The Rangers entered their series with the Mets carrying some serious late-September roster news, and the biggest blow landed with Joc Pederson. Texas put the designated hitter on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to September 19, because of a fracture in his left hand. That move shuts him down for the rest of the regular season, though he would still be eligible for the start of the Wild Card Series if the Rangers hold onto the AL West lead.
Pederson’s injury traces back to September 12, when he was hit by a pitch from Brandon Pfaadt and suffered a small fracture. He had hoped to keep playing through it, but the swelling didn’t calm down fast enough for Texas to leave him active for the final week.
The timing of the transaction mattered just as much as the injury itself. Injured list stints can only be backdated by three days, and with the Wild Card Series set to begin a week from now, the Rangers had to make the move now if they wanted to preserve Pederson’s chance to return for the first round.
That possibility still hangs over the club, but only if Texas gets there. The Rangers are one of just two teams still fighting for their exact spot in the standings, sitting at 78-78 with a one-game edge over the Astros.
Houston owns the season-series tiebreaker, so Texas has to stay ahead. The Rangers are also technically alive in the Wild Card chase as a backup route, but that would require a collapse from either the Guardians or White Sox while Texas makes up multiple games.
Pederson’s absence leaves a real hole in the lineup. He has been Texas’ best power threat against right-handed pitching, and the club has not had a regular designated hitter since he went down.
Corey Seager has taken some turns there, with Ezequiel Duran moving over to shortstop. Against Mets lefty Sean Manaea on Thursday, Seager is back in the field, Duran is in center, and Elias Díaz is serving as the DH.
Texas also made a pair of other roster moves before the opener. Michael Helman was activated from the 60-day injured list, and reliever Peyton Gray was brought back from the 15-day IL. To create room on the pitching staff, the Rangers optioned Adam Macko.
Helman’s return gives Texas a right-handed bench option and a possible pinch-runner. He has appeared in 15 major league games this season and is batting .167 with one home run.
He has been out for three months after breaking multiple bones in his right hand on a hit-by-pitch. Even with him back, Texas chose Díaz over Helman in the lineup against Manaea, a sign that Helman is likely just a reserve for the final week.
To make room for Helman on the 40-man roster, the Rangers transferred Cal Quantrill to the 60-day injured list. Quantrill had already been ruled out for the season when he went on the shelf over the weekend with a lat strain, and the move officially closes the book on his regular season.
He’ll head back to free agency after his best year in four seasons, posting a 2.86 ERA with an 18% strikeout rate over 110 innings. Quantrill started the year in low-leverage relief before sliding smoothly into the rotation in mid-June.
Texas now has three games with the Mets before ending the regular season with three more in Minnesota. Meanwhile, the Astros finish on the road with six straight, splitting three games in Seattle and three in West Sacramento against a depleted A’s team.
In Other News...
Dylan Dreiling Just Made One Rangers Roster Decision A Lot Tougher
The Rangers have already got one eye on 2027, and Dylan Dreilings name is starting to hover around the kind of roster conversation that usually gets more interesting the deeper you get into the season. After a strong 2026 campaign, the prospect is expected to open at Triple-A Round Rock, but his path up to Texas looks much more realistic now than it did a year ago, especially with the organization still sorting out what the outfield picture may look like around Evan Carter.
For all the momentum Dreiling has built, there are still a lot of moving parts standing between him and a major league call-up. The biggest one may be outside the Rangers control entirely, with MLB owners and the Players Association still negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement and a possible lockout looming if no deal is reached by Dec. 1. Even if the labor situation settles cleanly, Texas still has to map out roster moves and decide how aggressively to push Dreiling, which makes this one of those spring-to-summer storylines worth keeping an eye on. [Read more 🡒]
Jack Leiter Is Giving The Rangers A Playoff Roster Dilemma
Jack Leiter took another step in his recovery Sunday, throwing a bullpen session as the Rangers continue to sort through their pitching picture. The right-hander has been working back from a biceps injury, and his progress has put him back in the conversation as Texas eyes a possible postseason push. For a club trying to balance health, flexibility and October depth, any sign of Leiter getting closer matters.
The complication is the roster math. If the Rangers want to activate Leiter for the postseason, they may need to open a spot by moving someone to the 60-day injured list or by designating a player for assignment. His role would also need to make sense once he is back, with the team weighing how effective he can be in bullpen work and, of course, whether Texas finishes the job and secures a berth at all. [Read more 🡒]
White Sox Enter A Final Week That Could Change Everything
With the National League field largely settled, the American League is still sorting itself out in a final week that could reshape both the division race and the wild-card picture. For Texas, the focus remains squarely on the AL West, where the Rangers hold a one-game edge over Houston, but the Astros have the head-to-head tiebreaker in hand, which keeps every remaining game meaningful.
The White Sox are right in the middle of that jumble, too, sitting one game behind Cleveland in the AL Central while also protecting the final wild-card spot from Houston, Toronto, and Baltimore. With several tiebreaker scenarios still in play, the closing stretch could decide whether Chicago is playing for a division crown, a postseason berth, or both, and the Rangers have a direct stake in how all of it sorts out. [Read more 🡒]