has pitched well in each of his first three big-league appearances so far this year.

He required 116 pitches to get through his shutout against Kansas City, and Texas manager Jeff Banister admitted that the decision to send Gonzalez back out to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning was not an easy one.

“This is a young man that’s fresh in the big leagues,” Banister said. “I’m very conscious of where he is. I felt like there was not a lot of stress on any of the innings. I felt he was still in control, the velocity and pitch ability was still there.”

The complete-game shutout thrown by Gonzalez – which was the first by a Rangers rookie since Derek Holland in 2009 – helped Texas move into second place behind Houston in the American League West.

Backed by a seven-inning quality start from southpaw Wandy Rodriguez on Saturday, the Rangers took two out of three games from the Royals over the weekend before losing two of three this week in Oakland.

Nick Martinez gave up just one hit and did not allow a run across his six innings pitched Tuesday, and the Texas bullpen held off a late rally to preserve a 2-1 victory over Sonny Gray and the A’s.

On Wednesday, however, a 10-strikeout performance by Yovani Gallardo went for naught as the bullpen failed to hold a 4-2 lead, with three Texas relievers giving up one run apiece in a 5-4 loss to Oakland.

The Rangers’ relief corps was even worse in a lopsided 7-0 defeat Thursday afternoon, as the trio of Sam Freeman, Jon Edwards and Ross Detwiler combined to allow six earned runs on three hits and three walks in just one inning of work.

Despite losing their series at O.co Coliseum, the Rangers were provided with an opportunity to face Athletics reliever Pat Venditte, a switch-pitcher who logged three and one-third scoreless frames against Texas while throwing both left- and right-handed.

Tate Selected in First Round of Draft

With the No. 4 overall pick in Monday’s first-year player draft (their highest selection since 1986), the Rangers took right-handed pitcher Dillon Tate out of the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Texas chose the 21-year-old Tate after shortstops had been taken with each of the first three picks – Dansby Swanson (Diamondbacks), Alex Bregman (Astros) and Brendan Rodgers (Rockies).

Tate was converted from a closer into a starter last season at UCSB, posting an 8-5 record with 111 strikeouts across 14 starts while relying on an above-average fastball and a sharp breaking slider.

In the second round of the draft Monday night, Texas picked high school outfielder Eric Jenkins at No. 45 overall. Jenkins, who had committed to UNC-Wilmington, projects as a center fielder whose strongest tools are speed and hitting for contact.

Gonzalez, Russell to Join Rangers Hall of Fame

Two-time American League Most Valuable Player Juan Gonzalez and former All-Star reliever Jeff Russell were announced this week as the newest members of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame.

Gonzalez hit 372 home runs and racked up 1,180 RBIs — both franchise records — during his time in a Rangers uniform (1989-99, 2002-03), winning A.L. MVP awards in both ’96 and ’98 while anchoring the Texas lineup during the club’s first three playoff appearances.

Russell (1985-92, ’95-96) began his Texas career as a starter before he was moved to the bullpen full-time in 1989. He remains the team’s all-time leader with 406 relief appearances and ranks second behind John Wetteland with 134 saves.

The pair will be honored as the 18th and 19th members of the Rangers’ Hall of Fame in a pre-game ceremony July 11 at Globe Life Park.

Texas Activates Blanks, Options Patton

First baseman/outfielder Kyle Blanks was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday while right-hander Spencer Patton was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock in a corresponding roster move.

The Rangers also released left-handed pitcher Mike Kickham – who had been claimed on waivers from Seattle last month – from the Round Rock roster.

Rangers Notes: Beltre Connects for 400th Career Home Run

Adrian Beltre hit his fifth home run of the year – and the 400th of his MLB career – Friday against Bruce Chen.

Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre became the 52nd member of the 400-home run club on Friday when he hit a first-inning solo shot off Indians starter Bruce Chen.

Beltre’s was the second of back-to-back homers hit Friday by the Rangers against Chen, who had given up a two-run blast to Prince Fielder just four pitches earlier (and who was designated for assignment by Cleveland the following day).

With Friday’s milestone, the 36-year-old Beltre joins an elite group of players who have amassed 400 home runs while spending at least 75 percent of their games at the hot corner; the others are Chipper Jones, Eddie Mathews and Mike Schmidt.

“He’s the best professional I’ve ever been around,” first-year Rangers manager Jeff Banister said of his All-Star third baseman.

“How he shows up, [whether he’s] 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, it’s the same … I don’t believe that he’s a guy who seeks or searches for any accolades or recognition. He just loves to play the game.”

Those accolades have now been accumulating for well over a decade, however, and they continue to build a strong case for Beltre as a Hall of Famer once his playing days have come to an end.

Across parts of 18 seasons with the Dodgers, Mariners, Red Sox and Rangers, Beltre has garnered four Gold Glove awards, four Silver Sluggers awards and four All-Star Game appearances.

Among all active players, he currently ranks second in games played (2,460), third in doubles (535) and fourth in runs batted in (1,397) while delivering consistently stellar defensive gems along the way.

Beltre’s 400th home run was the highlight of an otherwise lackluster homestand for Texas that saw the team go 3-4 versus Kansas City and Cleveland, splitting a four-game set with the Royals before dropping two out of three to the Indians over the weekend.

Odor Optioned to Triple-A

With nearly twice as many strikeouts (25) as base hits (13) across his first 90 at-bats this season, second baseman Rougned Odor was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Monday while the contract of infielder Thomas Field was purchased to replace him on the active roster.

The poor start by Odor came after he enjoyed a solid debut performance in 2014, which easily earned him the starting nod when Jurickson Profar re-injured his right shoulder this spring.

Utility infielder Adam Rosales is expected to see most of the starting time at second base for Texas for the foreseeable future, although Field was in the lineup Monday and led off the seventh inning with his first career home run.

In other roster news, outfielder Jake Smolinski was optioned to Round Rock prior to Wednesday’s game when first baseman Mitch Moreland was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list.

Fujikawa Added, then Removed from ‘Pen

The Rangers’ bullpen has undergone a fairly major overhaul across the past several days, with much of the focus centered on the addition and subsequent subtraction of right-hander Kyuji Fujikawa from the roster.

Fujikawa was activated from the 15-day DL on Thursday and tossed one perfect inning of relief that night, but he was roughed up for three earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning in Friday’s loss to Cleveland.

The 36-year-old Fujikawa was then designated for assignment Sunday as righty Tanner Scheppers was recalled from Triple-A to take his spot in the bullpen.

In addition, left-hander starter Ross Detwiler was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday (retroactive to May 15) while Texas purchased the contract of veteran Ross Ohlendorf from Triple-A Round Rock.

Last Wednesday, right-hander Stolmy Pimentel was designated for assignment while the Rangers purchased the contract of southpaw Sam Freeman, and Spencer Patton was optioned to Triple-A to clear the original roster spot for Fujikawa on Thursday.