Dan Szymborski’s ZiPS projections are a good measure of what to expect from players in the upcoming baseball season. We'll take a look at the Rangers' projections on a position-by-position basis. Szymborski can be found on Twitter at @DSzymborski.
Today we'll look at the projections for the Rangers' catchers, who are slated to be A.J. Pierzynski and Geovany Soto.
Pierzynski: .277 batting average, .311 on-base percentage, .430 slugging percentage, 22 doubles, 14 home runs and 59 RBIs.
That, of course, would be a step down from his 2012 season, which saw him hit a career-high in homers and RBIs, but this is probably an accurate prediction given his career numbers.
Soto: .231 batting average, .313 on-base percentage, .409 slugging percentage, 19 doubles, 15 home runs, 56 RBIs.
If Soto can put up those kind of offensive numbers, the Rangers will be thrilled after watching him hit under .200 last season, and the same the season before in Chicago. Remember, just a few years ago, this guy was the NL Rookie of the Year, thanks in large part to his bat. So he has shown he can hit, but these numbers would be a huge surprise.
