Back to the Texas Rangers Newsfeed

There’s a clear front-runner to be Rangers’ center fielder. Will he benefit from new manager?

Everything that Delino DeShields needs to become a big-league regular appears to be in place.

He has the speed, the work ethic and the bloodlines. He has a sharp mind and an openness to learning. Anyone who questions that just needs to examine how far the former second baseman has come defensively in center field.

Success, though, has come in spurts for DeShields, who saw his 2018 season altered nearly from the get-go after breaking the hamate bone in his right hand in the second game.

Other injuries followed, but that one lingered. When he tried to work his way out of a late-spring funk, he never managed to do so.