Rangers 40-Man Roster Wraps: Meibrys Viloria

Meibrys Viloria carved out a role as Jonah Heim's backup, but lost the job in the midst of a crowded situation behind the starter.

InsidetheRangers.com will review each of the players on the Texas Rangers 40-man roster at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

C Meibrys Viloria

Statistics for 2022: Viloria batted .159/.280/.270/.550 in 26 games (10-for-63). He scored 10 runs, had 17 total bases, one double, two home runs and five RBI. He walked 11 times, struck out 29 times and did not steal a base. Viloria played 20 of his 23 games at catcher and was charged with five errors.

Season Transactions: The Rangers signed Viloria to a minor-league deal last December and assigned him to Triple-A Round Rock after spring training. The Rangers called him up on June 21 and sent him back to Round Rock on Sept. 5.

Season Summary: Viloria came up when the Rangers were looking for something consistent at backup catcher behind Jonah Heim. Viloria handled the staff well, but he hit under .200 for the second straight MLB season (2020 with Kansas City; he didn’t make it to the Majors in 2021). In fact, his batting average has dropped each of the last three seasons. He had a hot three-game stretch from July 30-Aug. 2, during which he hit both of his home runs. The high mark was on Aug. 2 against Baltimore, when he went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and an RBI. He also scored twice. But it wasn’t near enough to keep him in the Majors when the Rangers were ready to give Sam Huff more time as the back-up.

Contract Status: Viloria is a pre-arbitration player who is not eligible for free agency until 2028.

What’s next: The Rangers have a slightly complicated catcher situation. Jonah Heim is expected to be the main starter. Huff is a former Top 30 prospect whose bat the Rangers are enamored with. Veteran Mitch Garver is coming off arm surgery and is eligible for arbitration. All three hit better than Viloria, and that might make him the odd-man out if the Rangers choose to keep three catchers coming out of spring training in 2023.

2022 Texas Rangers 40-Man Roster Wraps:

Ezequiel Duran | A.J. Alexy | Josh Smith | Tyson Miller | Corey Seager | Joe Barlow | Leody Taveras | Brad Miller | Drew Strotman | Josh Jung | Jon Gray | Taylor Hearn | Mitch Garver | Kevin Plawecki | Mark Mathias | John King | Charlie Culberson | Adolis García | Andy Ibáñez | Cole Ragans | Kole Calhoun | Brett Martin | Jose Leclerc | Marcus Semien | Matt Moore | Glenn Otto | Eli White | Jesus Tinoco | Sam Huff |

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