Other than Yu Darvish's season-ending surgery before the 2015 season ever began, there hasn't been any Texas Rangers storyline more depressing than that of Leonys Martin. Come to think of it, Martin might be worse only because we all imagine Darvish to bounce back and be his old, dominant self in 2016, and Martin? Well, not so much.
The Cuban center fielder, known for his blazing speed and cannon of an arm, has regressed this year to the point that he not only isn't the man in center field, he's basically nothing more than a defensive replacement in late innings.
Martin is awful against lefties at the plate, and he's awful against righties. He's just flat-out awful. His fall has been a dramatic one and it's come in his age 27 season, when players are supposed to peak in their athletic prime. Martin's doing just the opposite, and it's most likely going to signal the end of his Rangers' tenure.
The once touted prospect is batting .222 this year in 77 games, but that's not the really nauseating number. That'd be his .265 on-base percentage and his .588 OPS — both team lows for regulars and rivaled only by backup catcher Carlos Corporan. About the only think Martin has done better than previous years is hit home runs — he has five, compared to a career-high eight — but that's not what the Rangers want from him.
Delino DeShields has gone from being a Rule 5 draft pick this winter to playing circles around Martin and securing his spot as the team's starting center fielder and leadoff hitter — a spot for which Martin was once being groomed.
It's been an ugly fall for Martin, and you might not see him in a Rangers uniform for much longer, whether it's the result of a Rougned Odor-style demotion (that one seemed to work well) or him being included in a trade.
