Leody Taveras Running Red Hot for Texas Rangers

After a slow start, Leody Taveras has turned up the heat for the Texas Rangers at the plate.

At one point this season, center fielder Leody Taveras was batting .105 for the Texas Rangers.

That was only about two weeks ago.

After his career performance against the Los Angeles Angels in Sunday's 16-8 win, Taveras is batting .300.

Taveras and the American League West-leading Rangers (20-13) open a three-game series at another division rival in the Seattle Mariners (17-17) on Monday night.

Taveras had a monster game at the plate Sunday, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, providing the capper to a tremendous start for Texas' road trip. He also continued his great trend line in day games. Entering Sunday, Taveras led all MLB hitters with a .556 average in the sunshine.

Against the Angels, Taveras batted .538 (7-for-13) with four runs and four RBI. The Rangers won two of three games. 

“I was trying to make it simple, go with the plan and just do my best,” Taveras said. “I’ve been working on my timing and [Sunday] was really good.”

In the top of the third Sunday, his two-run single scored Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran to give the Rangers a 5-3 lead. That ended up being the go-ahead hit.

Taveras doubled to drive in Jung and Jonah Heim in the fourth. He also had singles in the second and seventh. Hew flew out in his final plate appearance in the seventh, as the Rangers batted around.

It’s been a sharp rise for Taveras the past two weeks.

Taveras has now reached base safely in 12 of his last 14 games. His 3-for-3 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday featured a home run and snapped an 0-for-11 span, the only real drought Taveras experienced during the 14-game stretch. Those were his final three games against the New York Yankees and dropped his averaged to .204.

So, yes, Taveras’ average has jumped nearly 100 points in five games. And he’s 19-for-51 in his last 14 games.

Taveras started the season on the injured list after suffering a right oblique strain during Spring Training. He did a rehab stint at Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock before being activated April 11, but only batted .214.

He started slowly. He has two hits in his first six starts and bottomed out at .105 after going 0-for-1 against Kansas City Royals on April 18.

Taveras started gathering steam after that and, other than the Yankees series, has been red hot ever since.

Jon Gray (1-1, 4.40) starts for Texas in the opener of the Seattle series, while the Mariners go with Logan Gilbert (1-1, 4.01) for the 8:40 p.m. CT start.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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