Swing Away

 

Is it weird to anyone else that a team run by Bruce Bochy is going into a potential playoff spot with the supposed rotation being Jacob deGrom, Merrill Kelly and Patrick Corbin? With Tyler Mahle and Nate Eovaldi being too injured to contribute? It's either a mad lib gone wrong or somebody's 2020 MLB the Show team like 3 seasons in. 

It's weird that we're here, and even weirder that the Rangers, with all the backpedaling they did this season and continued injury woes, are still a game and a half behind the Mariners for a wild card spot. And arguably they've had better luck against Houston than the Mariners have.

I think it comes from the fact that the Rangers dial more into desperation than the Mariners do. You get a sense from the Rangers that they don't want to lose games, and you see all these clutch hits from guys like Rowdy Tellez and Michael Helman and Sam Haggerty, and especially Kyle Higashioka. This is a very good clutch teams, and they're capable of legging out the close games in addition to the offensive blowouts, the sort that happen when you employ Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia and Wyatt Langford. It does feel like a circus of great offensive weapons, guys like Jake Burger and Joc Pederson and Marcus Semien. We're not in full 2023 10-run landslide territory, but we're seeing steady and enviable offensive production. Corey Seager, despite the missed time, will get MVP votes this year, and has a 5+ WAR for the third time since joining the Rangers. Garcia has 73 RBIs and even more great defensive moments. Michael Helman now has an .886 OPS, and he's been in the lineup more. The offense has come around, thankfully.

The problem I still see with this team is the bullpen, even if that's coming around. I still don't think Robert Garcia's a very good closer, and the team seems to agree, as now Shawn Armstrong seems to be getting more save opportunities, and doing better at it. Maton and Coulombe have been disappointing since coming over. There doesn't seem to be many tried-and-true solid bullpen options here, just guys who are good now and probably won't be for long. And that's kind of an issue if you're trying to compete. Even if you get peak Merrill Kelly to post a 3 ERA in 7 starts with 35 Ks, you can't let that go to waste. And I'm really concerned about that. At least the Mariners have some solid bullpen pieces, ones that aren't 35 or older.

I'm open to the Rangers lapping somebody and putting their name in the ring, but if they're gonna be up there in the wild card race, they need to sustain it, and they need to earn it. If their bullpen screws them out of this one, they'll have no one to blame but themselves for getting everyone's hopes up.

Coming Tomorrow- It was only 20 years ago that you could open a pack of Topps and find a draft pick card of a guy who'd make the majors that very year, and it'd be a valid rookie card. It feels like an eternity ago but it was that recent. One of them's still pitching.