For years now, the Texas Rangers have been searching for an everyday first baseman they didn't have to platoon with someone else depending on the pitching matchup.
Ever since the Rangers traded Mark Teixeira to the Atlanta Braves for pretty much their entire current roster, they've been on the lookout for the next big name to come along and take hold of the position on an everyday basis. They went through Justin Smoak, who was a can't miss prospect eventually turned into Cliff Lee when traded to the Seattle Mariners. Then there was the Chris Davis project when the slugging power hitter couldn't fight the strikeout bug and was eventually shipped off to Baltimore. Of course, he's turned into everyday first baseman material for Buck Showalter and the Orioles.
Then there was Mitch Moreland, who had a successful stint after being called up late in 2010 and went on to be the Rangers top hitter in that World Series loss to the San Francisco Giants. Ever since, he's failed to live up to the lofty expectations he set for himself with that successful postseason, whether it was from injury or lack of performance, or most importantly, his inability to hit left-handed pitching.
Now, he seems to be turning the corner on that as he's now been thrust into the lineup against left-handed pitching and he's starting to figure it out.
In his last 14 games, Moreland is hitting .404 and slugging .635 with two homers, six doubles and seven RBIs, against righties and lefties alike. In fact, he entered Sunday's game (when he went 1-for-4 with a homer against lefty Jon Lester) 10th in the league among left-handed batters against left-handed pitching, hitting .273.
The Rangers might have their guy, after all.
