The Texas Rangers played their most important and exciting series of the year in late July against the Seattle Mariners. That series feels like it happened an eternity ago. It has been nothing but wretched misery for the Rangers since that zenith. The days following that Seattle series can only be described as torture for Rangers fans.
The Rangers entered that fateful series as a legitimate threat to make the playoffs in a weak AL West. The pinnacle of that series was a 7-1 drumming led by Nathan Eovaldi over a hapless Bryan Woo. The crowd was electric and engaged in that game in a way they have not been most season. They understood that the series would go onto define the season in many ways. Both the Mariners and Rangers were poised to make a run and potentially buy at the deadline. It was assumed by both fan bases that ONE of these teams would make the playoffs, even if the Astros won the division. The win over Woo that day turned out to be the beginning of the end for both teams.
The Rangers traveled down to Tampa Bay only to get crushed by the Rays after the Mariners series. The terminally broken offense remained flaccid all weekend. The Rangers won the opener 4-1, but failed to show up for the other games. They posted zero and two runs in those tepid affairs. This is the crux of the issue. The Rangers offense is pathetic and inconsistent. The Rangers are currently ranked 28th in runs per game. Their losses are frequently characterized by total offensive lifelessness. This accounts for the Rangers having a team OPS+ above 100, despite not passing the eye test all season. Their one-sided stomp wins account for weeks worth of offensive output. The same lost, listless attitude that plagued the offense for the last two seasons has persisted into this year. Worse than inconsistent, the Rangers offense seems fundamentally flawed.
The Rangers traveled down to Houston after the Rays series. They were obliterated in the opener. The second game saw Jacob deGrom struggle with his control and get forced out early. Jake has the best strikeout to walk ratio in baseball history. Or at least he did before this start. Watching him lose control is totally abnormal. The final game was very close until the Astros posted four runs in the 7th. Yordan Alvarez had four hits. Loss 7-3.
The Rangers came back to Texas to get embarrassed by the hapless Giants. All the momentum of the Mariners series was completely lost by this point. The Rangers led the second game before a rare Jacob Latz blown save. They won the game because the Padres outfielder tripped over his own feet when the Rangers had men on in the 9th. They snagged the rubber match 6-0.
The Rangers stole the opening game against the Baltimore Orioles 2-1. Joc Pederson hit a homer against the electric Shane Baz. The second game was 2-1 Texas all the way until the 8th, when Corey Seager iced the game with a three run blast. The offense was completely lost throughout the middle innings. The O’s won the final game 10-5. The Rangers were lucky to get both wins, honestly.
The Rangers traveled to Anaheim to get embarrassed by the Angels after the close O’s series. They won the opener, but lost the next three games to the jokish Angels. The final game was especially brutal. Jacob deGrom had no control at all. He had to be pulled after two erratic innings. The offense was just as disappointing. These are the sort of series that are truly vexing as a Ranger fan.
The Rangers then dumped two of three against a team with no home or identity: the A’s. The Rangers ability to play uncompetitive, awful baseball against the dregs of the league is truly staggering. This looks like a team hellbent on missing the playoffs. They cannot get out of their own way. They cannot maintain any level of offensive consistency.
The Rangers took two of three from the Washington Nationals, who sold at the trade deadline and are rapidly fading. The Texas pitching stood tall, notching two shutouts.
The Angels came to town after the solid showing against Washington. The Rangers were held to two runs in the first game and shutout in the second. Mercifully, the Rangers won the opener and rubber match.
The Chicago White Sox hammered the Rangers pitchers in the next series. The runs flowed heavily in this series. The Rangers won the opener 11-2. Corey Seager had three hits. He was red hot through August. The Sox blasted the Rangers in the next two games, scoring double digit runs in each.
The Rangers traveled to Milwaukee next, wading through two listless performances before salvaging the final game.
The next series against Oakland started out with Jacob deGrom mercifully returning to form. He pitched brilliantly, allowing one hit, zero walks, and punching out ten.
The offense has been bad and inconsistent for the entire season. Within the context of the last month or so, Josh Jung’s injury stands out as a major factor. He was very consistent and had cut down his chase rate from last season. Seager has been great since his return. Brandon Nimmo, Zeke Duran, and Wyatt Langford have all been solid too. The issue is catcher, 2nd, 3rd, utility infield, and 3rd outfield. Evan Carter still struggles against lefties. Joc Pederson does too. The kids that came up early in the year that brought the offense spark have cooled off. The Rangers continue to be less than a sum of their parts offensively.
The Rangers could potentially call-up top prospect Sebastian Walcott. He is known for his great bat, but began this season with a UCL injury.
The oddest thing about this season is the incompetence of the Astros. As the Rangers have self-sabotaged endlessly, the Astros have also struggled. They have floated around .500 all season. The Mariners have been colder than the Rangers. As bad as Texas looks, they are still a threat to win a very weak division.
