Julio Borbon looks to take over the lead-off spot for the Texas Rangers. Photo: Icon SMI

The series on team offense continues with the Texas Rangers. The Rangers finished tenth in the majors and seventh in the American League in 2009, scoring 4.84 runs per game. The probable lineup on CBSSportsline serves as the template for the calculation. Here’s Ron Washington’s thoughts on the lineup.

The OBP and slugging percentage used come from the Marcel the Monkey forecast system. Plugging those numbers in the Lineup Analysis Tool (LAT) produces the following results:

• Best lineup: 5.37 runs per game
• Probable lineup: 5.35 runs per game
• Worst lineup: 5.13 runs per game
• Regressed lineup: 4.93 runs per game

Washington pretty much nails the lineup. The LAT agrees with him on slots one, five eight and nine, and uses the same players in 2-3-4 and 6-7, just shifted.

Then again, it’s tough to create a bad lineup with this bunch, as the best lineup isn’t too different from the worst lineup in terms of runs per game, just about 0.2 runs. No one projects to an outstanding OBP or slugging percentage, but seven are above average in slugging, six in OBP, and five in both. No one player on the Rangers looks like they’ll kill an opponent, but there are few easy outs. This should be a very good offensive team in 2010.

Previous entries in this series:

• Toronto Blue Jays
• New York Yankees
• Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
• Boston Red Sox
• Philadelphia Phillies
• Minnesota Twins
• Colorado Rockies
• Tampa Bay Rays
• Milwaukee Brewers

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