We're gonna vent our frustration
If we don't we're gonna blow a fifty-amp fuse
It's the defending champs.
Texas is 5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, and need to pass four teams. It's a big ask, obviously, and if they do decide this isn't their year - they have a lot of pitching to put on the market. Starters Max Scherzer, Andrew Heaney, and Michael Lorenzen are all free agents when the season is over. So is reliever Kirby Yates. Nathan Eovaldi might be a free agent; he has a $20 million player option for next year, but he needs to work another 50 IP over the next two months to trigger it. Ancient reliever David Robertson has a mutual option for next year.
Oh, don't worry. The Rangers won't be selling. Those guys are all staying put.
The Rangers main problem this season has been with the bats. Last year, they scored more runs than any team in the AL. This year, they've been below average. Corey Seager has merely been very good, rather than MVP-level great. Their other 30 year old hitters - Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia, Travis Jankowski - have all slipped this season, by degrees either moderate (Semien), drastic (Garcia) or catastrophic (Jankowski.)
They haven't missed sophomore third baseman Josh Jung, missing since April with a fractured wrist. They hope to have him back within the next couple of weeks. They haven't missed him because Josh Smith has done an outstanding job filling in while Jung has been out, and Bruce Bochy will surely find a way to keep that bat in the lineup.
Matchups
Fri 26 July - Heaney (4-10, 3.60)vs Kikuchi (4-9, 4.54)
Sat 27 July - Lorenzen (5-5, 3.53) vs Gausman (8-8, 4.55)
Sun 28 July - Gray (5-4, 3.73) vs Berrios (8-8, 4.08)
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20240726095831633