Rangers Call Up Moreland

With former LumberKing Ian Kinsler hitting the 15-day disabled list today, the Texas Rangers announced the inevitable promotion of 1B/OF Mitch Moreland today.

Moreland was hitting .289 with 12 HR and 65 RBI with triple-A Oklahoma City this season, following a 2009 campaign in which he won the Rangers’ Tom Grieve Minor League Player of the Year Award.  With the LumberKings in 2008, Moreland hit a team-best .324 with 37 doubles, 18 HR and a league-high 99 RBI.

Mitch will become the second former Clinton player to make a Major League debut this season, following Justin Smoak.  Smoak debuted with the Rangers before being shipped to the Seattle Mariners as part of the deal for Cliff Lee.

More to follow once Moreland plays.

EDIT:  I was doing some digging through my audio archives and found my favorite Moreland highlight from 2008, his Grand Slam against Beloit on May 31.  Please excuse the crude quality, this was recorded back before I updated my recorder: 
Moreland Grand Slam 5.31 vs Beloit.mp3

-DL