The Texas Rangers powerful lineup hasn't been as powerful as Rangers fans had hopes early in the season, and fantasy managers who banked on big numbers from the middle of the lineup have been disappointed. There is hope in Texas though and now might be a great time to buy low on some proven stars production to turn around.
The first star that was expected to make a Texas sized impact on the Rangers and be a reliable power bat for fantasy owners is Jake Burger. Burger came over from Miami and has established himself as one of the best mashers in the game, but that hasn't shown up here in April yet.
Burger is batting just .151 on the season with 2 homer runs and only 7 RBIs. This is a player to buy on now. Burger actually does have a modest 4 game hitting streak and his launch angle and bat speed metrics remain about what they were the past two seasons. Burger ended last season with 29 home runs in Miami, and 34 the year before that with Miami and the White Sox. There is no reason to think that the 29-year-old can't turn this around. Texas is a hitter's park and Burger has started slow before. Last season he hit .146 in April with just 3 home runs and in fact had just 6 home runs entering July. I expect his price to be plummeting, so he is a buy right now.
Marcus Semien is also a traditionally slow starters whose numbers look very ugly. The Rangers second baseman is batting just .123 on the season with one dinger and 5 RBIs. Semien's age might worry some owners who could be selling the star player because of this start but let's look under the hood. Semien had under a .230 average heading into July last year as well. He also has a pretty long track record of success. He has hit 23 or more home runs in 5 straight full seasons. He also had put up a .254 lifetime average to go along with 5 straight years of 100+ runs scored and 74 or more RBI's.
I fully expect this Rangers lineup to start clicking as the weather heats up and now is the time to buy on these Rangers batters whose owners might be in a sell now mode. Point to Semien's age and decline and Burgers new home as points of interest and improve your team with stars who will light up the Texas sky soon enough.