PEORIA, Ariz. — You can’t win a full-time job in spring training, but you can win the opportunity to have first dibs.
Both Evan Carter and Josh Smith appear on track to win opportunities not only to start on opening day, but to eliminate the chance of being dubbed “platoon” players.
Though the left-handed hitting duo are just a combined 1 for 12 against lefties, manager Skip Schumaker has been pleased with their approaches and has said he wants to wipe aside past results in his evaluations as best he can.
Carter, 0 for 5 against lefties this spring, is a career .083 hitter in 60 major league at-bats against lefties, a very small sample size. Smith, 1 for 7 against lefties this spring, had a .502 OPS against lefties last year playing more regularly against them.
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“I do feel like [Carter] is going to get an opportunity to play on an everyday level, for the most part,” Schumaker said of Carter. “As far as the left-on-left thing, he’s such a good defender, he can run the bases really well. If he he mixes in a walk, a stolen base and a run and plays elite defense, that’s super valuable. He doesn’t have to slug lefties, just put together good at-bats like he does against right-handers, I think he has a good chance to become an everyday player like he wants to be.”
This doesn’t mean he won’t sit against some lefties. The Rangers would love Carter to be able to start 130-140 games and, if he stays healthy, would mix in the occasional off day for rest and maintenance of his body. It would only make sense for those off days to come against lefties if there is a right-handed hitter available.
The same goes for Smith, who has had dramatic second-half dropoffs in each of the last two years while essentially working as an every-day player. Smith has had a very strong spring and is 8 for 24 (.333) with four extra-base hits and four walks.
The Rangers went to spring indicating that Smith was in competition to win the second base job, but his expected chief competitors from the right side, Cody Freeman and Ezequiel Duran, have been hurt and ineffective at the plate, respectively. The Rangers are looking more at Sam Haggerty as a potential right-handed compliment to Smith at second. Haggerty is 9 for 20 (.400) thus far with two extra base hits and four walks.”
“I think that both of those guys, you protect against certain, really [elite] starters,” Schumaker said. “Both guys will get opportunities. And then you see what happens over some period of time; I don’t want to put a deadline on it. There are guys on the bench that you want utilize and you need to utilize them, that’s how the game works. But [Carter and Smith] have both earned the opportunity, so far, in my opinion.”
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