Right now, there are a lot of teams vying for wild card spots, and there's a lot of tension as to which teams will be able to funnel late momentum into actual playoff runs. And you're seeing teams that may not have been in the race before, like the Reds, Cubs and Rays, inch their way into relevance. But at the same time, you're also seeing teams that made moves and were competitive weeks ago that are now further than ever from playoff spots.
There's two teams in particular that have really fallen out of the race, perhaps irreparably so. One is the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team whose competitive midyear run, and buying nature at the deadline, came as a surprise to many people, but whose inability to stay in the hunt shouldn't be surprising at all. The other is the Texas Rangers, a team that won it all last season by avoiding the complete drop-off that this team is now experiencing this year. The Pirates are 7.5 games back from a wild card spot, further than the Reds, Cubs or Cardinals. The Rangers, meanwhile, are so far back from an AL wild card spot that baseball reference doesn't even include them in the chart. Keep in mind, the Nationals are still included on the NL side. They don't include teams that are 10 or more games back, which means...that's not good, folks. They're also 10 games back from the division, too.
We're really at the point where we could technically count out the Rangers with a month and a half left. This is a team that took the world by storm last year and outdid the odds. But...as Bochy used to only operate on even years before, now his Rangers seem to exist on odd years now. And 2024 might be a wash for them solely because of the injury problem. Scherzer, deGrom, Gray and Eovaldi have been hurt for large swaths of the year, and getting Cody Bradford and Tyler Mahle back now seems like too little, too late. Bradford got chased for his first two starts back but seems to have mellowed out, and is approaching his 2023 dominance again. Mahle has yet to notch a win in 2 starts back but he has a 2.79 ERA and 9 Ks. The idea is for deGrom to return momentarily, but who knows how much of a boost he'll be at this point.
The Rangers are also experiencing down seasons from some crucial 2023 pieces, like Adolis Garcia, Andrew Heaney, Dane Dunning, Leody Taveras and Travis Jankowski. The fun hitting depth this team flashed last season seems diluted, even with Robbie Grossman back on the bench. Seager, Semien and Langford are still pretty durable, but Josh Jung missed a huge chunk of season and is now struggling to get back up to speed while his brother takes the corner dish in Detroit. All the elements that made the Rangers a true competitor last season seem to not be there this year.
Meanwhile, everything that made the Pirates seem promising just WEEKS ago seems gone as well. They've only won one game this month so far. Even with the additions of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Bryan de la Cruz and Jalen Beeks, this team has dropped off, with series against the red-hot Padres and still good Dodgers just not going their way at all. It helps that Paul Skenes is still excellent, but now he's giving his all during a period where nobody else is, and it's getting to the point where people are questioning whether the Pirates should be limiting his innings to ensure he makes it all the way to the end of the season.
There have been some signs of life, like Joey Bart surprisingly making a true case to be starting catcher next season, despite the existence of both Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez. Bart is not the guy the Giants thought they'd be getting, but he's still hitting .273 with 33 RBIs and 11 homers in Pittsburgh, and has become a somewhat reliable bat, even as Yasmani Grandal continues his late career decline as the starter. You're also still seeing highlights from Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds. But the full team scrappy energy that was there earlier in the year isn't showing up now, and it's really just been down to only a few reliable players per game.
The intriguing news is that, while the Pirates are the ones closer to reentering the scrum, they're also currently playing the Mariners, who've dropped like a stone since retaking 1st earlier in the week. And in a battle of two unlucky dropping teams, one is going to have to gain momentum. Why not the Pirates? Wouldn't be funny if they came back now and shocked everyone? Of the two, they're the ones that could!
Coming Tomorrow- He came off the IL right when his team started getting 2023-style amazing again.
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