PHILADELPHIA – The Rangers understand Willie Calhoun’s frustration with a minor league demotion. They aren’t sure, however, they get his frustration with their offensive philosophy.
A day after Calhoun said he didn’t see himself as a guy who could “hit pop-up home runs,” manager Chris Woodward said that’s great; the Rangers don’t want him to hit pop-ups either. But he wasn’t sure where there was a disconnect between the club’s approach and Calhoun’s grasp of it.
“We don’t want them to hit pop ups,” Woodward said Tuesday. “We don’t want them to hit ground balls. We want them to hit line drives. And a flat, horizontal path does not allow that to happen consistently. Just look at the best hitters in the game. They all have vertical bat angles. And that’s how they hit line drives. So, I don’t know where the disconnect is. I think he needs to take a little bit and figure out like his swing.
