Texas Rangers: recent success provides encouragement in down year

Buoyed by a seven game winning streak, the Texas Rangers have finally started to look like a team playing to their potential.

An odd thing happened to me late last week. I found myself lamenting an off day for the Texas Rangers. I had a hard time remembering the last time I experienced that sense of longing for a random June baseball game. When your team is playing well, all you want is that next game. That’s what makes baseball great. True fans appreciate the grind of a 162-game campaign.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not sitting here thinking the Rangers are magically springing into contention. No, this year is a mostly laughable exercise in futility. In fact, I was talking to my sister the other day, and we both agreed that flirting with .500 this season would qualify as a wild success. Thus is our level of realistic expectation for this bunch, and that may be stretching it.

But it is at least fun to watch right now, and that’s saying something. Any designs on contending this year blew up in the hangar, so to speak. Plus, we keep getting a rancid snoot full of Joey Gallo at-bats day in and day out. I know that kid’s a polarizing figure among the fan base, but for right now, I have him slotted. Cut bait and move on. I think what you see is what you get with him, and the massive hole in his swing isn’t worth the additional time and money.

But enough about Gallo. I want to focus on the good things this team is doing. The pitching has been serviceable to above average. Ace Cole Hamels has rounded into form and was finally rewarded with a little run support in a 4-1 win against Kansas City last week. Simple fact of the matter is, Hamels has been very sharp for most of the season. So much so that I’ve secretly been pining for the Texas Rangers to find a way to keep him.

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But all-in-all, these guys are simply, finally coming together. Moreover, they look like an actual baseball team instead of an array of ill-fitting parts. Consequently–and here is where I have to eat crow a little–credit must go to hitting coach Anthony Iapoce and pitching coach Doug Brocail. The two have been firmly within my sights of what’s been wrong with this club in recent seasons, but I need to step back and give them their props for getting their messages through to their respective charges. This season hasn’t been fun for anyone for large stretches. This team fights, though, and that comes all the way from the top. Manager Jeff Banister deserves praise as well.

Additionally, where would this thing be without players like Sin-Shoo Choo, Nomar Mazara, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa? Choo’s been an on-base machine, highlighted by his MLB-best 37-game on base streak. Mazara’s evolution at the plate continues to encourage as we see him more than willing to take the ball to the opposite field. And finally, Kiner-Falefa just goes out and plays his guts out every night. It’s no wonder why he’s become an instant fan favorite.

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In reality, we’re not even halfway through the season. The Texas Rangers will likely continue to frustrate us more than titillate us before it’s all said and done. But the fact that they’re still there every night provides a beacon of entertainment in these long dog days of summer. Right now, unlike our copy-and-paste weather forecasts, they’re anything but boring.

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