Key Ranger hits paternity list during series with Mariners
Jun 15, 2024, 2:47 PM
Jonah Heim of the Texas Rangers during a 2024 game. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
SEATTLE – The Texas Rangers will be missing a key player with a history of producing big hits against the Seattle Mariners for presumably the rest of an important three-game battle between the American League West rivals.
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Switch-hitting catcher Jonah Heim was placed on the paternity list before the middle game of the three-game set, the Rangers announced Saturday.
Heim, 28, is slashing .234/.278/.342 with six doubles, six home runs and 31 RBIs over 61 games this season.
In 45 career games against Seattle, Heim’s batted .257/.295/.439 with 12 doubles, five home runs and 31 RBIs. His home run and RBI totals are both his second most against any MLB squad over his five-year career.
Those numbers included this game in 2021, when Heim clubbed two two-run home runs. The first was game-tying blast and the second a walk-off in extra innings. Notably, Seattle missed the playoffs by a single game that season.
The Rangers called up former top prospect Sam Huff to fill Heim’s roster spot.
Huff was a top-100 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, in 2020 and 2021, but hasn’t seen much major-league playing time since his 2022 debut.
In 76 games across parts of four big-league seasons, Huff sports a solid .2623/.314/.462 slash line with nine doubles, 10 home runs and 20 RBIs. He’s played just once and hasn’t registered a plate appearance this season.
He slashed .244/.333/.428 with 10 doubles, seven home runs and 32 RBIs in 49 games with the Triple-A Round Rock Express.
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