In 2015, when the Houston Astros made their first of many runs for the AL West title, the big cheese in the division was still the Texas Rangers. In the mid-2010s, the Rangers would embark on two straight playoff bids, on a team headlined by Yu Darvish, Shin-Soo Choo, Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Prince Fielder. While neither of these playoff bids would be successful, they would be the last non-Astros team to finish the season leading the division until 2020, when the Oakland Athletics would end the season in 1st [and the Astros, while finishing the season under .500, would still advance to the ALCS].
I bring this up because it's a rather fitting two-man race the NL West has become in 2023. Now, the Astros are the alpha, as they have been since 2017, and the Rangers, after building their team up at first gradually and then all at once, are the comparative underdogs trying to change the picture. This season, the Rangers have held onto their division lead for the majority of the year, and came very close to losing it last week, as the Astros inched up directly behind them. I feared the worst when this happened, as there have been so many seasons that have began with the A's or Mariners leading and then the Astros winning anyway, and I, and I'd like to make this 100% clear, am so damned sick of the Astros winning. I am...BEYOND over it. The Yankees spoiling JV's return to the orange and navy today was absolutely incredible for me. Rain on that man's parade, he CHOSE to come back there.
This week, the Astros, in leapfrogging position, lost two games to a Yankees team that they are clearly better than, and are staring down the barrel of a series against the Baltimore Orioles, arguably the best team in the AL [I love that I get to say that]. The Rangers, on the other hand, have won five straight, are playing against the sliding-back-downhill Miami Marlins, and their next series is against the last place Oakland Athletics.
I am...so happy right now.
The Rangers are not only the better team, but right now they are also the luckier team, and with the amount of luck and circumstances the Astros always find themselves magically on the lighter side of, I am enjoying every second of this. The way that Max Scherzer slid right into Nate Eovaldi's spot in the rotation, that was absolutely perfect. Scherz, by the way, was pretty alright in his Rangers debut, getting the win and striking out 9 despite giving up 3 early runs. When you're on a team that scores as many runs as the Rangers, you don't need to worry as much about run support.
Speaking of, we've had two 10+ run efforts from the Rangers in the last 10 games. 7 people on this lineup have over 50 RBIs, including the injured Jonah Heim. Nate Lowe, though not quite on the road to a second consecutive 25+ homer year, still has 58 RBIs and 119 hits, as well as hitting .283. Lowe seems to be an old-fashioned contact hitter with power upsides, and considering how many people on this team seem to be similarly old-fashioned in how they make contact, including the marquee guys like Semien and Seager, it's a great time for him. Hitting the best on this team, however, is Travis Jankowski, a guy who was cut by the Mets last year for not hitting for average, which, again, is very funny, cause he's flirting with .300. I liked Janko when he was with Philly, and it's super cool that he's starting here.
The Rangers, if they play their cards right, could be in a really nice position for the playoffs, and could be one of the best teams in the AL going into a relatively packed postseason picture. And I'd honestly love if they could do something this year, after so many missed opportunities, and, this is important, so many competitive teams I didn't like. There's a lot to like about this team, and even though there are AL squads I like better [O's, Jays, Yanks I suppose], I'd be alright if these guys go far. Though, again, in an Orioles-Rangers series, they aren't exactly getting my rooting interest.
Coming Tomorrow- No one chooses to become a closer for a competitor. Sometimes, the ninth inning chooses you.
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