Rangers roadtrip thoughts: Texas takes quick series vs. St. Louis

Few teams have been on the road more than the Rangers this season. So, a quick three-game trip to St. Louis before flying home? Sure thing. To make matters better, they took two of three games from the Cardinals.

Thankfully, there is an off day for the Rangers after 13 straight games. This gives us a chance to provide some thoughts on what just took place at Busch Stadium. Let's dive right in.

Thought 1 - Jacob deGrom gets win No. 100

deGrom needed a few attempts to get the 100th win of his career. St. Louis might now be a special place in his heart, getting it done on Monday night. Everyone in the Rangers clubhouse seemed pretty pumped up. Who doesn't love a good beer shower, especially after a game in early June?

This accomplishment brought up a bigger discussion, at least within the national media. Is deGrom a Hall of Famer?

I think fans of the Rangers and New York Mets know their answer. deGrom's legacy is probably a little better in Queens, at least for the time being. Let's see if the Rangers can get into the playoffs to maybe change that.

What might hold (old school) baseball writers back is deGrom's number of wins. Who knows exactly how many more he has. Getting to 125 might be considered an accomplishment. For reference, the Hall of Fame pitcher in the modern era with the fewest wins is Sandy Koufax with 165. deGrom is going to fall well short of that.

Which might perfectly encapsulate the era of baseball deGrom played in. Wins for a starting pitcher no longer matter. They prove nothing, other than you pitched at least five innings and your team held onto a lead. When has deGrom ever gotten run support?

The Mets were famous for giving him none. Back in 2018, deGrom's ERA was 1.70, and a Cy Young came with it. His record sat at 10-9. It's not like the Rangers' offense has been very good since he arrived in Arlington.

deGrom has more time to add to what should be a Hall of Fame career. Just an interesting big-picture observation while celebrating a great accomplishment.

Thought 2 - Series MVP goes to Jalen Beeks

Back to the actual series in St. Louis...

MVP honors, for me, go to Beeks. Not usually an award given to a guy who only pitched in 1.1 innings over three games. But what he provided out of the bullpen got the Rangers a win on Tuesday night.

Nathan Eovaldi got into a seventh-inning mess, leaving the game tied with runners on the corners and nobody out. Eleven pitches later, the Rangers were out of the threat. Beeks went strikeout, strikeout, lineout against lineup spots five, six, seven.

Two innings later, three Texas runs were scored in the ninth to earn a 7-3 win. Without Beeks' performance, the Cardinals would have blown that game open in a big way. Big-time outing in the series-clinching victory.

Thought 3 - The Joc Pederson vision is coming alive 1.5 years later

Nobody in this organization has been ripped more since the beginning of the 2025 season than Pederson. After initial praise, Chris Young got shredded for the signing last summer and it continued well into this season. Now, Pederson has flipped the switch and is the team's best hitter.

Before looking at what he's doing across the season, Pederson performed fantastically vs. St. Louis. Five hits, two of which were doubles, with five RBIs. His strikeout and walk totals were the same, being at one. A huge reason, if not the main one, why the Rangers took two of those games.

Pederson finished with an OPS of .919 in the month of May. He's off to a blazing start in June (this road trip), as the OPS number is 1.250. Maybe putting him in the leadoff spot really was the simple fix to the '25 struggles.

This is the vision Young saw when signing Pederson. Maybe not being the offense's main source of production, which is a role he currently occupies. Hopefully, No. 5 gets back to his ways pretty soon.

But Young thought high-quality production could come from Pederson. It took a while to be proven correct, going through a prolonged stretch of struggles. Better late than never, Pederson has arrived at the right time for this team.

I truly believe his OPS will clip the .900 range at some point (currently at .828). If that comes to fruition, while everyone else performs, it's easy to dream past the initial vision.

Singles

• Since this story is late, roster news has already broken. Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford will be activated for Friday's game. Big, big news for the Rangers, who have to feel like another offensive step can be taken.
• On the flip side, Cody Freeman and Alejandro Osuna are going down. Freeman, not a huge surprise. Osuna, I don't know, man. ICYMI, here's what I came up with.
• Jeff Passan and I are on the same page when it comes to a potential Rangers trade target. It's still a little early for deadline stuff (even if Young should spring into action) but interesting to hear this from baseball's top insider.

Coming up

The Rangers return to Globe Life Field. But it's a short one. Coming to town will be the Cleveland Guardians, who just took a series vs. the New York Yankees.

A good litmus test for where this team stands should be coming. Cleveland is eight games over .500 and in first place in the AL Central. Getting a couple of wins with some decent offensive output would continue to give you confidence about this long-term outlet.