The Texas Rangers were set up for a chance to grab some real momentum this weekend against the Houston Astros, but Jacob deGrom’s latest health scare has suddenly put that plan in jeopardy.
Texas enters its final series before the All-Star break with a shot to create some separation in the AL West race, and the schedule had lined up in the Rangers’ favor. If they handled business against their in-state rival, they could also benefit from the Seattle Mariners running into a difficult matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays, who own the best record in the American League.
Instead, the focus has shifted to deGrom. After his latest start on July 7, word surfaced that the right-hander was dealing with hip and leg pain. Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News then reported that deGrom will not make his scheduled start on Sunday, July 12, because of a hip/glute strain, and that an IL stint is not out of the question.
That leaves Texas in a tough spot before a series that already looked tricky on the pitching side. Jacob Latz is unavailable until Sunday at the earliest after throwing 41 pitches in the Rangers’ wild win over the Los Angeles Angels last night, which means the club is already stretched thin.
The first two games against Houston were going to be a challenge even before the deGrom news. Cal Quantrill is lined up to face Astros ace Hunter Brown tonight, and Kumar Rocker will go up against Houston’s most consistent starter this season, Peter Lambert, tomorrow.
Sunday had looked like the Rangers’ best chance to swing the series. Houston still has not named a starter after sending struggling Mike Burrows to Triple-A earlier this week, so that matchup is now listed as TBA.
For Texas, the timing is brutal. Every time the club seems ready to build something, something else knocks it back. That’s part of why some have been wary of the Rangers making an aggressive push at the trade deadline.
At full strength, with a couple of smart additions, Texas can look like a real contender. But with Wyatt Langford, Corey Seager, and now possibly deGrom all spending time on the IL, that version of the Rangers keeps slipping out of reach.
And if deGrom does have to land on the IL, the rotation picture gets even shakier. Jack Leiter is already out until late August in the best-case scenario, MacKenzie Gore has been a massive disappointment, Nathan Eovaldi has had a couple of injury scares that fortunately didn’t amount to anything, Kumar Rocker has struggled with consistency, and Cal Quantrill is nothing more than a spot starter.
The lesson is pretty clear: building around injury-prone players is a dangerous game. The All-Star break may give deGrom enough time to recover, but if it doesn’t, the Rangers’ missed chance against Houston will be the least of their worries.
In Other News...
Rangers First Round Report Card Raises Big Questions Before Draft Day
The Rangers first-round track record from the last five drafts is starting to look like a snapshot of where the organization stands heading into another draft cycle: some picks have already moved on, some are climbing, and one of the most gifted young hitters in the system still feels like a work in progress. Gavin Fein is now in the Washington Nationals organization, Malcolm Moore has taken a clear step forward after his recent move to Double-A, and Wyatt Langford remains the most prominent reminder that talent and development do not always move in a straight line.
For Texas, the bigger issue is not just who has produced so far, but which of these first-round bets still has a chance to become a real cornerstone. Moores rise has given the front office something tangible to point to, while Langfords ceiling still keeps the conversation from getting too pessimistic. Even so, the grades leave the Rangers with a familiar draft-day question hanging over them: have they found enough impact at the top of the board, or are they still waiting on the best part of this class to arrive? [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Could Put A Surprising Deadline Piece In Play
With the Rangers tied with the Mariners atop the AL West, the focus around Arlington is already shifting toward what the front office might do before the Aug. 3 deadline. One name that has surfaced in that conversation is Josh Smith, whose ability to move around the diamond gives Texas a useful piece even in a year when the club is still very much in the race.
Smiths value is complicated by a season that has not matched his usual production, which is part of why he has become a possible trade chip rather than an obvious building block. He is also under club control through 2028, so the Rangers do not have to move him, but that kind of flexibility can make a player useful in deadline talks if Texas decides it needs to address another area before the market closes. [Read more 🡒]
One Rangers Pitching Prospect Just Changed The System Conversation
Jesus Lafalaise gave Hickory exactly the kind of start that gets attention inside a system, even on a night when the box score was mixed elsewhere. The right-hander worked five innings, allowed just one run on a solo homer, and piled up nine strikeouts against one walk, the sort of outing that can make a prospect look a little more central to the organizations pitching conversation.
Elsewhere, the returns and rough patches were harder to sort through. David Davalillo was back in full-season action for Hub City and was tagged for five runs in 2.1 innings, including a homer, while Dalton Pence held Frisco in the game with 5.1 innings and only a solo shot allowed. Round Rocks Joe Ross, meanwhile, had a much shorter night, giving up three runs in 0.1 innings, which only sharpened the contrast between the arms trending up and the ones still trying to settle in. [Read more 🡒]