The Rangers couldn’t get their offense going this year, but an area where they were elite was on the defensive end and they are getting recognized for it with five players being named as finalists for the gold glove award.
Jacob deGrom
Fielding isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when people think of deGrom, however he put on a clinic this year with a perfect fielding percentage with 18 putouts and 13 assists. He is yet to get a gold glove and this could be the year that he claims it.
He is going up against Max Fried of the Yankees and Luis Serverino of the Athletics.
Marcus Semien
This was a down year for Semien on the offensive end with a .230 batting average with 15 home runs and 62 rbis. He also missed time which is something that he rarely does and that caused him to miss the end of the year when the team caught fire.
His defense didn’t slump though as he continued to show why he is one of the best defensive second baseman in the MLB. He had five defensive runs saved and was worth seven outs above average. He is looking to claim his second gold glove in his career, his first came with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021.
Semien is going up against Andres Gimenez of the Blue Jays and Luis Rengifo of the Angels.
Wyatt Langford
Wyatt Langford took another step forward this year and is looking like he could be the future superstar of the Texas Rangers. His offensive game speaks for itself as he collected his first 20-20 season this year and will be looking to build on it.
One of the knocks on Langford during the draft process was his defense. It seemed like those concerns were overblown, he played a great left field for the Rangers this season and was great in center when he had to fill in due to injuries.
He had 12 defensive runs saved along with five outs above average. He faces off against Steven Kwan of the Guardians and Tyler Soderstrom of the Athletics.
Corey Seager
Seager’s defense is probably the most underrated part of his game. Most people think of Seager as a bat first shortstop who is a mediocre fielder. After years of being a bad defender and just ok at position, Seager put together a great year.
He had 16 defensive runs saved and had four outs above average. He faces off against Taylor Walls of the Rays and Bobby Witt Jr of the Royals.
Adolis Garcia
Adolis Garcia was another Ranger that had a down year offensively and he might have been the most disappointing player. He claimed that he was going to hit 50 home runs before the year started, he didn’t even hit 20.
Garcia hit .227 and just couldn’t recapture his 2023 self as he was moved up and the down lineup and dealt with injuries as well. He did post a career high in defensive runs saved with 16 with one out above average. It will be seen if he will return to the team next year.
He faces off against Cam Smith of the Astros and Rangers killer Wilyber Aberu of the Red Sox.
Tags: Adolis Garcia Corey Seager Gold Glove Jacob deGrom Marcus Semien Wyatt Langford
Categorized: Rangers