As of this morning, there are 135 major league players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship. In order to qualify, you need 3.1 plate appearances per the number of games your team has played. The Rangers, for example, have played 150 games. So, in order to qualify, a Rangers player would need 465 plate appearances.

Seven Rangers hitters have reached that threshold. In order from most to least: Semien, Garcia, Smith, Seager, Lowe, Langford, and Taveras.

The Rangers have the dubious distinction of have a player at or near the bottom in some really important categories.

Out of 135 batters, Leody Taveras ranks number 135 in OPS at .629. Dead last. The worst. OPS is a measure of a player’s ability to make a difference, taking into consideration on-base percentage and power. Taveras is last.

In batting average, the Rangers have the guy who is number 131 out of 135. That would be Adolis Garcia, and his miniscule .216 average. Only four hitters are worse.

Garcia is tied for third worst in all of baseball in on-base percentage at .277. Only two players are worse, with the Pirates Bryan De La Cruz at the bottom, just four points lower.

In RBIs, the Rangers have the third to worst guy there, too. Leody Taveras with his 41 comes in at number 133. Milwaukee’s Sal Frelick has 29. 

Taveras is also near the bottom in hits. His 99 hits ranks him at 124 out of 135.

Only seven players have fewer home runs than Taveras’s 10. The aforementioned Frelick has 2.

The offseason decision on Leody Taveras should be an easy one. What to do about Adolis Garcia, that’s a whole big vat of worry.

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