Rangers homestand thoughts: Texas drops three vs. Houston but sweeps Kansas City

The tone of this one might be split right down the middle. As horrific as the Houston series was, almost everything went right against Kansas City. Crazy what kind of a difference a weekend can make. Somehow, the Rangers came out of this homestand with a winning record.

Let's get right into it. There is a lot to discuss, both positively and negatively.

Thought 1 - The no-hitter was unacceptable

Plain and simple. No other way to really put it.

Considering the road trip the Rangers were coming off, and the opposing starting pitcher, the no-hitter will probably go down as the season's low point. Tatsuya Imai has been straight up bad for the Astros this season, only to dice through the Texas lineup.

Then, the game was finished off by somebody making their MLB debut. Just a new level of "This absolutely cannot happen."

Not really much to say. Just unacceptable.

Thought 2 - Yordan Alvarez going nuclear, directly costing the Rangers three games

Not too often can a singular player win a series for a team. But somehow, Yordan Alvarez found a way to get the Astros three at Globe Life Field. You'll be hard-pressed to find a better four-game stretch. Which is about right for regular season games between the Rangers and Astros.

Alvarez saw his OPS go up by 80 points after a trip to Arlington. Six total hits, five of which were home runs. Three walks are included. However, the number there should have been four.

Why the Rangers decided to pitch to him on Wednesday night, already down 3-0 in the count with nobody on base and the game tied, I don't know. I probably will never know. Even if the pitch wasn't a terrible one – a slider on the lower, outside corner – you can't give Alvarez any kind of opportunity there. Either throw up the four or throw something in the dirt/outside and take your chances with Christian Walker. That one mistake cost the Rangers a game in heartbreaking fashion.

Alvarez is in the top 10 of career home runs at Globe Life Field, per Houston's Space City Home Network. His 17 HRs in just 34 games played are just one behind Josh Smith, who has taken the home turf 243 times.

You're going to have Ranger killers in the division. They've flowed from different teams throughout the AL West at times. Alvarez is, by far, the scariest of them all – at least in my lifetime. Houston is beginning to turn things around, looking like they are in this soft AL West race. Maybe the dream of them floating Alvarez on the trade market is beginning to dissolve.

Thought 3- Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi cannot stop giving up home runs

deGrom and Eovaldi are a part of an eight-man list tied for fifth for the most home runs given up by a pitcher this season. Both currently sit at 13.

Now, for deGrom, this is nothing really new for him. We saw this as an issue back in 2025 once returning from the injury. For some reason, deGrom just gives up a lot of long balls. Especially against Houston.

Eovaldi is getting dinged pretty well this year too, obviously. This comes while Eovaldi is putting together decent to quality starts, looking at a big-picture basis. Somebody has hit a home run in three of his last four starts, a stretch where he's pitched 29 total innings.

You can tell the guys are frustrated with the constant occurrences, especially deGrom. Opposing batters are absolutely crushing his fastball, giving up nine home runs on it and seeing a slug of .604. For comparison, 16 homers got hit from the fastball in '25 but the slug came in at .422. A batting average against of .260 is a mind-boggling stat for a guy still sitting at 97 mph.

Nobody really thinks of Globe Life Field as a hitter's park, at least until this past week. Alvarez certainly played a part in this but some balls landed in places they aren't really supposed to. Just an oddity of what the Rangers are getting out of their two aces at the moment.

Thought 4 - How sweep it is

For the second time this season, the Rangers have pulled off a sweep. This one was quite different than the Seattle series, though. From start to finish, you have to believe this was the most complete series the Rangers played all year.

Starting pitching? Elite. All three put up similar stat lines, with Leiter going the shortest distance at 5.2 innings. But he struck out 10, while MacKenzie Gore and Kumar Rocker combined for just five. Kansas City had a total of 10 hits against the trio.

Offense? Really good. Not just for recent Texas Rangers standards, either. You're going to win a lot of three-game sets if you score 22 runs in them. The lineups being put out aren't exactly the sexiest, from a name-brand standpoint. They sure did produce vs. the Royals, though.

The lone complaint might be the bullpen, which almost ruined a fantastic Rocker start. Some thank yous from Tyler Alexander, Jacob Junis, and Chris Martin probably came Saturday evening after the ninth-inning rally. Everything else ranged from good to really, really good.

Three days and three wins can completely change the vibes around a team. Saying "this sweep was needed" feels wrong because, well, everyone is going to welcome a sweep. Getting this one over the finish line, after the previous 13 games, felt like a new chapter could begin.

Thought 5 - Let's start to talk All-Star Game

We are just a couple of days away from MLB All-Star Game voting opening. This year's game is in Philadelphia and I think the Rangers should have multiple representatives there. In fact, two should wind up being starters for the American League, in my opinion.

Let's start with an obvious one, Josh Jung. It's hard to describe how important Jung's bat has been to this lineup in recent times. Skip Schumaker has thrown him into multiple different lineup spots, finding a way to contribute. Jung's batting average is the best among American League third basemen. He also has the highest WAR and an OPS of .867.

Junior Caminero is going to be the biggest competition here. Thankfully, Tampa Bay is not some crazy market where fans will be overwhelming with the vote. Caminero does have double the amount of home runs and takes the RBI category, which is usually where fans look. Rangers fans are going to need to come through for Jung over the next few weeks.

Ezequiel Duran is the next candidate. What might turn into a problem for Duran is his position. He has played at five different spots – 2B, SS, 3B, LF, and RF – at one point this season. Maybe MLB throws him in the 2B category? Either way, the offensive numbers are good enough to get him to Philadelphia.

Duran goes into this week with an OPS over .800 and comfortably has the most RBIs by any AL 2B. He might get dinged for not hitting enough home runs, which has led to the .288 batting average. But night in and night out, Duran finds a way to produce for the Rangers.

Positive news here – 2B in the American League isn't exactly strong. Duran has a real chance to take the field with some of the best in baseball. And what a story/turnaround it would be for him.

Singles

• Chris Martin, it might be time. Martin has done nothing but struggle this season, pre- and post-injury. At the very least, Schumaker needs to stop throwing him in there during leverage moments.
• On Wednesday, I predicted to my brother that Joc Pederson would finish the season with an OPS over .800. A few days later, he's already there. So, I'll go a step further and say Pederson gets as high as .900 at one point this season.
• Starting pitching continues to be the key to this team's success – you cannot convince me otherwise. People love to complain about the offense, and rightfully so. But more than anything, this team goes when the pitching is performing at a high level.
• Schumaker might have an interesting decision to make on the daily outfield lineup here soon. With Wyatt Langford back, does Evan Carter remain an everyday player? Might do a full story on this.

Coming Up

Next is a quick three-game series up in St. Louis against the Cardinals, which brings back... memories. Not much of a road trip when it's just one set of games before returning to Arlington.

St. Louis just got done playing 11 straight games against its own division, only winning four of those. On paper, Texas should have the pitching advantage with its three front-line guys going.