Summing up the Dutchies per MLB organization: Texas Rangers

In today’s episode of “Summing up the Dutchies” a team with a fair number of Dutchies in its organization:

     Number of Dutchies: 4

Jurickson Profar:
Jurickson Profar was signed by the Texas Rangers on July 2, 2009. The Curacao native made his first steps as a professional with the Spokane Indians where he played in 2010. With that team he batted .250 with four home runs and 23 runs batted in in 63 games. When he played one level up in the next season, his batting average went up as well. For the 2011 season he batted .286 with 12 homeruns and 65 RBI. He was named the South Atlantic League’s MVP that year. 
In 2012 he played for the double A Frisco Rough Riders as he posted a .281 average. When the MLB rosters expanded, he was called up by the Rangers and debuted on September 2 when he replaced Ian Kinsler, who was bothered by a stiff back. Profar went 2 for 4 in the game with a homerun and a double.
In 2013 he started the season at AAA level but was called up in May when Ian Kinsler was placed on the 15-Day disabled list. The Rangers made room for Profar to become their starting second baseman, when they traded Ian Kinsler after the 2013 season. But Jurickson started the 2014 season on the 60-Day disabled list and didn’t play during the season, after reinjuring his shoulder. Eventually it was decided in early 2015 that Jurickson would undergo surgery.
Recently Jurickson played his first games again at A Full Season level with the Hickory Crawdads, where he was reunited with his younger brother Juremi. So far his batting average is fluctuating a lot. On September 2 it even dropped below .200. But after two games in which he went 4 for 7 combined, his average rocketed to .273 again. With the Crawdads Jurickson’s role is limited to that of DH. The Rangers announced on September 2, that they appointed him to the roster of the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League. Jurickson has a long off season to recover. It remains to be seen if the Rangers will let him get more playing time at AA or AAA in 2016 or that they will place him on their 25-man roster.

Christopher Garia:
Christopher signed with the Rangers in the same month of the same year as Jurickson Profar did. After spending the first two years with the DSL Rangers, he finished the 2012 season with the Spokane Indians of the Northwest League. At that time it became clear that Christopher is one of the fastest guys in the Rangers’ organization. 
With Spokane, he played 47 games in which he hit a promising .319. Christopher split the 2013 season between the Spokane Indians, where he hit .298 and the Hickory Crawdads, where he struggled in 26 games, hitting .156. Despite his struggles at A Full Season, the Rangers promoted him to their A Advanced team, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans in 2014. Before getting injured he hit a respectable .284. At the start of the 2015 season, the Rangers placed the 22-year old outfielder from Curacao on the roster of the Frisco Rough Riders. At AA he struggled to get the ball in play as he hit .192. The Rangers even promoted him shortly to AAA Round Rock where he hit .182 before he was sent back to the High Desert Mavericks of the A Advanced California League. With the Mavericks he has found his groove again as he is hitting a very decent .324. As an outfielder Christopher is sporting a career .981 fielding percentage.

Juremi Profar:
The 19-year old brother of the aforementioned Jurickson, signed with the Rangers two days after Jurickson debuted in the Bigs. In his first professianl season, Juremi hit .281 in the Dominican Summer League. The next season the Rangers put him on the roster of the Hickory Crawdads where he played a limited number of games before the Rangers sent him to AAA Round Rock. With the Express he was nothing more than a bench warmer who played two games in which he collected two hits in six at bats. On May 31 he was taken off the roster and was placed on the roster of the Spokane Indians. He finished the season in the Northwest League with an average of .247.
On May 27 of this year, the 19-year old infielder from Curacao joined the High Desert Mavericks. But as his batting average didn’t meet the expectations, he was sent to Hickory again. With the Crawdads, Juremi is hitting .276 so far with an OPS of .715. With the Crawdads he has played all infield positions, but the most (40) at third base where he posted a .919 fielding percentage after committing nine errors at the position.

Sherman Lacrus:
Sherman Lacrus was drafted by the Texas Rangers on June 8, 2013. In the previous year he was already drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks, but then he decided to let his study prevail.
Sherman started with the DSL Rangers in 2013. In 54 games, he hit a very respectable .330. But the higher Shermen got in the Minor League ladder, the lower his batting average got.
The next season the Curacao native played for the AZL Rangers where he posted a .263 batting average and a .985 fielding percentage. In 2015 Sherman was promoted to the Frisco Rough Riders of the Texas League. In just three games and 11 at bats he collected one hit (a triple). After he was sent down to the A Short Season Spokane Indians, Sherman started to hit better again, but still it is on the low side with .254. But it is generally know that catchers aren’t the best hitters.
So far in his short career, Sherman posted a .987 fielding percentage and threw out 29% of the wannabe base stealers.