Robbie Grossman: Rangers Uniform 'Something Special'

The newly-signed Rangers outfielder made his first appearance at the training facility in Surprise on Sunday.

To hear Robbie Grossman tell it, the Texas Rangers presented him with an opportunity to play in 2023.

How much he plays, and where he plays, seems to be up in the air. So it’s up to others to fill in the blanks, at least for now, as Grossman takes part in his first workout with the Rangers on Monday.

It’s likely Grossman will compete with players like Bubba Thompson for a spot in left field.

Grossman, a 10-year veteran switch-hitter, has played mostly left and center field in his career. Lately, he’s been at his best hitting against left-handed pitching. In fact, his splits last season are rather startling.

With the Atlanta Braves in 2022, his splits were .320./.436/.443/.879 against left-handed pitching. Grossman typically hits from the right side in that situation.

Against right-handed pitching the splits plummeted — .163/.253/.256/.509. The true oddity is that his power numbers were better against right-handers — six home runs and 27 RBI — than against left-handers (one home run, 18 RBI).

It leads one to believe that Grossman would be more of a platoon outfielder who would start specifically against left-handed pitching. But he’s worked on balancing out the slash numbers for 2023.

Grossman described his offseason as working on “mechanical issues” that threw his swing out of alignment from the left-hand side of the plate.

“It was just some lower-half stuff and some of the moves I was making to the ball,” Grossman said. “It kind of threw me off, but I feel like I’m back to where I need to be.”

One could say the same about his landing spot. He was born in San Diego but grew up in Cypress, Texas, where he went to Cy-Fair High School. The Pirates took him in the sixth round in 2010 and eventually dealt him to his hometown team, the Houston Astros, in 2012 in a deal for pitcher Wandy Rodriguez.

Grossman made his MLB debut with Houston in 2013, played three seasons for the Astros and was released after the 2015 season. After that he played three seasons for Minnesota, two seasons for Oakland and nearly two for Detroit. The Tigers traded him to Atlanta at midseason in 2022.

Grossman has a .245 career batting average with 80 home runs and 336 RBI.

He’s crossed paths with current Rangers like Marcus Semien and Jonah Heim, both in Oakland, and pitcher Jake Odorizzi in Atlanta last year.

Grossman said the Rangers had been in contact off and on this offseason, but the talks only intensified in the last 7-10 days.

He sounded thrilled to be playing for the Rangers, even though he still makes his offseason home in Houston and grew up an Astros fan.

“As a kid that grew up in Texas, to put on a Rangers uniform is something special,” Grossman said.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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