ARLINGTON — The questions that surround this Texas Rangers’ lineup and it’s chances to return to the form it played at two seasons ago often start with Adolis García (can he become a feared cleanup hitter again?), Josh Jung (can he just stay healthy for one full year?) and the new addition duo of Joc Pederson and Jake Burger (can their integration into the offense be seamless?).
They’re each valid questions and, no doubt, would be a massive boon to the Rangers’ offense if the answer is ‘yes’ across the board.
But, uh, what about the other guy who needs a bounce back, needs some good health and has already proven to fit?
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What if Jonah Heim can look more like his 2023 self than his 2024 self?
He did Friday, at least, in the Rangers’ 4-1 win vs. the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field. Heim started at catcher after he sat opening day and belted two home runs — the team’s first and second long balls this season — and paced a lineup that’s designed to slug.
“I mentioned something to one of the hitting coaches,” Heim said, “that this is the closest I’ve felt to the ‘23 version of myself. I’m just here trying to help the team win, whether that’s go out there and call good games, be a good teammate on the bench, whatever it takes.”
Check, check and check. Heim, in his first at bat, clubbed a Tanner Houck sweeper into the right field seats to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. He hit his second home run in the fifth inning, also off of Houck, to regain the Rangers’ one-run lead with a blast that left his bat at 107.5 mph. His third at bat ended in a 326-foot flyout to left field that fell just five or so feet short of a third home run. Defensively he called Jack Leiter’s first career major league win, navigated the rookie right-hander through five innings of one-run ball and was one half of a comically ill-timed ball-toss during a second-inning mound visit.
Hey, it seemed to settle Leiter’s nerves with two men on base.
Whatever it takes.
Both for his teammates and himself, because for Heim, the last year has been turbulent. The 29-year-old regressed from an All-Star, Gold Glove-winning mainstay backstop in 2023 into a net negative hitter in 2024 that’s now part of a de facto platoon behind the plate. Heim had an “upfront” and “honest” conversation about his performance with catching coordinator Bobby Wilson at the conclusion of last season in an effort to leave it in the past. Heim hit just .220 last season and his .602 OPS was the first among major league hitters with at least 400 plate appearances. His defense took a step back too.
The Rangers signed catcher Kyle Higashioka to a two-year contract this winter and weren’t shy about the fact that he’d split time with Heim on a near equal basis. Bochy reiterated as much before Friday’s game.
It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Heim caught 1,970 2/3 innings (the seventh-most in baseball) over the last two seasons and took a physical beating to do so. Higashioka is a more-than-competent catcher that the Rangers lacked last season and it’ll allow Heim to both see more time off his feet and see more favorable matchups at the plate.
“He’s a good hitter, he’s a great catcher,” Bochy said postgame. “I think he’s going to have a good year this year. I think he’s going to have a nice bounce back year.”
Bochy said that Heim will draw the “particularly” tough right-handed pitchers more than Higashioka will. Houck, an All-Star last season, is one of the toughest. His 0.55 home run-per-nine metric last season ranked second best among all right-handed starting pitchers leaguewide behind only San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb and the 11 home runs that he did allow were tied for the fewest. Heim hit one of those last season, on Aug. 3 at Globe Life Field, and is now responsible for the first two this season.
Heim said his body is in a “really good spot” after spring training. He thinks his batting practices have improved in the last week or so, which leads to confidence, but Heim believes that the balance of his hitting prowess comes down to identifying what pitches he should and shouldn’t swing at.
He picked two good ones to hack at Friday night.
It certainly helped the team, too.
“I’ve just got to go up there, trust myself and not try to do too much,” Heim said. “I mean, our lineup one-through-nine is pretty stacked, so if I just go up there and be the best version of myself, we’re going to be just fine.”
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