Road trips have not been too kind to the Rangers in recent weeks. The trend continues in Chicago and Milwaukee, facing the White Sox and Brewers. Both were able to take their respective series, as the road trip record came in at 2-4.
Now, Texas finds itself on the outside looking in from a playoff perspective. Boarding the plane back home, the record sits at three games under .500. Certainly some work to do.
Thought 1 - Turns out, the starting pitching is a roller coaster
I was fooled by the quality of starting pitching during the last home stands. It was just the upward trajectory of a roller coaster. Things came crashing back down during the road trip. Unfortunately, the feeling is a little less exciting than what you might feel on an actual roller coaster at the State Fair this fall.
Cal Quantrill was the lone guy to make it through a full six innings. And even then, three of the four hits Quantrill gave up were solo home runs.
Kumar Rocker (in his Chicago start) and Cody Bradford were both pulled after 5.2 innings. Jacob deGrom and MacKenzie Gore had starts to forget about on the Southside. Rocker didn't perform well a second time out on the trip, only lasting three frames. He's very clearly on low battery.
deGrom's last two outings, more than anything, describe his season. He was juiced up against Washington after earning career strikeout No. 2,000. Just a few days later, luck went against deGrom in Chicago. His outing fell apart quite quickly. In fact, it was a miracle he even got 3.2 innings.
The Rangers have a team ERA of 4.95 away from home. Only three teams are worse – the Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Minnesota Twins. Back in Globe Life Field, they rank inside the top-10. For some reason, pitching just does translate on the road.
Thought 2 - Thin bullpen troubles have fully caught up
Hey, let's talk more about poor pitching!
Jared Sandler put out an interesting (and telling) stat after Saturday's loss. No bullpen has given up more runs in the 5th through 7th innings since the All-Star Break than the Rangers.
Don't think there can be too many complaints about the bullpen's back end. Jacob Latz deserved to be an All-Star and got the nod. He just stopped getting appearances because save situations haven't really popped up. Latz has just 12 appearances since the ASB. Eight of those are saves.
Jakob Junis remains a nice piece, getting later-inning opportunities. Six appearances in the month of August, just three hits and two runs allowed. Walks are suddenly a problem, even if teams are not converting on the opportunities.
Everyone else? Well, not all too good. This could have been easy to project considering what the Rangers were working with. Injuries have played a role, sure. But a lot of the bullpen's faces are considered rookies. At some point, rookies are going to get figured out or run out of gas.
Looking at the non-Latz/Junis bullpen regulars – AKA, the middle relief guys –, Tyler Alexander is the only one with an above-league-average ERA+. Peyton Gray is just below at 98. Cole Winn is all the way down at 69, and recently optioned Robbie Ahlstrom is at 64. Alexanders and Winn are the two most-used pitchers in terms of appearances.
At some point, there needs to be some investment in this unit. Patch working the group on a yearly basis does not really work. Latz appears to have found his role as the closer. Almost everything else should be in the air moving into 2027.
Thought 3 - Ezequiel Duran
Duran seems to be getting a lot of love from local media in recent days. Every single ounce of it is deserved. He had at least one hit in five of the six games on the road trip. Sunday's game can be credited to him thanks to a home run and a timely double with runners at second and third.
Looking a little more broadly – if you were handing out letter grades to individual players, how many would be above a B? Two? Maybe three? Duran is one of them and gets an A, at a minimum. As mentioned with the local media, the term "team MVP" has been thrown around.
You would not have to go too far back to find me calling for Duran to be let go. Everything between the second-half of 2023 and the start of this season was horrific. I gave up on him.
Should have admitted this about a month ago, but glad to have proven to be wrong. Duran has been consistent throughout the year and looks like there is a guaranteed roster spot for him moving over. The Rangers have him under control for two more years. And maybe the best part is you don't have to Sharpie him into any position. The Solution will play anywhere you tell him to.
Thought 4- Scoreboard watching
When the Rangers left town, they were .500 and sat atop the AL West. Flash forward a week, and the deficit to the Houston Astros is two games. In the AL Wild Card race, they are also two games behind the Cleveland Guardians.
So, is this technically over? No.
Seattle had a mixed bag of results over the past week, taking a series from Philadelphia at home before flying out East to face Toronto. To little surprise, they dropped two of three. The Mariners head to Fenway Park next, only to play the easiest schedule out there in September.
Houston went to the Big Apple and found success, hence the division lead right now. Taking a series from the Yankees is quite impressive, putting up 17 runs in three games. Then heading to Queens, a similar result was put up. The Astros took the series vs. the Mets, even though Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto were back in the same lineup.
Down the stretch, scoreboard watching is going to be just as important as what happens in a game played by the Rangers. In a world where you still believe the playoffs remain possible, the AL West should likely be the main focus. Too many teams are involved in the Wild Card, meaning that's a 'Hey, let's check the standings this morning' move.
Singles
- Bats continue to be inconsistent. Some nice output during the road trip and then Logan Henderson only faces one over the minimum through seven on Friday night. Feels like a big shrug of the shoulders.
- Sept. 1 is now one day away. Sebastian Walcott continues to rake in Frisco.
Coming Up
Home sweet home. The Rangers are going to see a lot of Globe Life Field in September, beginning with a seven-game homestand. Three of them should be a lot easier than the other four.
First up are the Athletics, coming to town for the penultimate AL West series of the season. Not too long ago, the A's took a series from the Rangers. It needs to be different this time. In fact, we might need the home team to pull off a sweep. The A's have been decimated by injuries. Everything will depend on starting pitching, beginning with deGrom on Monday.
From there, the Tampa Bay Rays come in for a four-game set. If the playoffs started today, Tampa Bay would quite comfortably have the one-seed in the American League. Potential sink territory.
