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5 Biggest Texas Rangers X-Factors Heading Into 2015 MLB Season

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5 Biggest Texas Rangers X-Factors Heading Into 2015 MLB Season

Adrian Beltre Texas Rangers
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The Texas Rangers are trying to get back on the winning track in 2015, and they will need for everyone to play up to their potential in order to do so. They will also need to get back to doing the small things that helped them turn this organization, which was once a perennial loser, into a winning franchise that became a model for other teams to follow. So with that in mind, here are five X-factors for the Rangers heading into this season.

5. Manager Jeff Banister

Jeff Banister Pittsburgh Pirates
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5. Manager Jeff Banister

Jeff Banister Pittsburgh Pirates
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He is replacing a manger who was loved by every player on the club and helped keep the team together whenever they were seemingly engulfed in controversy and distractions. And with so many personalities and so much pressure on him to win with a club that when it’s healthy is pretty stacked, he will have to find his own way to help keep this team moving in the right direction when things aren’t always going to plan.

4. Their Team Speed

Elvis Andrus Texas Rangers
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4. Their Team Speed

Elvis Andrus Texas Rangers
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What makes this team tough to deal with is the fact that they can create havoc on the base paths with their speed. They can give pitchers fits as they are a threat to steal second or pull off the double steal at any time with Elvis Andrus or Leonys Martin. And they take pride in putting pressure on the defense by running from first to third on seemingly harmless base hits.

3. Elvis Andrus

Elvis Andrus Texas Rangers
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3. Elvis Andrus

Elvis Andrus Texas Rangers
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It seems like he is the catalyst for this team with everything he is able to do. When his game is on Elvis Andrus is getting key hits late in the game, making big plays on the base paths with his legs or making spectacular plays with his glove. His positive energy radiates throughout the entire team and helps keep the clubhouse loose.

2. Derek Holland

Derek Holland Texas Rangers
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2. Derek Holland

Derek Holland Texas Rangers
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He has been mostly inconsistent throughout his career, but lately he has shown more flashes of the good Derek Holland than the bad. When he’s on, he has No. 1 starter stuff, and if he is able complement Yu Darvish in the starting rotation, the Rangers will be a team you won’t want to see in the early rounds of the playoffs.

1. Adrian Beltre

Adrian Beltre Texas Rangers
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1. Adrian Beltre

Adrian Beltre
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This team is in need of a clear leader, and there is no one who garners more respect than Adrian Beltre. His career numbers speak for themselves, and it doesn’t appear as if he is going to slow down anytime soon. Whenever the team needs a big hit or someone to take control of the locker room in the midst of a slide, he is always there to step up to the plate.

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