ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s easy to forget now that there was a time when Willie Calhoun was one of the best prospects in baseball.
The headlining return when the Texas Rangers sent Yu Darvish to the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline in 2017, Calhoun was the No. 97th prospect by Baseball America’s rankings to begin that year and he opened his first full year with Texas as baseball’s No. 36 overall prospect.
Calhoun, now 27 years old, was selected by the Dodgers in the fourth round of the 2015 MLB Draft with the ability to become an elite hitter. Calhoun, who spent most of his time in the Dodgers organization at second base before transitioning to the outfield with Texas, has lived up to those expectations when he has faced minor league competition with a .288/.356/.499 batting line in 489 career games on the farm.
Unfortunately, the hitting prowess hasn’t quite come through for Calhoun in the big leagues yet as he’s managed just a .715 OPS in 235 games over five separate seasons. But there are reasons to hope that Calhoun can still make an impact for the Rangers now that he should get plenty of looks as the team’s designated hitter.
Calhoun’s ability at the plate didn’t simply vanish from 2017 to now. What he has lacked, ultimately, is an extended opportunity to prove himself. Some of that can be laid at his own feet, while other reasons have included poor timing or just plain bad luck.
After hitting .310/.345/.566 for Triple-A Round Rock following the trade from the Dodgers in 2017, Calhoun appeared ready for a callup. However, he struggled with a .677 OPS over 37 plate appearances in his first taste of the major leagues.
The following spring, he failed to make the Opening Day roster for Texas even though there didn’t appear to be much left for him to accomplish at the plate in the minor leagues.
The Rangers felt Calhoun wasn’t ready and banished him back to Triple-A ball where he played all but 35 games. In his limited time in the big leagues in 2018, Calhoun again didn’t make his mark as he hit just .222/.269/.333 in 108 plate appearances.
One of the major issues for Calhoun has been his lack of a position defensively. Though he came up as a second baseman, he played exclusively in the outfield once he joined the Rangers.
With Texas having a regular designated hitter in Shin-Soo Choo during the years that Calhoun was attempting to force his way into the big leagues, he had to be sufficient with the glove to have a spot, and that proved to be a challenge.
After something of a wasted 2018 season, Calhoun rededicated himself to his fitness ahead of spring training in 2019. But, again, he didn’t make the squad.
After giving himself some time to be mad about the decision, Calhoun accepted his assignment back to the minor leagues and, after hitting well in a brief big league stint in May, came up for good in mid-June that season and had his most successful campaign.
As a 24-year-old, Calhoun hit .269/.323/.524 in 337 plate appearances spanning 83 games. His .848 OPS was fourth best on the team for batters with more than 200 PAs and he hit a career-high 21 home runs for Texas. Though he was still waiting for his first full-season opportunity, it looked like Calhoun had finally arrived.
And then 2020 happened. But before 2020 happened like we remember it happening with the COVID-19 outbreak, Calhoun had already gotten a head start on a miserable year.
On March 8, 2020, in an early Cactus League game, Calhoun was struck in the face by a pitch from Julio Urias of his former team from Los Angeles and suffered a fractured jaw.
When he returned for the truncated 2020 season, Calhoun wasn’t the same and managed just a .491 OPS in 29 games for his worst season as a professional. A year later, the rebuilding Rangers were prepared to see what Calhoun could do in a full season in 2021 but, on June 26, he was again hit by a pitch and missed 10 weeks of the season with a broken forearm.
And that’s where we are now. Four and a half years after acquiring him to be an impact bat for the team's rebuild, the Rangers still don’t know what they have in Willie Calhoun because they either haven’t been quite willing to commit to giving him a shot, he hasn’t grabbed his chances when presented, or fate has thrown a wrench in the works.
The Rangers achieved an OPS of .614 from their designated hitters in 2021. That was dead last in baseball. Calhoun started 29 of those games and ultimately contributed an OPS of .691 in his 75 games last year. That simply won’t cut it for a player who is only able to provide value with his bat.
If Calhoun can perform like he did in his second half stint in 2019, the Rangers will have something. The expectation, with Texas on the cusp of a new era of contending, is that Calhoun will now get his last, best shot with the designated hitter role all but laid out before him.
Will Willie Calhoun put it all together at DH for the Rangers in 2022? Share your predictions with us on Twitter @BaseballTX.