Leody

Taveras

While many assume that Taveras will be on the bench in Texas so that Wyatt Langford, Adolis Garcia, and Evan Carter can start; however, it might not be that simple. Taveras is a strong defender in center field while swiping 23 bases in 151 games. His value on the bases and on defense could keep him in the lineup more often than not.

The deal is still pending a physical, but the 32-year-old had been receiving plenty of interest around the league after hitting .275/.393/.515 with 23 home runs and a career-high .908 OPS with the Diamondbacks last year. Pederson has historically dominated right-handed pitching and saw only 32 total at-bats against left-handed pitching last season, so Texas will almost assuredly lock him in as their everyday DH against right-handed pitching, more than replacing the offensive production they were getting from Nathaniel Lowe. Of course, that means the Rangers are also back to only three outfield spots for Adolis Garcia, Wyatt Langford, Evan Carter, and Leody Taveras, so somebody is going to be left out of regular playing time in 2025.

With two outs and none on in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, Taveras singled off Andrés Muñoz, stole second base and then scored on a Marcus Semien single. Before that, he homered off JT Chargois in the seventh inning to tie the game at 5-5. It probably rates as his best game in a rather disappointing 2024 season. He’s batting .231/.290/.359 in 510 plate appearances.

It’s not surprising that Taveras sat versus lefties on Friday and Saturday, but he would normally be in there against a righty today. Instead, the Rangers have Travis Jankowski in center. Taveras has had a disappointing season, but he’s not particularly slumping at the moment, having gone 5-for-17 with a couple of doubles in his last five games. This is the first time he’s been out of the lineup against righty since July 31.

With the bases loaded and the infield drawn in with one out in the ninth inning, Taveras bounced a single up the middle to knock in the game-winning run. The 25-year-old’s defense keeps him on the field, but his .227/.282/.345 slash line with 39 RBIs means that he doesn’t need to be on your fantasy rosters.

Taveras opened the scoring in the ballgame with a two-run single off of Tanner Bibee in the second inning. He then swiped second base and raced around to score on Corey Seager’s two-run double. While his bat has perked up a bit over the past few weeks, it has been a rough season overall for Taveras who is hitting just .229/.286/.349 with nine homers, 37 RBI and 15 stolen bases (in 20 attempts).

The bottom of the Rangers’ lineup came up big against the Red Sox on Saturday. After Jonah Heim hit a three-run homer in the fourth, Taveras followed with a solo homer off Tanner Houck. He later drove in another run with a single in the sixth. The 25-year-old outfielder is slashing .229/.293/.362 with nine homers, 39 runs scored, 30 RBI, and 12 steals across 375 plate appearances.

Taveras’ home run was his seventh of the year. He belted a solo shot off Erick Fedde in the fifth inning. Taveras is quietly having a nice July. He’s 15-for-54 (.277) with two home runs and two steals in 16 games this month. He’s hitting .230 with 25 RBI on the year.

A two-run homer by Taveras off Griffin Canning to start the fifth inning would be all the Rangers would bring in to score against the Angels on Wednesday. The 25-year-old outfielder is hitting .236/.304/.349 with six homers, 35 runs scored, 24 RBI, and 11 steals across 323 plate appearances.

It was a much-needed strong start for Taveras, who is hitting just .215/.280/.329 on the season and is at risk of losing his job when Evan Carter is eligible to return from the IL. Taveras now has seven steals on the season and has gone 4-for-16 in his last four games. He’ll need more than that to keep his playing time during the second half of the season.