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With the All Star break officially underway, many of the Texas Rangers will get the opportunity to rest up after a long first half of the season. With the exception of Joe Nathan, Yu Darvish and Nelson Cruz, the entire Texas Rangers organization will use this four day break to recharge and get ready for the long haul ahead.

For some Rangers the break could not have come at a better time, as cold streaks can often be cured by taking some time off of the diamond. On the other hand, there are other players who came into the break hot who probably wish the time off could have happened at another time. With that in mind, let’s take a look at who the hottest and coldest players for the Rangers are heading into the second half of the season.

Hottest

Adrian Beltre

July Stats: .440/.491/.920, 7 HR and 13 RBI

Adrian Beltre hasn’t just been the hottest player on the Rangers, but may also have been the hottest player in the month of July in all of baseball. Over his last 10 games before the All-Star break, Beltre had five multi-hit games, but none were better than his performance on July 9 against Baltimore.

In an 8-4 win over the Orioles, Beltre reached base five times, going 4-for-4 with two homers and five RBI. Currently, Beltre ranks in the top seven in the American League in batting average, home runs, slugging percentage and OPS. If Beltre can continue to rake like he did at the beginning of the month, the Rangers will be in a good position to keep up with the Athletics in the second half of the season.

Nelson Cruz

July Stats: .309/.345/.473, 2 HR and 8 RBI

In the midst of a contract year, Nelson Cruz is making a strong case to be paid like one of the best outfielders in the game. For the season, Cruz is batting .277 with 22 homers and 69 RBI and has helped offset the departures of Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and Mike Napoli.

In the month of July, Cruz was batting .309 with two homers and eight RBI, and he had three multi-hit games leading up the the All-Star break. Don’t expect the break to cool down Cruz either; as mentioned above, he has a contract to play for next season. Expect Cruz to carry his momentum into a big second half for the Rangers.

Coldest

Mitch Moreland

July Stats: .250/.295/.375, 1 HR and 5 RBI

Though Moreland‘s numbers don’t look awful in the month of July, his splits that include the month of June are much worse. Moreland has gone 19-for-95 since the start of June, and only has two home runs after hitting 11 in his first two months. Sure, an injury to Moreland may have something to do with it, but his slugging percentage was nearly .300 points lower in June than it was in the month of May.

Rangers fans will be hoping that Moreland‘s injury has more to do with his slumping than him falling back into bad habits. Moreland was one of the feel good stories for the Rangers at the beginning of the season, and he is a very important part of the lineup. Texas will need Moreland to perform better in the second half, and it would not be a surprise if they find someone else if he can’t.

Jurickson Profar

July Stats: .161/.278/.226, 0 HR and 2 RBI

Some of this can be contributed to the fact that Profar is in the midst of being transitioned to the outfield, and some of it can be contributed to his inconsistent playing time. But the fact of the matter is that Profar struggled mightily through July and was the coldest hitter on the Rangers coming into the All-Star break.

This break may end up doing a world of good for Profar, as the time off could help him get some extra swings to get back into a groove. Profar came out firing when he first got called up in May for the Rangers, and he could wind up being the key for the Rangers in the second half.

Justin Grimm

July Stats: 11.1 IP, 0-2, 11.91 ERA, 6 K and .426 BAA

Grimm’s struggles as the season went on became so bad that he was recently moved to the bullpen after leaving his last start with forearm soreness.

After a brilliant first month in which the rookie went 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA, Grimm has been getting lit up by opposing hitters, and has yet to have a month in which his batting average against wasn’t lower than .309. To make matters worse, Grimm’s walk rate has skyrocketed as well. After walking just four batters in 17 innings in April, Grimm has walked 24 batters in his last 76 innings.

Similar to Profar, the break may be what Grimm needed, as he may have been wearing down in the Texas heat. Unfortunately for Grimm, his time in the rotation may have come to an end. With the return of Martin Perez to the rotation and Alexi Ogando on the mend as well, Grimm may see clean-up duty from here on out.

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Well, that was about as short lived as humanly possible.

Just two days after returning from the 60-day designated list, Franklin Gutierrez‘ is officially back on the 15-day disabled list with a hamstring injury. The initial diagnosis does not look good:

Wedge says it will be 3 or 4 days until team can get a good look at Gutierrez’s hamstring and properly assess it. He’ll be out a while.

— Geoff Baker (@gbakermariners) June 25, 2013

For a Mariners team that was desperately looking for another offensive spark, Gutierrez’ injury marks another disappointing chapter over the last three seasons with Seattle. This one very well could be his last.

With Gutierrez’ roster spot open, the Mariners have officially recalled Dustin Ackley, who will be expected to man the outfield, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com:

Dustin Ackley will play outfield, with rookie Nick Franklin playing well at second base.

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) June 25, 2013

As Greg Johns points out, Franklin’s emergence at second base has helped pave the way for Dustin Ackley‘s move back to the outfield. Ackley originally played in the outfield as a freshman at the University of North Carolina, before a shoulder surgery forced him to move to first base. 

Seattle fans will certainly be interested to see how Ackley plays in the outfield for the M’s, but the real story here is the on-going health problems for Gutierrez.

Once considered one of the best young outfielders in the game, Guti has struggled to stay healthy for the Mariners over the last three seasons—spending more than half of that time on the DL:

This is Franklin Gutierrez’s sixth DL stint in past 3 years. Has played just 150 of team’s last 400 games.

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) June 25, 2013

Over the years, Gutierrez has suffered from a wide array of injuries that have included irritable bowel syndrome, a concussion, pain in his throwing arm and his recent string of leg and hip injuries. These most recent incidents have been attributed to a genetic disorder that has caused inflammation in his joints, which Gutierrez had recently started taking medicine for.

At this point, one has to start to wonder whether or not this will be the last time Seattle fans see Gutierrez patrolling the outfield at Safeco. With the season already in jeopardy, it would not be a shock to see the Mariners look to give other players a chance in the outfield moving forward, especially with Guti‘s contract set to expire at the end of this season.

Dustin Ackley will most likely see the majority of the time in center moving forward, with young players such as Abraham Almonte, Stefen Romero and possibly Julio Morban seeing time in the outfield this season as well.

Either way, Franklin Gutierrez’ latest setback may signal the end of his time in Seattle. As much of a fan favorite as he was, Gutierrez will most likely go down as just another disappointment in an ever growing list for Mariners fans.

For more Mariners coverage and baseball jargon, follow me on Twitter. You’ll be glad you did.

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As earlier announced, Nick Franklin has been called up from Triple-A Tacoma to replace a struggling Dustin Ackley at second base for the Mariners.

Franklin debuted for the Mariners as a defensive substitution in the Mariners 9-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Memorial Day, making two plays in the field and walking in his only at-bat. As reported by Greg Johns of MLB.com, Franklin will start on Tuesday night against the Padres, most likely at second base.

Nick Franklin has hit at every stop on his road to the major leagues and was flourishing in Tacoma this season. Before being called up, Franklin was batting .325 with four home runs, 20 RBI and seven stolen bases on the season.

Franklin’s call-up isn’t the only big development, however, as the demotion of former second-overall pick Dustin Ackley is just as noteworthy. Ackley struggled mightily this season, as he was batting only .205 with one home run and eight RBI over 45 games. This isn’t the first sign of struggle for Ackley either, as he is coming off a sub-par 2012 season in which he batted .226 with a .294 OBP.

Manager Eric Wedge was very vocal early Tuesday, claiming that Ackley was caught up thinking more about sabermetrics than actually playing the game.

“It’s the new generation. It’s all this sabermetrics stuff, for lack of a better term, you know what I mean?” Wedge said. “People who haven’t played since they were 9 years old think they have it figured out. It gets in these kids’ heads.”

Obviously, this isn’t what Mariners fans want to hear from their manager; for a multitude of reasons. Many will point out that as manager, it is Wedge’s job to keep Ackley‘s mind in the right place while he plays. Essentially, Wedge is indirectly throwing himself under the bus for not being able to protect Ackley from his own thoughts; but that is a story for another day.

The story right now is that Ackley is down in Tacoma, and Nick Franklin hit his way to Safeco Field. Franklin made it clear that he isn’t sure how long he was going to be in Seattle, but made sure that every one knew he was there to play; and to win. Franklin acknowledged that he has had to be patient through each stop, but it was that patience that helped him develop into the player he is today.

“Going from last year to this year was the big difference, just seeing pitches, seeing the good ones and hitting the good ones. Not trying to hit every single ball. Just trying to get your pitch and square it up as best you can.”

If Franklin can back up his talk and continue his success at the major league level, the Mariners will be hard pressed to find a place for Dustin Ackley when, and if, he fixes whatever problems he has. One can not help but be impressed by the confidence Franklin is carrying coming to Seattle, even though some of it may be contributed to the outcry of fans who have wanted Franklin in Seattle for the last few weeks.

As of now, the second base job is Franklin’s to lose. After three years of working hard in the Mariners’ farm system, it is difficult to see him relinquishing it any time soon.

Remember, Ackley was performing so poorly that even if Franklin were to bat .250 for the season, he would still be a vast improvement in offensive production.

The Franklin era will officially get underway Tuesday night against the Padres, and if it is up to Nick Franklin, it may be an era that lasts for a very long time.

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With optimism higher for many Mariners fans after a series win against the AL East leading New York Yankees, fans are starting to think about bigger things for the 2013 Seattle Mariners.

From individual performances to team goals, there just seems to be a different vibe surrounding this Mariners team than has been there in years past. The Mariners may still be a shade under .500, but they continue to battle against quality teams and show glimpses of what could be when everything starts to click.

So what exactly could the Mariners do if everything clicks?

Well, there are of course the individual statistics that could come from it, but there are also moves the Mariners could make to truly make a splash in the AL West. With that in mind, here are five radical predictions for the remainder of the Mariners’ season.

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