Rangers’ Six Game Win Streak: The Real Deal or Fool’s Gold?
By Ben Davila
An inspired stretch of play in the last week begs the question: Is this a real uptick, or are the Texas Rangers simply beating up on bad teams?
After a five week absence, the Texas Rangers finally resemble the squad of cardiac kids we came to love last year. A scant seven days ago, they couldn’t get out of their own way. Now? Solid pitching and clutch situational hitting rule the day. Hey, it’s a small sample size, but we will take what we can get. Moreover, the maligned bullpen seems to possess the capability to pitch their way out of a wet paper bag after all.
The end result was a welcome day off yesterday. But even then, that day off didn’t come without more bad news on the injury front. We learned that resident bat sniffer Carlos Gomez will miss the next four to six weeks with a strained right hamstring. And let me tell you from experience, that’s about the right time frame. Be it beer league softball or major league baseball, hamstring injuries are the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter who you are, blow a hammy, and you’re a wobbly mess.
But enough of the bad news. As much as it may hurt to lose Gomez’s improving bat, what’s done is done. The Rangers must plod on and attempt to continue their winning ways. Make no mistake, that time is now. The next test is a three game series at home against a bad Phillies team. A series win is a must if the good times are to keep rolling. This is followed by a nine game jaunt through Detroit, Boston, and Toronto. Neither of those three teams possesses the best record, even though the Blue Jays are enjoying a surge of their own at the moment.
So back to the crux of this matter. Are the Rangers turning a corner, or are they simply still a middling bunch that found a modicum of mojo against two horrid teams? The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Individual batting averages are creeping up. The bullpen found a groove. The starting pitching is as strong as it’s been all season. It doesn’t hurt that they got a few cream puffs to pad their win total. To their credit, they’ve beaten the teams on their schedule.
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In short, they’ve displayed the characteristics of a good team for the past six games. Good teams beat bad teams. Good teams take advantage of another team’s shortcomings and make them pay.
There are more encouraging signs. Catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s bat woke up. That really started during the mostly disastrous series in Houston. Outfielder Nomar Mazara seems to be rising from a protracted slumber. Elvis Andrus is simply Elvis Andrus. Imagine where this thing would be without him. To be sure, all signs do point in the right direction.
But it has to continue. They’ve got to at least win the series against the Phillies. Beyond that, they probably need to come out with a winning mark on ensuing nine game road trip. The bad news is that this Rangers’ team hasn’t shown us that mettle on the road. It will be interesting to see if they can parlay their current surge into future success away from home.
I’m going to stop short of calling their turn of good fortune fool’s gold. To say that would discount the improvement they’ve shown. The eyeball test suggests progress, albeit incremental. As frustrating as it is to see Joey Gallo’s batting average hover below .200, his knack for the dramatic, and an increasing tendency to work counts and take walks, speaks to his ongoing maturation.
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Lastly, the most obvious missing piece is future Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltre. He is the rudder for this ship, and his absence was woefully evident in this team’s listless start. But these guys are somehow holding their own and staying within arm’s reach of .500. It might not be enough to keep the Astros in view, but the Texas Rangers rediscovered their fight. We’ll see if they can continue their turnaround starting tonight.