After his MVP season last year and a two-year (effectively, a one-year) extension and finally a big payday, Josh Hamilton will be counted on heavily to carry the Rangers offensive lineup in the No. 3 hole this year.
And make what you will of the spring, but you like to see your team's best players get hot entering the season, and so far, well, Hamilton hasn't been that.
He entered Monday's game against the Dodgers hitting .250 in the spring with no home runs and two RBIs, but on Monday he finally found his wheel house.
He hit a 1-0 fastball deep over the right field wall for a three-run homer, easily a 400-footer (there are no tape measures in Surprise, nor is there a radar), and that had to be a promising sight for Rangers fans. The Rangers went on to beat the Dodgers 5-4.
Hamilton has a much maligned history of poor hitting in day games, which coincidentally, most spring games are. For his career, he's hit .254 during the day, and he's a career .330 hitter at night.
Luckily for the Rangers, most of their regular season games are at night too, and a ho-hum spring isn't a reason to freak out about the 2010 AL MVP.
