Mike Napoli played 11 games in left field for the Texas Rangers down the stretch in 2015, and it proved to be good and bad, all wrapped up into one hair-raising experiment.
Napoli had five total chances in those 11 games. Of those five chances, he had two putouts, two errors and even got an outfield assist when he threw out a runner at third base in one of the more laughable moments of the season.
It was a risk Rangers manager Jeff Banister was willing to take to get Napoli's bat in the lineup more often, and it paid off, as the Rangers actually won many more games than they lost with Napoli starting in left field before he was often pulled, as early as the third inning, for a defensive replacement.
Now, the Rangers seem to be talking like they might not be finished with the Napoli outfield experiment, which makes some sense given he could have an entire offseason to work at the position instead of learning on the fly playing the position for the first time as a pro.
"I don't know if he can do it," Daniels told reporters in Florida. "But I know he will put in the effort and the work. I don't think it's fair to judge him on 10 games when he basically did it on the fly."
What do you think of a Napoli-Josh Hamilton platoon in left field, which would likely mean a lot of Napoli since Hamilton can't be counted on to play any meaningful amount of games?
