Once headliner of Yu Darvish trade, Willie Calhoun finds himself demoted, at career crossroads | Evan_P_Grant
Willie Calhoun Jr., the gem of the Yu Darvish deal, needed a visit to a notorious California prison to rediscover baseballCalhoun is hitting .136 for his 44 at-bats this season. The great majority of them have come against right-handed pitchers in a time-share arrangement at DH with Nick Solak. He’s 4 for 36 as a DH; 4 for 39 against right-handers.
It’s consistent with his last three seasons. He’s averaging 92 mph off the bat on grounders, fourth highest in the majors, but 88.4 mph off the bat on balls in the air. He is hitting .257 on those balls in the air, the lowest among 375 major leaguers with at least 100 results over the last three seasons.
, he’s also had IL stints in each of the previous three seasons for muscle strains. As a result, he’s played in just 60% of the Rangers’ games since his last callup.And Calhoun admitted he’s struggling with the Rangers’ new philosophy to get more balls in the air. He contends that as a shorter hitter, he doesn’t have the same leverage of a much taller player like Nathaniel Lowe.
Quite frankly, at this point, it doesn’t matter to the Rangers which way he does it – their way, his way, Ted Williams’ way - as long as he hits.. Right-hander A.J. Alexy will be his teammate at Round Rock. Infielder Brendon Davis is already out of the organization. Alexy had a couple of starts in the majors last year and will likely get more chances this season. But the Rangers aren’t worried about the return on a five-year old trade. They simply want to see Calhoun hit.