Projection Time: Quarter-Pole

The Rangers are 41 games through their season and are sitting a game out of the AL West standings with a 22-19 record. That means we're roughly a quarter through the season (it's actually a 164-game pace, but it's as close as we can get).

We'll start with the big bats in the lineup:

Prince Fielder — 40 games, 9 runs, 29 hits in 149 at-bats (.195), 7 doubles, 2 home runs, 21 RBIs, 29 strikeouts, 13 walks.

Projected Fielder — 36 runs, 116 hits in 596 at-bats, 28 doubles, 8 home runs, 84 RBIs.

Yikes. That has to change if the Rangers are going to have any kind of success this year.

Adrian Beltre — 41 games, 18 runs, 42 hits in 155 at-bats (.271), 9 doubles, 7 home runs, 27 RBIs, 13 strikeouts, 11 walks.

Beltre has been about what you expect from an ageless wonder with a beaten body. He's yet to miss a game this year, which will change.

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Projected Beltre — 72 runs, 168 hits in 620 at-bats, 36 doubles, 28 home runs, 108 RBIs.

Like I said, that's all you can hope for from a guy like Beltre. He just continues to produce at 37 years old.

Rougned Odor — 41 games, 28 runs, 46 hits in 167 at-bats (.275), 11 doubles, 1 triple, 7 home runs, 21 RBIs, 27 strikeouts, 5 walks.

Projected Odor — 112 runs, 184 hits in 668 at-bats, 44 doubles, 4 triples, 28 home runs, 84 RBIs.

That's an all-star caliber season right there, and if he can indeed score over 100 runs and drive in nearly 90, he's going to be one of the best second basemen in the game.

Ian Desmond — 40 games, 30 runs, 42 hits in 153 at-bats (.275), 10 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 25 RBIs, 35 strikeouts, 13 walks, 8 stolen bases in 9 tries.

Projected Desmond — 120 runs, 168 hits in 612 at-bats, 40 doubles, 4 triples, 24 home runs, 100 RBIs, 32 steals in 36 tries.

A quick look at those numbers tells you one thing: Rangers MVP. Seriously, after the horrid start Desmond got off to, he's been their best player and the projections bear that out. One hundred runs, 100 RBIs, 24 homers and 32 stolen bases? That's AL MVP territory, much less Rangers.

As for pitchers, the Rangers have two pitchers on pace for 200 innings (Colby Lewis and Martin Perez) while Cole Hamels would fall just short at 196 innings. Hamels would, however, finish with more than 200 strikeouts.

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