Rangers LF situation

[George_Foreman]

I'm looking for cheap options in the OF, and a bounce-back year from Catalanotto seems like a reasonable gamble. Does anyone know if he'll be playing full-time in LF for the Rangers this year? Or has there been talk about some platoon with David Murphy? (Both Murphy and Cat are left-handed batters, but Catalanotto has been pretty awful vs. lefties while Murphy's done okay in limited ABs.)

[Matthias]

Murphy is starting Opening Day in LF; not sure on what the situation is generally.

http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/archives/ ... y_lin.html

[AussieDodger]

I always thought Botts should have got a fair go in LF, but he never has.

[DSheppard]

It appears for now murphy has won the every day job for now and its catalanotto/byrd that will be losing at bats.

murphy has been strange for the rangers. he had meh minor league career, but he was great in his 100 abs with the rangers last year, great in spring training, and hes doing good so far this year including a double off a lefty.

of course, bradley is expected to back in the field within a week or 2 at most, and at that point murphy/byrd are going to have to split time in left and cat/botts will probably split DH at bats. so really none of them are real fantasy options (not that they were great ones before).

[hot4tx]

Watching the Rangers the last few years, I'm sure the starting lineup, as well as the order, will continue to rotate throughout the season.

Bradley, Botts, Cruse, lCat, Murphy and Byrd will all rotate in the LF/RF/DH spots. Right now Hamilton is in CF and the rest will keep being changed around until not only a player outperforms the others, but the whole team clicks. If they get on a good streak they'll stay consistent but if they lose a lot of games Washington will keep changing things up.

That said, Murphy has looked really good this spring and so far this season. Here's hoping for lightning in a bottle from him this year!