Toronto Blue Jays v Texas Rangers | Sam Hodde/GettyImages

It’s fair to say the Joc Pederson experiment has been a failure for the Texas Rangers this season. From the 0-for-41 streak to the hand fracture, there has been very few redeeming qualities from his contract.

Speaking of the hand fracture, Pederson is expected to miss six weeks after he was hit by a pitch in Saturday’s contest against the White Sox. In response, he was placed on the 10-day injured list and the organization called up Alejandro Osuna in his place.

Osuna, the team’s no. 7 overall prospect, made his MLB Debut on Sunday. Then on Monday in Arlington he recorded his first two career big league hits. The 22-year-old outfielder is expected to get regular playing time as Bruce Bochy continues his shuffling of the lineup searching for offensive answers and if it’s succesful, Pederson’s tenure with the Rangers could be over shortly after.

Alejandro Osuna’s success greatly impacts Pederson’s future in Texas

In an ideal world, Pederson hit his stride and was performing like he has throughout his entire 10-year MLB career but we don’t live in even an ideal world. That’s what has more or less opened the door for Osuna to even make his big league debut.

The sample size for the Mexican outfielder is still small, only three games, but so far he’s showing a good blend of poise and swagger that the team could potentially benefit from. He’s 3-for-8 with two walks and two strikeouts. Which is exactly as good as the Rangers could hope for right now.

What we likely won’t see from Osuna is the power. He isn’t typically a home run hitter and those numbers are even down to start the year but he is good at drawing walks, making contact and sending balls in the gaps for extra-base hits.

In 39 minor league games to start the year, he hit .279 with an OPS of .802. Among his 43 hits in Double-A and Triple-A, 15 of those went for extra bases. If he can carry that production over to the majors, the Rangers are looking at a pretty lethal outfield trio of Osuna, Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter. Which would likely render Pederson and Adolis Garcia obsolete.

This would also render Pederson and Adolis Garcia obsolete. Either subjecting them to a bench role, trade or even a straight release. That is of course an extreme curcumstance and Texas will do everything to prevent that but there might be a time where that move is what’s best.

Of course, it’s not that easy due to Pederson’s two-year, $37 million contract this past offseason. He is still owed hover half of it and it’s unlikely they find a suitor without having to pay for it.