Former MPI star Kiner-Falefa enjoying show with Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas >>

It’s been an eventful month for Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

On April 9, the former Mid-Pacific Institute standout was catching for the Round Rock Express, the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate in the Pacific Coast League, when he was pulled for a pinch runner in the second inning.

Kiner-Falefa was pulled because Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor had left that Monday game with the Angels due to a hamstring injury. Kiner-Falefa would make the four-hour drive from Round Rock to Arlington for a big league call-up, which may or may not happen depending on Odor’s prognosis.

Once the Express defeated the Memphis Redbirds, 4-2, Kiner-Falefa checked his phone, which was now full of texts and messages. “I waited until after the game. They (my parents) had figured out something had happened,” he said. “I came back (to the clubhouse) and my phone was blowing up, saying ‘where are you going?’ It was a really cool experience.”

After sleeping about five hours, he drove to Arlington on Tuesday morning, arriving around lunchtime. On Tuesday afternoon, Odor landed on the disabled list with a hamstring strain that will shelve him for three weeks, prompting the Rangers to officially recall Kiner-Falefa from the minors. By that time, his parents, sister and girlfriend, who had taken a red-eye flight to Texas, were already in Arlington.

His actual debut didn’t come until the top of the eighth inning when Kiner-Falefa entered the game as a defensive replacement for Jurickson Profar, who had replaced Odor. He handled the first ground ball hit his way, from Jefry Marte, like a pro in the top of the eighth, and retired Angels rookie sensation Shohei Ohtani on a similar play in the top of the ninth.

“Yeah, I just felt good (in the field),” he said. “All the work in the minor leagues, all the coaching staff down there doing everything we can to prepare me to be at this level, all that work paid off and I felt good out there.”

In the bottom of the ninth, with his cheering section watching with rapt anticipation, he got his first big league at-bat, but Angels reliever Eduardo Paredes struck him out on four pitches, an experience he’ll never forget.

“It’s hard to assess it because I was shaking the whole at-bat,” Kiner-Falefa joked. “Other than that, I was just trying to get my feet wet. Now that I got that out of the way, it’s time to go to work.”

After the game, an 11-1 loss, he was sitting at his locker in the home clubhouse reading the numerous congratulatory text messages, many of which came from Hawaii, on his phone when he was approached for an interview before the rest of the media swarm. “Oh yeah, my phone is just blowing up right now from all my friends. A lot of friends from back home, all the support, it’s just good to have the island behind my back,” Kiner-Falefa said.

Kiner-Falefa is the fifth Hawaii native to play for the Rangers, a fact he used to honor a family member who also played in the organization. “It’s really cool. Actually, my cousin, Kea Kometani, came up with the Rangers, made it to Triple-A, so I’m kind of just following in his footsteps. It’s a big accomplishment,” he said.

He wasn’t in the lineup for the series finale with the Halos but entered the game in the bottom of the ninth after perennial All-Star shortstop Elvis Andrus left the game after taking a 97 mph fastball in his elbow. Kiner-Falefa pinch-ran for Andrus at first base before an eerily quiet crowd and Ranger dugout.

After the game, the Rangers announced Andrus had suffered an elbow fracture, resulting in the first stay on the disabled list of his career. Profar, who had been filling in for Odor at second base, moved to short to fill in for Andrus.

Regardless of whether Kiner-Falefa becomes their fill-in at second, if he stays on the bench or heads back to the minors once Odor returns — which is expected to happen in several weeks — Kiner-Falefa knows he achieved something in reaching the big leagues. However, now he wants to write another chapter.

“It’s a big accomplishment. I’ve worked my whole life for this and just to be here, it’s an honor,” he said. “But now that I’m here, just trying to do everything I can to help the team. I just soaked in the moment and now that it’s happened, now it’s time to go to work.”

Kiner-Falefa struggled at first with nine strikeouts in 17 at-bats, but he homered in his third appearance, which came against Houston, and went 4-for-5 in a 7-2 Texas win over Tampa on Tuesday night. He has a five-game hitting streak after going 1-for-4 with two RBIs on Sunday and is batting .297.

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.