The Texas Rangers proved themselves throughout the 2023 postseason, overwhelming opposing pitchers with their array of power hitters.
The Rangers laid down the law against the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round and swept the top-seeded Baltimore Orioles in the divisional round before stunning the Houston Astros in a seven-game classic in the ALCS, winning the final two en route to the pennant. Then, the Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games for the first World Series championship in franchise history.
Orioles fans, conversely, were left to mourn a 101-win season going up in flames against these Rangers. They did, however, get a chance to watch former Baltimore prospect Jonah Heim, Texas’ enormous switch-hitting All-Star catcher.
Heim exploded on to the baseball landscape this season as a key piece for the Rangers at the plate and behind it. He suffered a left wrist tendon sheath tear late July, one of several key second-half injuries for the Rangers, but he returned in mid-August.
“When he came back, they said that he wasn’t going to be able to hit right-handed for the remainder of the season, and he eventually got back to hitting right-handed,” Rangers analyst and former big leaguer David Murphy said on Glenn Clark Radio Oct. 27. “It was huge getting all of these guys healthy.”
Heim was a force in the Rangers’ lineup all year, a unit productive enough to register as the top offense in the American League. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound catcher posted a slash line of .258/.317/.438 in 131 games, and his defense made him a Gold glove finalist at his position.
Heim and postseason stars Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, Marcus Semien, Josh Jung and Nathan Eovaldi took over the summer’s All-Star Game in Seattle, and that unit wrecked all American League challengers en route to their first World Series appearance since 2011.
Heim has come a long way since slumming it in the lower levels of the Orioles farm system from 2013-2016, when he primarily showed off his defensive tools as a member of the Aberdeen IronBirds, Delmarva Shorebirds and Frederick Keys.
Heim failed to put it all together before getting shipped off to Tampa Bay for Steve Pearce in 2016, then Oakland a year later before finally landing in Texas ahead of the 2021 season. He slashed .250/.314/.374 as a seven-year minor leaguer.
“The minor league track record is what it is … but we’ve seen nothing but incredible defense since he showed up,” Murphy said. “The way that he frames, the way that he throws out baserunners, the way that he leads the pitching staff, I mean, it’s pretty phenomenal on a day-to-day basis.
“And then the offense, he started out slow as of a few years ago. You saw the power at times but the average was never there, and then, man, he just started this season with a boom.”
The clutch Seager and powerful Garcia have received most of the headlines, but hitters like Heim helped extend the lineup to keep big innings going. Heim managed a hit in 12 of 17 postseason games. This October was his first taste of playoff baseball at 28 years of age, but he’s already made it clear that he can play a key role on a World Series winner.
“[He] certainly has to be feared, regardless of the recent offensive track record,” Murphy said. “I’m just really impressed with what he’s been able to do, and what a great job by the Rangers front office and just the way that they’ve pieced this team together, and Jonah’s obviously a big part of that.”
For more from Murphy, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox