SURPRISE, Ariz. _ Over the course of five weeks last year, Carlos Gomez did enough for the Rangers to prove himself an asset on offense.
Still to be answered: The same question about his center-field defense.
When the Rangers added Gomez last August, it was to play left instead of center. He had played center for Houston for much of the first four months and had uncharacteristically poor results. He slides back to center this year, replacing Ian Desmond.
The Rangers may not take a step back with Gomez replacing Desmond, a neophyte in center field, but standing still is as good as going backwards. The Rangers plan to emphasize defense more heavily this spring and expect Gomez, who earned a reputation as one of the game's best center fielders while with Milwaukee.
"I think he still has the instincts, the running speed and the more he has grown as a player, I think he sees things a little better, too," manager Jeff Banister said. "I get a good feeling from what we know about him."
That feeling runs against what the most recent advanced metrics say.
According to fangraphs.com, Gomez had a career-worst -4 in the Defensive Runs Saved statistic last year. Among the 22 players with at least 700 innings in center, that ranked 15th, just ahead of Desmond (-6). Over the previous five seasons, he ranked first among qualifying center fielders in runs saved at plus-52 and won a Gold Glove in 2013.
According to MLB.com's Statcast advanced player tracking system, Gomez made just three catches last year that fell into the "tough" or "highlight" level in 80 such opportunities vs. seven such catches in 68 opportunities in 2015.
At the same time, the Statcast system showed that Gomez had not lost a step speed-wise. He averaged 4.20 seconds to first base on competitive plays last year, 4.21 in 2015.
The rudimentary takeaway: Gomez's troubles last year perhaps began with poor positioning or with less efficient routes. Route-running and positioning can be fixed, but a loss of speed can't. For the Rangers that's good news.
"I think I'm in better shape now than when I was 20," Gomez said Friday. "Not a lot of people play center field a long time, but I feel like I can play it another 10 years. I think I know the league better now than I did. I think I can take a good jump every time."
When he arrived in Texas last August, Gomez made a serious attempt to make changes on offense. He found comfort and success with hitting instructors Anthony Iapoce and Justin Mashore. He cited that comfort as a reason for re-signing with the Rangers over more lucrative offers on the market.
He is taking the same all-in approach to defense this spring. He said he chose to bypass an invitation to play for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic in order to spend the full spring with the Rangers.
"Last year, I had a bad year," Gomez said. "When I got to (Texas), I said my year starts now. I feel like I've put myself back together again. The Rangers gave me great support and that was just in one month. Imagine what a full year will be like. The difference between last year and this year is this year I'm in the right place."
