So, right now, who benefits the most from the acquisitions of Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Kole Calhoun?
Other than the obvious answer that Rangers fans do because we now have actual talent we can root for, it would seem like the two players who will benefit the most will be Nathanial Lowe and Josh Jung
Lowe had an interesting year. He started out on fire, driving in 22 runs in April and putting up an OPS of .845. Then, just as quickly, he fell off the radar, with a .667 OPS in May and a not much better for a first baseman OPS of .762 in June. Then he changed his name from Nate to Nathanial. His last month was back to where he began, with an .842 OPS in September on the strength of a .387 on-base percentage.
But once Joey Gallo was dealt, there was nobody in the lineup to fear. So, they never really had to pitch to Lowe. Even so, in the end, his numbers were respectable. He drove in 72 runs and had an OPS+ of 113, meaning he was 13 percent above average. Only Adolis Garcia and Andy Ibañez were over 100.
Now that there are actual major league hitters, and really good ones at that, Lowe should benefit by getting better pitches and having more opportunities to drive in runs.
On the other side of the infield, Josh Jung should benefit greatly from having hitters like Seager and Semien to learn from. Also, now he can just come up and learn the game. He is not expected to be the Great Savior of the offense. He won’t have to press and feel he has to do more than a rookie should have to do. Bringing him up in 2021 would have put so much unnecessary pressure on him. He would have been the only offense the Rangers had, which would have been totally unfair to Jung.
He can come up, relax, be a sponge, and develop on his own time. He won’t be centerpiece of the offensive.
Who knows who else the Rangers will sign or trade for once the billions of dollars are sliced up to everyone’s liking, but Lowe and Jung can take one huge collective exhale and just come out in 2022 and play.
The pressure valve has been turned off.