The Rangers have climbed to the top of the AL West, and two names you probably wouldn’t have picked a few weeks ago are a big reason why.
Texas moved into first by one game after a 6-2 win over the Blue Jays on Saturday night, while the Astros dropped 6-3 to the Braves. That came on the heels of another crucial lift from Trevor Williams and Jordan Montgomery, a pair of relievers whose recent impact has been anything but ordinary.
Williams, who was signed by the Rangers as a free agent on September 1 after being out of baseball, was the kind of addition easy to overlook. He’d been sitting on the roster for less than three weeks, had not pitched in 10 days, and looked like a last-ditch bullpen option for Skip Schumaker. Instead, he turned in four scoreless innings to finish off Toronto in Friday’s 7-1 win, allowing just two hits while striking out four.
It was the kind of outing that reminded everyone why Williams has stuck around for a decade: command, pitch mix, and an ability to change speeds just enough to make hitters uncomfortable. Toronto never solved his low-90s four-seam fastball, and he was rewarded with the rare four-inning relief win.
Montgomery’s path has been more familiar to Rangers fans, though not much easier. A key part of the 2023 World Series team, the left-hander has had a difficult stretch since leaving, and he came back on a 1-year, $1.25 million deal that was mostly about rehab time. Before Saturday, he had worked just 14 innings with a 5.00 ERA.
Then he was asked to step in for an injured Cal Quantrill in the top of the second inning, and he answered with 3.2 hitless innings. Texas’ offense did enough to build a 6-1 cushion while Montgomery settled in, using his low-90s four-seam fastball and slider the way he did during that 2023 run. He pitched to contact, trusted the defense, and came away with his first win of the season.
If the Rangers keep getting that kind of help from unexpected bullpen arms like Williams and Montgomery, and pair it with a healthy Corey Seager, Josh Jung, Wyatt Langford, and the rest of the lineup, they may have enough to make a real push from here.
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Rangers Face A Joc Pederson Decision They Cannot Get Wrong
Joc Pederson has now missed five straight games with a fracture in his left hand after taking a pitch, and the Rangers are trying to sort through a leadoff spot that has become even more unsettled at the worst possible time. His willingness to play through the pain adds another layer to the conversation, especially with Texas heading into a critical series against the Blue Jays and needing every at-bat to carry more weight.
The Rangers have already leaned on other options atop the lineup, which has only sharpened the question of whether it makes sense to rush Pederson back while he is still limited and coming off a slump. For a club trying to steady its offense and avoid a misstep in a key stretch, this is the kind of decision that can shape more than one series. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Win Raised One Big Question In A Tight Playoff Race
Kumar Rocker gave the Rangers exactly the kind of steady start they needed in a game with so much riding on it, working 4.1 scoreless innings before Toronto finally pushed across a run in the fifth. Texas also got production from Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager, but the bigger story was the way the lineup kept forcing the issue, drawing a season-high ten walks and helping turn a close matchup into another important step in a tense September chase.
The win left Texas tied for first in the A.L. West and still firmly in the Wild Card mix, which is what makes the next stretch so interesting. The club keeps finding ways to stay in the race even when the pieces do not line up perfectly, and with the standings this crowded, every night like this can reshape the conversation almost as much as it changes the score. [Read more 🡒]
Sebastian Walcott Just Put A Real Rangers Decision In Play
Sebastian Walcotts rise through the Rangers system is moving again, with the infielder set to jump from Double-A Frisco to Triple-A Round Rock after Frisco finished its season. It is a quick stop, but an important one, especially for a player who came back this spring from internal brace surgery and still managed to put together a strong run at Double-A.
Round Rock will only have him for the final two days of its season, but the timing matters for Texas because Walcott is already viewed as one of the organizations top prospects. The late promotion gives the Rangers another look at how he fits against upper-level pitching, and it also puts a real decision in play about how soon he might be part of the major league mix. [Read more 🡒]