Texas Rangers Get Good News Three Fold
By Reid Hanson
The Texas Rangers not only claimed the AL West but they also got their ace pitcher back on track and added a valuable arm to the bullpen.
The past few days have been good to the Texas Rangers. The leading headline is, of course, winning the American League West on Friday night. After going six innings without a single baserunner, Adrian Beltre made his presence felt, launching a two run home run to break the scoreless tie.
The Texas Rangers would go on to shut out the Oakland A’s 3-0 and collect their 91st win of the season. The win, together with a Houston Astros loss, made the Rangers the AL West champs for the second consecutive year.
"“I wish we could have done it in front of our own fans,” manager Jeff Banister said. “It’s an incredible, surreal feeling, but again, we got a lot left to play for the rest of this season to try and get home field for our fans.”"
The last few games will now determine where the Texas Rangers will be seeded once the postseason begins. The final seeding is in the Rangers hands as they could finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd in the tight playoff race.
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The Ace Is Back
It wasn’t just what the Texas Rangers accomplished on Friday, but how they accomplished it. The Rangers #1 pitcher, Cole Hamels, has struggled as of late. Before Friday, Hamels’ last four starts have been abysmal. In those games, not once did he make it to the seventh inning (once he didn’t even get through the 2nd). In addition, he gave up a combined 25 hits and 21 runs in those games.
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That’s not exactly “ace” pitcher numbers and certainly not what you want to see heading into the postseason.
On Friday Cole Hamels put that all behind him, going seven full innings and not letting a single run score.
"“Hey, what can you say about our ace,” Banister said. “He’s been huge and hopefully he can be the same way through the postseason.”"
Added Firepower for the Bullpen
Perhaps the biggest news of all came when the Texas Rangers announced relief pitcher, Jeremy Jeffress, would be rejoining the team. Even though Jeffress hasn’t pitched in a game in over a month, he could still figure into the postseason bullpen.
Jeremy Jeffress was first added to the Rangers via trade in the August 1st deal that also brought Jonathan Lucroy. But after a DWI landed him in rehab and on the restricted list, it wasn’t known if the Rangers would see him again this season.
The news of his return is significant. It allows him enough time to regain form and hopefully make the postseason roster. Even better, is that during treatment, Jeffress has been working out, throwing balls against the gym wall.
"“I was putting holes in that wall,” Jeffress said. “I was beating the wall up. My arm stayed loose. I kept the cobwebs out of there. I worked out every single day.”"
The postseason is guaranteed, their ace pitcher is back to form, and the bullpen received a very significant addition.
Next: 5 Years Later, the Rangers Are More Poised Than Ever
All of this is good news for the Texas Rangers as they embark on the final regular season stretch. Here comes the postseason…