Texas Rangers first half report card

The Texas Rangers played the 81st game of the 2017 season Saturday, marking the halfway point. Here’s a look across the roster at how they’ve fared this year.

When the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 10-4 on Saturday, it closed the door on the first half of the 2017 season. They reached the midpoint with a 40-41 record, 14 1/2 games out of first place, but only two behind the second wild card slot.

They also had to deal with some fairly significant injuries. The most notable injury happened to Adrian Beltre, who missed the first 51 games of the season with a pretty severe calf strain. They also lost Cole Hamels for a total of 54 games with an oblique muscle injury. While they went more games without Hamels’s services, the fact that he’s a starting pitcher makes it feel more like they missed about 11 games.

Considering all these circumstances, the first half could have gone much worse than it actually did. But instead of everything blowing up and finding themselves completely out of playoff contention, the Rangers sit just a few adjustments outside the playoffs. While the AL West title would take a miracle, they’re still within striking distance of the wild card, so not all hope is lost. Yet, the first half still could have gone much better than it has and that’s why we’ll break down each primary responsibility and assign grades.