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          Texas Rangers Report

          Jake Smolinski with 10 RBIs in winter ball

          • Calvin Watkins, ESPN Staff WriterOct 27, 2014, 01:00 PM ET
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              Calvin Watkins covers the Houston Rockets and the NBA for ESPN.com. He joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He's covered the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers as well as colleges, boxing and high school sports.
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          We take a look at five Texas Rangers who are participating in winter ball.

          *Jake Smolinski, LF: Playing in the Mexican leagues, Smolinski has 10 RBIs on the season, all with runners in scoring position. Overall, Smolinski is hitting .276/.333/.414. He missed a good portion of the Rangers season with a small fracture in his foot but once he returned, he displayed good speed and ability to hit the ball consistently. He will compete for a starting job, left field, or could become the No. 4 outfielder in 2015.

          *Tomas Telis, C: The switch-hitting catcher is in Venezuela and currently has a five-game hitting streak. He has just three RBIs the last 10 games and is hitting .265/.350/.441. Telis is the projected No. 2 catcher for 2015 and the Rangers were impressed with how he called a game. Telis just needs to work on some consistency behind the plate in terms of throwing out runners. That will happen with more opportunities.

          *Roman Mendez, RHP: It's a small sampling but the reliever has pitched in just two games in the Dominican Republic. He's pitched in 1 2/3 innings, allowed one hit and struck out one. Mendez had a 2.18 ERA in 30 appearances for the Rangers in 2014 and his K/BB ratio was 1.29. Mendez has a chance to make the roster as a middle reliever, but there will be plenty of competition for those spots.

          *Nick Williams, LF: He's second on the Arizona Fall League team with 25 total bases. He's hitting .267/.290/.417 in 15 games. But he's just 4-for-20 in the last five games and is just 3-for-15 vs. LHP. Williams played in 15 games for Double-A Frisco last season and most likely will start there again next season.

          *Lisalverto Bonilla, RHP: He was solid in the big leagues last season, winning his first three starts and becoming the first pitcher in franchise history to do so. He's got a bright future. In three Arizona games, Bonilla has a 5.40 ERA. In his last outing on Oct. 23, he allowed four runs on seven hits with two walks and six strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. In his previous outing on Oct. 17, Bonilla threw shutout ball for four innings, giving up just one hit with three walks and two strikeouts.