After dropping two straight games to the last place A’s, we are left wondering just how much of a contender the Texas Rangers are for the post season. After falling to 59-46, the possibilities are looking more and more bleak.
Many expected this team to be no different than previous teams from Arlington: mediocre pitching at best held together by tons of hits and homeruns. Lately it seems the opposite has been true, but it feels as if the normal end of season result is inevitable.
While the Ranger’s starting rotation, practically a revolving door of players, especially as of late, has done their part to make the team competitive, the same can’t be said for the offense.
Since the All-Star break the Ranger’s bats have fallen silent, punctuated by scoring a whopping two runs over their last 18 innings. Coupled with inconsistency at the closer position, this is starting to look like the Rangers we are used to seeing in August.
Of course one can hardly shoulder that whole problem on C.J. Wilson and Frankie Francisco alone. We can’t even get a consistent answer as to who IS the closer. One week it’s Wilson, the next it’s Francisco, sometimes it Jennings, while others it’s O’Day.
As if shuffling pitchers isn’t enough strain for the team, recent injuries turned into DL stints for Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz, two of the hottest hitting Rangers. Cruz is only one of three Rangers hitting over .300 since the All-Star Break, and Kinsler’s defense is sorely missed at second base. If Kinsler had been in that second game against Oakland, then we’d have definitely seen a Ranger victory. Instead, Joaquin Arias let a routine grounder sit for two long, allowing the A’s to get a base runner who should have been the third out of the inning, and win with a walkoff double.
Omar Vizquel makes a decent emergency second basemen, defensively. But what he does with his glove, and what he does with his bat is another story. The Rangers need a lot more offense than either Vizquel or Arias can provide if they hope to catch the Angels.
Which leads us to our biggest problem with the Rangers making the playoffs: The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Funny name, serious baseball. The Angels are hot. And they’re winning without two of their biggest superstars in Vladimir Guerro and Torii Hunter. When those two get healthy expect the Angels to become even more competitive, potentially giving the Dodger’s a run for their money for the MLB’s best record.
The Rangers with back to back losses fell four and a half games behind the Angels, a gap that seems to be widening everyday. Even more worrisome, if the Rangers can’t find a way to swing the bat better and win the AL West, their chances at a wildcard spot seem to be fading even faster.
They have the same number of wins as the Tampa Bay Rays, who are third in their division. The Red Sox seem almost a lock for the wildcard spot assuming they don’t overtake the Yankees.
So it’s up to the Rangers to swing their way into first in the AL West, because the front office failed to make any move at the trade deadline to better the team. If the pitching holds steady as it has been, a resurgence in hitting can propel this team into the post season, if the pitching falls off like it normal does in late summer, then all the hitting in the world wont matter because it’ll be yet another rebuilding year for the Rangers.
The bat is in their hands.
Keywords: Texas Rangers
