Three Bold Rangers Predictions For Second Half

From a potential career milestone to a backstop trying to prove himself, these things COULD happen down the stretch for Texas.

The Texas Rangers begin their post All-Star Break schedule with an afternoon make-up game with the Miami Marlins at 12:10 p.m. CT on Thursday. With 72 games left on the schedule, here are three bold predictions down the stretch.

Marcus Semien will be a 30-30 player

Semien already has a career-high 17 stolen bases going into the All-Star Break. Rangers manager Chris Woodward seems to really like using Semien’s speed aggressively on the basepaths. The move of Semien to leadoff in late May, one could argue, helped Semien get out of his slump to start the season. So it’s not far-fetched to believe he could have 30 or more steals by season’s end. He has just 13 home runs so far. But he didn’t hit his first home run until May 28. From that point to the All-Star Break, Semien has hit a home run every 17 plate appearances (210 plate appearances total). At that pace, he’ll need roughly 300 more plate appearances to get to 30 home runs (assuming four plate appearances per game). There are 72 games left. It’ll be tough, considering Semien is likely to get a day or two off down the stretch. But he’ll get plenty of chances and he has at least one more red-hot stretch ahead of him.

You’ll see some Cole in your future

Whether it’s Cole Winn or Cole Ragans, at least one of the two Rangers’ Top 30 prospects will hit Globe Life Field at some point in 2022. It could simply be when the rosters expand in September. But with the Rangers searching for consistent options beyond Martín Pérez and Jon Gray in the starting rotation, they could give either of their former first-round picks a turn or two at the end of the season. It’s tempting to give Ragans the first shot. He missed 2018-20 with injuries and the minor league COVID cancellation. But now that he’s healthy, he’s blown through Single-A Hickory, Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock in less than two seasons. Winn has been at Round Rock all season, and while his ERA is above 6.00, he’s 6-1. It may be nothing more than a cup of coffee for either, or both, but I think the Rangers will give at least one of them a turn.

Jonah Heim will be the best hitting catcher in the AL

One could make the argument that Jonah Heim deserved a spot in the All-Star Game as a backup catcher for the American League. I think it’s possible he could have the best overall hitting numbers in the AL for all qualifying catchers by season’s end (note that he doesn’t qualify yet because he’s not averaging the 3.1 plate appearances needed, but it’s coming). Among catchers that have played at least 60 games, only Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk (.315) and Boston’s Christian Vazquez (.273) have a better batting average than Heim’s .262. Only Seattle’s Cal Raleigh has more home runs (13) than Heim’s 12. Heim has 33 RBI, which is four behind Kirk, who leads AL catchers with 37. It’ll be a race between Heim, Kirk and Vazquez down the stretch, but Heim has taken well to the everyday role since Mitch Garver’s injury and subsequent surgery. He’s trying to prove to the Rangers he’s "the guy" for the future. His batting average may not quite approach Kirk’s, but when you combine the power numbers, I think Heim will be looked upon with just a bit more favorably by season’s end.

You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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