The Texas Rangers’ David Murphy is technically a rookie this season, even though he was only three at-bats shy last year of losing his rookie status.

So he has a little more seasoning than most average first-year players, and that is helping him right now.

The left-handed-hitting outfielder knows he has many more seasons ahead in his career, and he isn’t allowing himself to fall into the trap of being labeled a platoon player in his first full season in the big leagues.

He is no longer starting against left-handed pitchers after finding minimal success against them (.221 average in 104 at-bats) as an everyday player until the middle of last month.

The key to getting those at-bats back is to be more disciplined against lefties, get ahead in the count and force them to throw him fastballs.

"I still feel like I can hit them, but the numbers don’t lie," said Murphy, who is hitting .269 overall. "It’s not something I’m going to worry about. I’m still getting regular at-bats. I’m not going to put pressure on myself at this point." — Jeff Wilson