There isn't a hotter hitter in the Texas Rangers lineup, heck, maybe even in the entire American League, than rookie center fielder Leonys Martin.
The Cuban import saw his MLB-leading 15-game hit streak snapped on Wednesday night but he did manage to reach on a fielder's choice and steal second base — his sixth straight game with a stolen base.
Yet, throughout all of that, Martin is hitting ninth in the Rangers' lineup, which isn't necessarily a bad idea. Knowing Rangers manager Ron Washington's loyalty to players and refusal to change, it's no surprise he has no plans of moving the hot Martin up in the order to help spark a struggling lineup.
"There’s no where else I can move him," Washington told ESPN Dallas. "He’s going to stay there. I’ll move him at some point maybe if someone at the top is out and I think he can fit in there, but right now he’s doing a good job there. I’m not going to mess with it."
Ian Kinsler is entrenched as the team's leadoff hitter, that much was proven when the offense went into a nose-dive when he hit the disabled list and Elvis Andrus moved up to the top spot in the order. Remember, Andrus played quite a few games as the team's No. 9 hitter in his rookie season and did a nice job of it, but Andrus is well-suited for the 2-hole for his bunting ability and the gap power that he has yet to really show this year.
Having Martin hit ninth essentially gives the Rangers three prototypical leadoff men hitting 9-1-2 in the order and tons of speed and base-stealing ability all together.
Now, if Kinsler can get back to hitting the way he was prior to his DL trip (he homered on Wednesday) and Andrus can continue his little resurgence after an awful first three months, then the Rangers' lineup could get cooking sooner rather than later.
