Texas Rangers: Should Jurickson Profar See Time this Year?

The Texas Rangers have sustained some great losses this offseason without really adding that much. Jurickson Profar is the shortstop of the future, but right now there isn’t any room for him–at that position.

One of the huge losses sustained was that of Josh Hamilton. Hamilton was a great center fielder offensively and pretty close to average defensively. Craig Gentry is listed as the center fielder right now, but could Profar see time?

The Rangers obviously want Profar to play. They aren’t going to have him in the majors just to be a platoon or backup player. But there is a chance that Profar could beat out Gentry for the job in center, since he probably can’t beat Elvis Andrus for the spot at shortstop.

Profar has been called “a switch hitting Justin Upton” (scoutingbook.com) which in my opinion would be amazing for a shortstop or a centerfielder. He hit for a good average of around .280 in the minors the last couple of seasons. But this kid takes a lot of walks. With a batting average of .280 and an on base percentage of around .370, this kid has a fantastic eye.

He doesn’t have the speed that the Rangers would get from Gentry but Profar will have a better batting average, on base percentage and home run total.

He is a better offensive player than Gentry, but he will most likely be a downgrade defensively just because of how hard he has worked for the past couple of seasons to transition from being a pitcher to being a good defensive shortstop.

The offensive upgrade that the Rangers would get from Profar would definitely make up for the defensive downgrade. But thats just me.