Everyone knew Texas Rangers prospect Jurickson Profar was untouchable at the July 31 trade deadline, but some fans balked at the idea of not going after a big name like Zack Greinke or even Cliff Lee at the risk of losing the club's second-best prospect, power-hitting corner infielder Mike Olt.
Now, we're seeing why as the Rangers called Olt up from Double-A Frisco following Wednesday night's dramatic come-from-behind victory in a somewhat surprising move. We discussed the possibility of Michael Young seeing less playing time as the season goes on, and this could be a precursor to that exact idea.
Olt is a third baseman by trade, but has been groomed in Frisco to play first base where he could end up splitting time with Mitch Moreland, who would likely start against right-handed pitching while Olt could go against lefties.
Olt has made an incredibly fast track to the bigs. At 23 years old, he has just over 1,000 plate appearances in the minors, but this year he is raking the ball. He's hitting .288 for the Rough Riders with 28 home runs and 82 RBIs. He also has an insane strikeout to walk ratio for a power hitter with 101 strikeouts and 61 walks.
Don't expect Mike Olt to be the Rangers' version of their rival Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout, who was called up after a month of futility and, by himself, resurrected the Angels' season. But Olt could add a nice spark to a club that is in desperate need of something.
