The Texas Rangers Have Blown A 10 Game Lead In The West In A Little Over A Month And Are Imploding
I did not see this one coming. For so much of this season, the Texas Rangers looked like the team to beat in the American League. They had everything you could ask for out of a roster. It was a perfect blend of experienced veterans and promising young players. Their offense was as explosive as it gets, and their starting pitching staff, especially after adding Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer at the trade deadline, was one of baseball's best. They had a 10-game lead over the Seattle Mariners a month ago, and for most of the season, they were ahead of the defending world champion Houston Astros. I didn't think it was out of the realm of possibility that Houston would catch up to them at some point, but I sure as hell did not expect Seattle to jump them in the standings.
As of the time of this blog, the Rangers have lost nine games out of 10. What's going wrong? It's multiple things. They've had a few brutal injuries. Nathan Eovaldi is scheduled to return soon. He's been a revelation in the first half of the season for the Rangers. Josh Jung, who seemed like he was in the driver's seat to win the American League Rookie of the Year, has been injured.
But their biggest issue has been their bullpen. They cannot hold leads. It seemed as though they were going to fix that problem by acquiring Aroldis Chapman at the trade deadline. Chapman has been pretty inconsistent for the Rangers. He's given up some huge hits in high-leverage situations. Yesterday, he came into the ball game in the bottom of the ninth inning and blew a save against the Minnesota Twins. That is the issue sometimes with taking a flyer out on relievers who have a great first half. Sometimes, they revert back to the pitcher they've been over the last few seasons. It seems as though that is happening with Chapman right now.
This is all surprising, considering Bruce Bochy is the Rangers manager. He is as good at managing a bullpen as anybody, but it's not management that's the problem. Their relievers have not executed, and it's been a huge reason for this downward trend.
All hope is not lost. I wrote a blog a year ago saying that the San Diego Padres were imploding. At the time, they were. The Rangers could easily bounce back like the Padres did in 2022. But even if they prevail and end up winning the American League west or making a deep run through October, people will still point to the stretch as disastrous. I still like this team, and I believe they can still win the World Series. But with each passing day, their flaws become more and more apparent. They're going to have to find a way to mask those issues, or else they could end up completely collapsing.
