Texas Rangers Week 3 & 4……Baghead
Anyone who has been watching the Rangers lately will immediately understand why the Rangers offense has indeed been an offense in need, and there’s no need to look further than the total runs stat: the Rangers are the 2nd worst in MLB for runs, with the only team worse being the comically horrendous Colorado Rockies. (who are sitting at a wonderful 6-28) Additionally, these past two weeks have proven that one player is all it takes to win or lose a game for the Rangers, and winning teams don’t depend on that one player. This, of course, means that now the Rangers are no longer a winning team.
Sitting uncomfortably in 4th place in the AL West, four games out of first and performing worse than the Astros and Athletics, the Rangers have gone from cruising to bruising. Rangers fans have been desperately hoping for a break in which their offense will break out and score 20-30 runs over a series, which seems to be what is destined to happen given the law of averages. However, that law has manifested itself in a different form: pitching. While the team ERA is sitting in 7th at 3.44, that won’t make the cut when the team is scoring three or fewer runs in around 63% of their games. Naturally, a team's pitching staff can only handle so much pressure, and now we’re seeing the results. It was only a matter of time before the one run games and the lucky clutch hits started turning sour for the Rangers, as now most of those hits they so desperately need are going to their opponents. A team that relies on the clutch of one individual player will eventually start to lose—because while baseball is a sport heavily focused on individual performance, it’s still a team game, and one guy can’t carry a team. The Rangers so far this season got their early wins by depending on that one guy—Eovaldi pitching a shutout, Garcia hitting a walk-off homerun, Langford going 2-4 with several RBIs, Josh Smith getting crucial lead off hits, Tyler Mahle or DeGrom putting up a gem by pitching six or seven innings while allowing only one run, etc., but it simply isn’t sustainable. Weaknesses have been revealed with guys like Semien, Pederson, Burger and Taveras severely underperforming, and it’s hurting the rest of the team.
Nathan Eovaldi
However, not all hope is lost. Eovaldi is still pitching like a potential Cy Young winner, with ridiculous BB/K ratios, a 2.11 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP, and Mahle still stands strong with a 1.19 ERA. Burger has been demoted to AAA, their hitting coach was fired, Seager has returned from the IL and Semien is heating up. They dominated the A’s one game 15-2, and in their most recent game they won 8-1. Their offense is starting to show signs of life while their pitching still stands strong. The puzzle pieces are all here to formulate an incredible team, but they just must be given time to be oriented correctly.
This puzzle needs to be put together soon though, as they are due to face the Red Sox (18-18) and the Tigers, (Both on the road) with an impressive 22-13 record. These teams will test if the Rangers are legit or not, and at that point the season will be approaching the 40-game benchmark. These two series will be crucial for determining if the Rangers are going to bounce back, especially now that Smith, Langford and Seager will be healthy and ready to go; along with a dominant pitching staff locked and loaded.
On a side note, given that the Mets got hot last year after Grimace threw out the first pitch, maybe May the 4th will spark the Rangers offense from this point forward. After all, they did score eight runs that day.
