Peguero Off to Solid Start Since Call-Up

Take a moment, if you will, to remember back on the way the career of Nelson Cruz took off.

Cruz wasn't a full-time player until age 26 and didn't have his breakout season until he was 28, when he made his first all-star appearance as a member of the Texas Rangers.

Now, the Rangers have another similar case in Cruz's Dominican countryman. Not to say Carlos Peguero is going to become an all-star and one day lead the majors in homers, but he is off to a nice start with the Rangers at age 28 after several attempts and failures to stick in the bigs with the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals.

Peguero was once a top prospect in the Mariners' system as an athletic, power-hitting corner outfielder but the most he could ever manage in Seattle was 46 games as a rookie in 2011 with an unsightly .196 batting average.

Now, he has two games as a Ranger and is one of the few sources of offense the Rangers have at the moment. In his two games since being called up to replace Ryan Rua on the roster, Peguero is batting .429 with a double and an RBI to go with two walks. He hasn't gone deep yet, but he certainly can, as evidenced by his 30 homers at Triple-A Omaha last season as a member of the Royals organization.

The book on Peguero this spring, when he hit the ball very well, was that he has no game defensively but can hit the ball and that he is deceptively fast despite his 6-5, 260-pound frame. We haven't had a chance yet to see that speed, but Peguero is undoubtedly an intriguing player and it'll be interesting to see what he does and if he sticks.

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