Just a couple of weeks ago, Jake Smolinski was a 25-year-old prospect in Double-A Frisco.
Between then and now, Smolinski has been promoted to Triple-A Round Rock and then to Arlington earlier this week when the Rangers shuffled their roster, DFAing Donnie Murphy and sending MIchael Choice to Round Rock.
In his first big-league start Tuesday, Smolinski had his first big-league hit — an RBI double — and then had another hit after that. He was moved up in the order to the No. 5 spot, which tells you all you need to know about the current state of the Rangers lineup, on Wednesday night and had three singles in his first three at-bats.
With Shin-Soo Choo still battling a sore ankle, Smolinski will surely be seeing more time in left field, whether he's playing well or not. Good thing for the Rangers is, he's hitting the ball.