Jurickson Profar, the highly touted Rangers shortstop prospect and arguably the top prospect in all of baseball, has been called up to the big leagues to fill in for injured Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler.
Profar, a shortstop in the Rangers farm system, will shift over to second base for the time being, due to Elvis Andrus being firmly entrenched at short. Manager Ron Washington has said Profar will split his time at second base with Leury Garcia, who started Sunday night against the Detroit Tigers.
In Triple A this season Profar was hitting .278 with four home runs, 19 RBI, and 27 runs scored in 37 games, as well as six stolen bases. Profar played briefly with the big club last season; in nine games Profar struggled, hitting .178 with one home run, two RBI and two runs scored. He also homered in his first major league at-bat.
"Profar's not afraid of the game," Washington said. "He'll get a chance to play. He's gotten better as the year has progressed." Very recently, Profar had begun to tear into Triple A pitching and even had his first career multi-home run game Saturday. When asked about his recent surge Profar said, My swing was there the whole time. I've been seeing a lot of off-speed pitches."
Although having Profar up will surely excite the Rangers fan base, Kinsler's right intercostal strain couldn't have come at a worse time for him. He was having a bounce-back season from a disappointing 2012. In 2013, Kinsler was hitting .302 with seven home runs, 20 RBI and three stolen bases. His on base plus slugging percentage stood at .869 before the injury, the second highest of his career.
Washington termed Kinsler's strain an injury of the five or six day variety, but like Texas is doing with starting pitcher Alexi Ogando and catcher A.J. Pierzynski, the team is playing it safe.
With one of the game's most decorated prospects ready to fill in, why not?
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