Good defense, good on the bases, not much hitting
With the 2024 regular season over, it is time for us to go back and take a look at the players who appeared for the Texas Rangers this season.
Today, we look at outfielder Travis Jankowski.
If you want speed and defense backup outfielder, Travis Jankowski provided you with that in 2024. He was 11 for 12 in stolen base attempts, and put up a +8 DRS and +4 FRV in the outfield. If we limit our expectations to just that, Jankowski did well.
Of course, there’s also the hitting part to take into account.
.200/.266/.242 slash line in 207 plate appearances, with a 48 OPS+.
That’s really bad, before we even get into the fact that Jankowski started at DH 19 times last season.
Jankowski homered in his first plate appearance of the season, a pinch hit leadoff homer in the ninth on Opening Day that tied the score and forced extra innings, leading to a Rangers victory.
Things went downhill for Jankowski offensively from there.
That was, for example, the only home run Jankowski hit in 2024. He only had five more extra base hits, all doubles, the rest of the way.
Jankowski did not get on base against a lefthanded pitcher all season. Of course, he only had 13 plate appearances against lefthanded pitchers all season, but that simply highlights the fact that the 48 OPS+ he put up was despite almost always having a platoon advantage. Against righties he still just slashed .215/.284/.260.
Jankowski was a great story in 2023, when he was surprisingly effective with the bat early in the season, putting up an 834 OPS in the first half. The overall positive vibes allowed us to overlook how he cratered later on in the year, slashing .153/.262/.181 from August 1 of 2023 on. Not hitting well in 2024, thus, shouldn’t have been surprising, particularly given Jankowski’s lengthy track record prior to 2023 of not hitting much.
Let’s move on.
Previously: