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5 Crucial Rangers Observations From AL Wild Card Series Sweep of Rays

Pitching, lineup mistakes, respect and more.

By Jason Schandl

Nathan Eovaldi was one of the biggest standouts of the Rangers' Wild Card Series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Nathan Eovaldi was one of the biggest standouts of the Rangers' Wild Card Series sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
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4. Stop Messing Around, Put Mitch Garver in the Lineup

Speaking of people out of the lineup, we've gotta see Mitch Garver at the plate moving forward. I get that Bruce Bochy didn't want to mess with success after Game 1, but we really shouldn't go a full series without seeing Garver.

Sure, I get wanting the switch-hitter out there rather than having a right-handed DH against a couple righties. But not when it's Grossman and Garver.

Garver had a .358 weighted on-base average (wOBA) against righties in the regular season, while Grossman posted a brutal .283. That's nothing new, either.

Grossman hit below the Mendoza line against righties in 2022. Garver has slashed a career .243/.324/.471 in the split.

The Rangers had plenty of runs to spare in the first round, but that won't be the case for long. Every run is going to matter, and losing even one by continuing to play Grossman over Garver is going to come back to bite us eventually.

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