Here’s what Willie Calhoun must do to receive everyday at-bats with Texas Rangers

Willie Calhoun and his pursuit of everyday playing time with the Texas Rangers can be filed under It Don’t Come Easy.

Cue up Ringo Starr.

That was borne out yet again last week, when the outfielder/designated hitter was trying to get from minor-league spring training in Arizona to the alternate training site in Round Rock.

A 7:30 p.m. flight was delayed four hours by rain, and upon landing in Austin at 3:30 a.m., the rental-car agencies were closed. Calhoun and his five pieces of luggage tracked down an Uber, but he didn’t sleep because he had to report for intake testing in the morning.

At least he wasn’t injured.

Calhoun is with the Rangers as they visit Angel Stadium for the first of three series this season against the Los Angeles Angels. The opener of the three-game series was scheduled to start at 8:38 p.m. Monday.

But Calhoun is not an everyday player as he was last season, a year after he thought he would be playing every day, which was a year after he thought he would be a Rangers regular.

Even after he was acquired in 2017, Calhoun didn’t receive the immediate September call-up most expected was in store for the centerpiece of the Yu Darvish trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

However, Calhoun has a chance to play every day again, despite the glut of outfielders on the roster and the May return of DH Khris Davis from the injured list.

It just won’t come easy.

“He’s in a good place, and hopefully we’ll keep him going,” manager Chris Woodward said. “There’s other guys here that are doing pretty well, and we want to see these guys. If Willie hits, he’s going to play. He’s an everyday at-bat when he’s right. He’s got to earn that, though.”

Calhoun has come to understand that after past disappointments.

His early-camp demotion at spring training in 2018 caused a months-long hangover. He was inconsolable after being optioned at the end of spring training in 2019.

He sweated that out pretty quickly, though, and made his Rangers debut in May. Aside from a quick IL stint, he was everything the Rangers hoped he would be, and 21 homers in 309 at-bats made him a shoo-in for left field in 2020.

But the left-handed hitter was hit in the face early in spring training by a fastball from Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias, resulting in a broken jaw. COVID-19 shut down camp and delayed the start of the regular season, but Calhoun had a hip injury in spring training 2.0 that slowed him.

On top of that, he was gun shy when facing lefties, the thought of his broken jaw still in his mind. Then, he pulled his left hamstring in August.

After batting .190 with one home run in an injury-plagued season that also coincided with deep personal feelings about racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota, Calhoun needed to clear his head.

So, he got away. The first stop was with his family north of Oakland, Calif., and then to the beaches around Los Angeles, where he also did much of his offseason training. He talked frequently with Alex Verdugo, his former Dodgers teammate in the minors who now plays for the Boston Red Sox.

Calhoun said his “closest friend on this earth” reminded him how much he raked in the minor leagues. It was easy. Why couldn’t he be like that in the majors, even in the age of infield shifts?

“He was like, ‘Bro, you always hit .300 in the minor leagues and casually hit 30 homers,’” Calhoun said. “Last year I tried to do a little too much. He’s a really good hitter. He uses the whole field. That’s something I want to get back to.”

Calhoun’s first two hits of the season Saturday, after being activated from the IL, were shift-beaters to left field. He has been facing lefties all spring and no longer has any apprehension against them when in the batter’s box.

He made a critical running, lunging catch Sunday in left field in the 10th inning after entering the game as a pinch hitter.

“That saved the game,” Woodward said.

More of that is what will get him playing every day, no matter how many outfielders and DH-types are on the roster.

But it won’t come easy.

“Whenever I’m in the lineup I’m going to have to go in there and be ready whenever my name is called,” Calhoun said. “I don’t look at it as a bad thing.”