Leody

Taveras

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.

Taveras was given the night off Wednesday marred in a 3-for-53 slump since the start of June, but won the game for the Rangers with his home run. He’s still a regular in the lineup because of his defense despite a miserable season at the plate.

Taveras was a league-average hitter through two months, but this slump has him all of the way down to .211/.281/.322. At this rate, the Rangers might have to think about adding another outfielder prior to the trade deadline.

Taveras has performed well in the early portion of 2024 with a .280/.357/.440 slash, but he’ll get a day of rest Sunday with Travis Jankowski getting the start in his place.