May The Fourth…

This is not a post about Star Wars; it’s a look at where our Rangers are with a fourth of the season in the books. As I write this the record stands at 19 wins and 21 losses. That record is certainly not as good as we like, but at this juncture, there are only 3 teams in the American League that are over .500 - the Rays, Yankees, and the Migrant A’s. The Guardians are 21–21, and every other team has won between 16 and 19 games. It is a perfect example of parity - or mediocrity. Believe it or not, if the playoffs started tomorrow, the division winners would be Tampa, Cleveland, and the Athletics. The wild card representatives would be New York, Texas, and the White Sox. (I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the Astros and Angels are tied for the worst record - never miss a chance to criticize the enemy).

So the bad news is Texas has been very inconsistent and has not met expectations. The offense is again near the bottom of the league in every significant category. The good news is the worst stretch of the season is behind them. As previously mentioned, the schedule begins to tilt in the Rangers’ favor, with more home games and less brutal matchups.

Let’s take a look at how we got to this point. At the start of the year, almost anyone would have said that the best hitters on the team were Seager and Langford. Corey has the worst start to a season he has ever had. He is batting less than .200, and looks completely out of sync at the plate. Wyatt has spent most of the year injured, and has contributed one homer and four RBI. Josh Jung started very slowly, but has carried the team for a month. Brandon Nimmo and Ezequiel Duran are the only other players besides Jung who are hitting over .270. And don’t get me started on the team’s failure to hit with men on base. I could go on and on about the offensive weaknesses, but I’ll stop. How have they won almost half of their games? In real estate, the key is location, location, location. In baseball, it’s pitching, pitching, pitching. And that’s where Texas has excelled. Starting pitching, led by deGrom and Eovaldi, has been very good. Jack Leiter is beginning to show the makings of another ace. If MacKenzie Gore can develop better control with his potential, the overall staff should continue to be a strength. The bullpen has been outstanding. This group has the best ERA in the League, and manager Skip Schumacher has generally pulled the right strings. After a bit of experimentation, he seems to have developed enough confidence in Jacob Latz to trust him as a closer.

The hope for the rest of the season is that the offense will improve and the pitching will continue to be outstanding. I am cautiously optimistic. The opportunity is there - do you think the Rangers can take advantage?

That’s one man’s opinion - what’s yours?