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' second basemen, who is slated to be either Ian Kinsler or rookie phenom Jurickson Profar, if Kinsler changes positions. The conventional thought is that Kinsler will move to either the outfield, or most likely first base to accommodate Profar.
Profar: .263 batting average, .331 on-base percentage, .414 slugging percentage, 31 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs, 60 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.
Not quite sure what to expect from baseball's top prospect? Not sure anyone really is, to be honest. In his brief stint with the big boys in 2012, he showed he's ready. He homered in his first at-bat and had a big, clutch double in the Wild Card Game loss. These numbers would be awesome for a No. 9 hitter, which is probably what Profar will be.
Kinsler: .266 batting average, .346 on-base percentage, .443 slugging percentage, 32 doubles, four triples, 20 home runs, 70 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.
You'd like to see that batting average creep back up after a dismal 2012, but even back in 2011 his average was .255 but his on-base was high and he produced everywhere else. Last year, he produced nowhere offensively. The on-base percentage here is back to what you like to see from Kinsler, who is set to have a rebound season in 2013.
