Texas Rangers’ “Illness” Easy To Diagnose

For the first time this season, hard times have hit the Texas Rangers. Amidst some mild hand wringing, the cause of this lull is easy to pinpoint: pitching.

What a difference a week can make. A mere eight days ago, the Texas Rangers had taken two of three at home against a good Red Sox team. Spirits were riding high as a four game series against the New York Yankees loomed. The Rangers had widened their lead in the American League West to an unbelievable ten games.

There was no reason to think the party was going to end any time soon after the first two games in New York, either. The Texas Rangers rallied to a 9-6 win in the wee hours of Tuesday morning in one of the more bizarre, waterlogged games in recent memory. The baseball gods seemingly rewarded the Rangers in the wake of Yankee managerial chicanery.

The next night, after solving Yankee starter CC Sabathia late, the Rangers cruised to a 7-1 victory. In winning the first two games of the four game set, the Texas Rangers seemed poised to win yet another series, further stamping their burgeoning reputation as not only the class of the American League, but perhaps the entirety of major league baseball.

But if there was ever an “uh-oh” moment that signified the end of the June good times, it came the next night. The Rangers took a seemingly insurmountable 7-3 lead to the bottom of the ninth inning. A 3-0 series advantage appeared to be a mere formality. What ensued was a six-run Rangers’ bullpen meltdown that ended with a two-run, walk-off homer from Yankee shortstop Didi Gregorious that capped off a 9-6 loss.

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Since that night, the Texas Rangers have lost five of their last six games. In those five losses, the Rangers have given up five or more runs in all but one game. In two of those losses, they have given up more than ten runs. Seventeen runs versus Minnesota on July 2nd and twelve in yesterday’s loss to the Red Sox won’t get the job done.

It’s safe to say that this lull can be attributed to the attrition on the pitching staff. The June magic was only going to carry the Texas Rangers so far. While it was a glorious ride, it’s probably over for the time being. This is what happens when names like Yu Darvish, Colby Lewis, and (yes) Derek Holland are lost from your starting rotation for extended periods. Say what you will about Holland, but there’s a reason he starts over like likes of Chi Chi Gonzalez and Nick Martinez.

Of course, the good news is that Darvish’s return is relatively imminent. Assorted rumors even swirled that Yu might come back on the game before the All Star break, but his return is most likely slated to happen after the midsummer classic. Throw in reliever Keona Kela’s impending return, and the Rangers don’t have to look too far before help arrives to both the starting rotation and the bullpen.

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Take heart, Rangers’ fans. The team has completed eighty-four of one-sixty-two. The grind is underway. There are three months of regular season baseball left, and there are bound to be at least a few stretches of lackluster play, even for the best teams. The fact remains that, at the moment, the Texas Rangers have played well enough to allow for a considerable margin of error. There’s no need to panic. Yet.