CLEVELAND – Tony Beasley knew. Two years ago, almost from the day Eli White started to transition from infielder to outfielder, the Rangers coach proclaimed...
that could impact how the Rangers deploy their outfielders in the not-to-distant future.
The first two catches, on which White was playing extremely shallow, were reminiscent of a pair of over-the-shoulder leaping grabs eight-time Gold Glove winner Jim Edmonds made in 1997 with the Los Angeles Angels and in the 2004 NLCS with St. Louis. The highlights tell a visual story. The numbers only reinforce it. On each of his first two catches Tuesday, White traveled at least 90 feet at a maximum sprint speed of 30 feet per second to track the balls down, according to MLB’s StatCast system. Also, according to the data, he ranks tied for third among all outfielders in “Outs Above Average” with five.
All of this could have the Rangers re-thinking their outfield alignment. White has split his starts pretty evenly between center and left to this point. He’s typically slid to left when starting alongside Adolis García, so the latter can play center, and so Kole Calhoun, a veteran right fielder can play where he is most comfortable. But Calhoun has started shagging balls in left and “that’s the direction we may eventually go,” Woodward acknowledged.