The Texas Rangers walked into the week with a chance to make real noise in the American League wild-card race. Instead, a soft landing against the Los Angeles Angels and the Athletics turned into a rough slide, with four straight losses and five defeats in their last six games.
The skid had all the wrong ingredients: an offense that went quiet, injuries that kept piling up, and a pitching staff that couldn’t hold things together. What should have been a helpful stretch became a brutal one at exactly the wrong moment.
Saturday night in Sacramento finally gave Texas something to build on. After falling behind 3-0, the Rangers answered with a four-run sixth inning and came away with a win. Even with the recent slump, Skip Schumaker’s club still sits in the sixth seed in the A.L.
The turnaround started with the bats that Texas needs most. Brandon Nimmo opened the sixth by ending an 0-for-14 stretch with a leadoff double. Corey Seager followed with an RBI single to drive him in, and then Wyatt Langford put the Rangers in front with a two-run homer, his first since August 1st.
That’s the kind of sequence Texas has to start producing more often. Langford’s August has been uneven, as he’s hitting .152 with a .316 on-base percentage, but his three-hit night could be the kind of spark that changes the tone at the plate.
Seager has been steady enough since coming back from injury, though the standard is always higher for him. Texas needs the offense to stop leaving games on the table, and Seager and Langford have to be the players driving that change.
The struggles aren’t limited to those two. Joc Pederson has helped plenty in the leadoff spot this season, but he’s in a skid too, with two hits in his last 16 at-bats. The Rangers have talent near the top of the order, but they need that group to look the part.
And even if the offense wakes up, Texas still has bigger concerns on the mound. Nathan Eovaldi is on the 15-day injured list with right posterior elbow inflammation, while Jacob deGrom is dealing with right triceps fatigue.
Neither one has been at the dominant level fans are used to, but both remain the anchors of the staff. Jack Leiter is working back from injury, yet the Rangers don’t have enough depth to keep moving forward without Eovaldi and deGrom.
One win won’t erase the damage from the last week. But it does give Texas something it badly needed: a response. If the Rangers are serious about making a playoff push, the time to start looking like it is now.
In Other News...
Wyatt Langford Said What Frustrated Rangers Fans Have Heard Enough
The Rangers keep insisting there is still time for their season to turn, even as the losses keep piling up in spots that have made the optimism hard to swallow. Wyatt Langford added to that refrain after the latest postgame, speaking about the future with the kind of confidence Texas has heard from players and staff all summer, while the club tries to stay afloat in a crowded playoff race.
It is a familiar message, but it is landing differently now because the results have not matched it. Texas has dropped five of seven against lower-ranked opponents, sits at 61-64 and carries a minus-47 run differential, a combination that has left fans increasingly skeptical of upbeat talk without a cleaner stretch of baseball to back it up. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Prospect David Davalillo Is Suddenly In The Rotation Conversation
David Davalillos rise through the Rangers system has taken on a little more urgency this month. The right-hander, who is already on the 40-man roster, has been noticeably better in August for the Round Rock Express, and that steady progress was enough to earn him Pacific Coast League pitcher of the week honors. For a club always keeping one eye on the next arm, that kind of momentum tends to get noticed quickly.
The timing matters, too, because Texas has been juggling injuries and workload concerns in the rotation. With the big-league staff thin, Davalillo has moved from intriguing depth piece to a legitimate name in the conversation if the Rangers need help soon. For now, he is still waiting on the next step, but the path from Round Rock to Arlington is looking a lot shorter than it did a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Catching Shakeup Forces A Tough Roster Decision
Danny Jansen is back on the Rangers roster after being reinstated from the 60-day injured list, giving Texas a healthier look behind the plate as it tries to stabilize its catching group. The move comes as the club continues sorting through the ripple effects of injuries and roster churn, with Danny Jansen now available to pair with Elias Daz as the team leans on its veteran experience at catcher.
The corresponding decision was a difficult one, with Austin Wynns losing his spot as the Rangers made room for Jansen. Elsewhere, left-hander Marco Gonzales cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment and chose free agency, another reminder that Texas is still managing the margins of its roster even as one key piece returns to help settle the catching situation. [Read more 🡒]