(Not) At Close Range

The closest competitor to the Minnesota Twins for the 2nd Wild Card spot is the Texas Rangers, 4.5 games behind them.

...it's not gonna happen, but...while we're here...they're not terribly good this year, aren't they?

The main crux of the team relies on home runs and strikeouts, rather than hits. Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre are trying to keep this at the forefront, and Delino DeShields is finally proving himself, but...people like Mike Napoli, Rougned Odor and rookie Willie Calhoun are striking out too many times for their own good.

The pitching...isn't great. Aside from ace Cole Hamels and good-enough Andrew Cashner, there's some middling performances and questionable promotions that are making the Rangers end the season on a less than favorable note. Hell, even when Darvish was there the picture was kind of muddied, with a less-than-favorable Tyson Ross performance trying to flesh out. It's just...not been pretty, and it's even worse that they seem to have more of a shot than the Angels, who actually made an effort to win games down the stretch.

I don't see the Rangers making the postseason, but...that's probably the best scenario.

Coming Tonight: Pitcher for a team inches from the postseason, but uncertain for success.