The Texas Rangers added some outfield depth by making a commerce with San Diego, buying outfielder Will Venable.
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With Josh Hamilton’s questionable health, and Leonys Martin appearing likely to be out for the year with his broken hand, Venable gives the Rangers some depth and insurance in the outfield. The move is nice considering the difference in ballparks and lineups, but it is not abundantly clear right away how often Venable will be in the lineup with Texas.
The 32-year old is hitting.258/.318/.378 this season with six homers and 11 steals. He graduated from Vista del Lago in 2012 and spent one season at New Mexico Junior College before being taken by the Rangers in the 16th round of the 2013 draft.
Texas has been without outfielder Josh Hamilton for the last three games because of a knee injury.
The 32-year-old Venable is expected to join the Rangers on Thursday, when they open a four-game series at Detroit.
To make room for Venable on the 40-man roster Tuesday night, Texas designated outfielder Michael Choice for assignment. 182 with a. 250 OBP, six doubles, nine home runs and 36 RBIs. The former first-rounder was acquired before the 2014 season from Oakland.
He has spent the majority of 2015 at Triple-A Round Rock, batting.
“Obviously we’d have liked to seen it pan out”, Daniels said.
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Venable shines against right-handers, and is hitting.266/.330/.397 in 252 plate appearances against them this year compared to a.194/.219/.226 line against southpaws. “His right-hand power would have been a good fit for us but it didn’t pan out that way, not for a lack of effort”.
