CLEVELAND – In the season’s final days, the Rangers are left to think not so much about what might have been, but what could be.
As in: Alejandro Osuna could be a part of the future.
In his third big league stint of his rookie season, Osuna has looked like a player who may have been overwhelmed in his first two, but one who has learned lessons to slow the game down. He entered Saturday slashing .300/.364/.383/.747 for September, playing every day. His three-run homer in the first inning Friday set the tone for the Rangers’ 7-3 win.
“He just keeps getting better,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said after the win. “He is throwing out quality at-bats.”
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Osuna, who turns 24 in two weeks, was probably called up a little earlier than he should have been. But he had impressed the Rangers – and anybody who watched the club – in spring training, gotten out to a hot start at Double-A Frisco and earned a promotion to Triple-A just a week before his eventual call up. When Joc Pederson suffered a hand fracture in late May, the Rangers, already needing something of a jump start for their offense, Osuna was called up.
Not surprisingly, he struggled. The game moves so much faster at the big league level. Fast play forces players to think fast. Too often, though, it often speeds up their decision-making, too. And patient hitters, like Osuna, can look jumpy. Especially when they are getting infrequent at-bats.
Osuna was not immune to those problems. He hit .164 in irregular play over his first stint, then went 1-for-9 over five games in his second. He didn’t have success, but it didn’t mean he didn’t learn. Since he came back up for Jake Burger, who dealt with a wrist issue, in late August, he’s looked both calm and productive.
“I learned to control my emotions more,” Osuna said. “When they sent me down, at Triple-A, I wasn’t trying to do too much. I was in Triple-A, I was playing easy. I was taking good at-bats, swinging at good pitches, everything. It helped me to realize that.”
Over the course of his three stints, Osuna has piled up almost 200 major league plate appearances as a rookie. Had things gone well for the Rangers, he’d have gotten maybe half that many. Maybe. Instead, he now has a pretty solid base to take into the winter to attack some weaknesses. The Rangers are going to need a right fielder next year since Adolis García isn’t likely to be back. Osuna would like to put himself in that conversation.
He expects to play winter ball with Jalisco after taking the last three seasons off from playing. He intends to work on his speed and lose a little bit more weight in the process.
“And I need to work on hitting the fastball,” he said. “I need to be more on time for that.”
With his rookie season about to end, though, Osuna has put himself in position to take things he learned at the major league level as a rookie and put them to use to create a more significant role in 2026.
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