The Rangers are heading into a stretch that could shape everything before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Texas has 13 games in 14 days on deck, and the run is loaded with pressure points: three against the AL Central-leading White Sox, seven divisional games, and four meetings with the Mariners, who are just behind the Rangers in the AL West. After a trip to Tampa Bay next week, Texas will go to Houston for three more.
Then, on Aug. 3, the club comes back to Arlington to open a series with the Giants. The deadline arrives at 5 p.m. central, and what the Rangers look like afterward will depend on how they handle these next two weeks.
For now, the focus is Monday night, when Jacob deGrom takes the ball against Chicago right-hander Erick Fedde.
Texas enters at 50-49, sitting one-half game ahead of Seattle after dropping two of three to the Braves. Chicago is 52-46 and one game in front of Cleveland in the AL Central, a surprising position for a team that had the worst record in baseball history two years ago.
Monday’s game is set for 7:05 p.m. It will air on Rangers Sports Network and can be streamed on BZZR.
Chicago Sports Network will carry it for White Sox viewers. On the radio side, the Rangers are on KRLD 1080 and KFLC 1270, while the White Sox are on ESPN Chicago WMVP 1000 AM.
There are a few individual matchups worth watching.
Brandon Nimmo has seen Fedde more than anyone else in the Rangers lineup, and the numbers are solid. He’s 7-for-28 against him, with four RBI. The Rangers would take a little more damage if Monday is the night Nimmo finally leaves the yard against Fedde, because no Texas hitter who has faced the White Sox starter has homered off him.
Elias Diaz is another bat that could get a look. He sat out Sunday, which makes him a logical candidate to be in the lineup Monday. He’s 1-for-3 against Fedde, which works out to a .333 average in a tiny sample.
On the other side, Randall Grichuk is the White Sox hitter who could make life interesting for deGrom. One of deGrom’s recurring problems has been the long ball, especially early in games, and Grichuk has a history of doing damage against him.
In 13 career at-bats, he’s hit .385 with two home runs and two RBI. Chicago is expected to slot him early in the lineup.
In Other News...
Rangers Trade Idea Puts Two Intriguing Young Pieces On The Table
A fresh trade idea has put the Rangers back in the middle of the kind of deadline debate that usually follows a club with postseason hopes and a few roster holes to patch. Jim Bowden floated Luis Arraez as a possible target, and the discussion around it quickly turned to whether Texas should be willing to part with two young pieces who have drawn real attention in the system.
Yolfran Castillo and Dalton Pence both have enough appeal to make any front office listen, which is part of why this kind of proposal gets traction. Castillo has shown on-base skills and speed in the lower minors, while Pence has emerged as a legitimate arm with a strong strikeout rate and a spot among the organizations better pitching prospects, though Texas also has other arms in the pipeline. The bigger question is whether Arraez really matches what the Rangers need most, since the clubs wish list looks more like a power bat, a late-inning reliever and another starter than a pure contact hitter. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Fans Just Got Pulled Into Another Deadline Rumor
Deadline chatter has a way of pulling the Rangers into every big-name rumor, and this one arrived with the usual mix of intrigue and caution. A social media post and a Jim Bowden column put Texas in the conversation around Cincinnati right-hander Hunter Greene, but the reporting behind it was presented as second-hand speculation rather than anything close to confirmation.
For the Rangers, the appeal is obvious whenever a premium arm surfaces before the August 3 deadline, especially one under team control for years. But the Reds are not operating like a club ready to tear everything down, which makes any Greene discussion more complicated than the rumor mill suggests, and it leaves Texas fans waiting to see whether this is a real pursuit or just another deadline echo. [Read more 🡒]
Corey Seager Situation Keeps Putting Rangers Lineup Depth In Focus
Corey Seagers back rehab remains one of the biggest moving pieces in the Rangers lineup picture, and the latest checkpoint was more of a maintenance step than a breakthrough. He repeated the same workout he had done in Atlanta, a sign he is still working through the recovery process as Texas watches closely and waits for him to keep building toward baseball activity.
Cody Freeman is also moving forward, heading to Arizona to start a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League after surgery for a herniated disc. His return path figures to be shaped by how he looks once hes back in game action, and for the Rangers it adds another layer to a depth chart already being tested by injuries and by the steady play of the players filling in. [Read more 🡒]