Coolbaugh: Mitch Moreland Is Coming Around

Mitch Moreland has hardly started the 2012 campaign on a hot streak--as of Monday, he’s hitting .204 with two home runs--but Rangers’ hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh remains optimistic about the team’s first baseman, and confident that he’s set for a solid year.

“Mitch is coming around,” Coolbaugh told ESPN’s Rangers Magazine podcast, via ESPN Dallas. “I just think he needs some consistent at-bats where, you know, he’s going to get in their regularly, get his timing back. He started off a little slow at the beginning of the year and then he had some things going on. He had to come back to Dallas with his [abscessed] tooth. I think it kind of caught him in between a little bit. Lost his timing there for a little while. That’s tough for a young hitter.”

There is some statistical backing for Coolbaugh’s optimism. In the last seven days, Moreland is 5 for 17, with two doubles and a home run. Moreland will be tested over the next week, though, as the Rangers hit the road--where Moreland is hitting just .125.

“I see big things happening for Mitch. He’s going to have a good year. He’s going to have a good, solid year this year,” Coolbaugh said. “He’s definitely a threat at the bottom of the order because he can put a good at-bat together, make a pitcher work. He also has that threat, obviously, to hit a home run.”