3 Rangers Who Have No Business Being on the Playoff Roster
By Tyler Maher
This summer has been an absolute rollercoaster ride for Rangers fans, but we finally have some breathing room heading into the final week of the season. After sweeping the Seattle Mariners over the weekend and watching the Houston Astros get swept as well, Texas leads the AL West by 2.5 games with seven to play,
Assuming we hang on to make the playoffs, however, not everyone will be able to come along for the ride. After expanding to 28 players in September, rosters shrink back down to 26 for the postseason, which means we'll need to trim some of the fat if we want to bring home our first championship in franchise history.
With October so close we can taste it, here are three Rangers players who shouldn't be on the roster when the playoffs start next week.
3 Rangers Who Shouldn't Make Playoff Roster
1. Josh H. Smith
Our lineup doesn't have too many link weaks, but unfortunately Smith is one of them whenever he's playing.
After slashing just .197/.307/.249 in 73 games as a rookie last year, Smith was lucky to get another chance with us in 2023. There was hope that he would improve offensively in Year 2, but unfortunately that hasn't happened.
Smith is hitting .183/.305/.314 in 88 games this season, essentially replicating his production from last year. He's trending in the wrong direction, too, batting a paltry .114/.256/.229 over his last 13 games.
While Smith's defensive versatility is nice, that only gets you so far. He can't buy a hit right now and has only stolen 1 base, so he's not a threat on the bases, either.
We've given Smith plenty of chances (he was a second-round draft pick, after all), but his bat just hasn't developed as expected. Maybe it will next year, but we've seen enough as far as 2023 is concerned.