Texas Rangers 2019 Thread

120 games in and Rangers sit at .500 with a 60 and 60 record. My pre-season prediction of 67 wins is going to be low and frankly getting to 75-80 wins this year should now be the expectation.

 

Nice point, Viper. Makes you wonder why Atlanta was willing to give up on him - looks like he's approaching readiness pretty quickly - if he continues to learn at his level, I could see him in the #4 slot in the rotation next season.

And the Rangers can still sign Martin as a Free Agent - Atlanta knew he was just a summer rental.

 

HHD, number 4 is about right except it will be number 3 if the Rangers cannot find a suitable 3 (their track record isn't good in that area). Even if they find a 3, it would need to be a one year deal as Allard should be ready for the 3 slot in 2021.

 

Viper, I'm still thinking the Rangers can sign a #3 in the Free Agent market during the off-season - all that takes is mere money, no prospects involved. And while they're at it, a right-hand-hitting 3B would also help. The Rangers are still too left-handed. Maybe Mazara will have some trade value in the off-season. And another question - are the Rangers settled at catcher? Maybe they'll have to address that question during the off-season.

You and the other zealots will have to man the helm for a few days - I'm taking Mrs. HHD to Pensacola to visit her Mom and sister, back next week.

 

I hope you are right HHD, but I am not sure the owners will part with the cash. Season ticket holders are still upset at the 25% price increase, and the owners are beginning to realize if the team sucks in 2020 they are going to have a half-empty new stadium. The good news for us is there should be plenty of good seats at a reasonable price on Stub-Hub.

Safe travels to Navy land.

 

Made it out to Ballpark last night with friend who is lifelong Twins fan and was treated to really good game as Minor pitched very well but made two mistakes and coupled with an Odor error and the Rangers complete inability to get any late inning offense in spite of putting two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh eighth and ninth innings, I saw the Rangers lose 4-3 and fall to two games under .500. That was probably my last trip out to the Ballpark for the year/ever. With 40 games left my prediction is 75 and 87 to finish out year. A tough second half of the year but reason for optimism for 2020. The Rangers arent in Houston's universe and wont be next year either but they will improve and at this point that is all we can hope for as fans.

 

Agree FW. It is more important right now to play the youngsters with some regularly and hitting is the most difficult part of that. I bet some nice evening in September will find you out there.

 

A 1-6 record over the past 7 days for the Rangers. They had the pitching to win a couple more, but it is what it is and some youngsters got to see some action. Gallo says he wants to come back this season even if it is only for the last couple weeks. JD and Woodward need to have a heart-to-heart with him and stick to "see you when winter training begins". Baring a major injury 2020 should be the make-it-or-break-it for Gallo so he needs to get well and find a way out of his funk of striking out with RISP. He made some progress this season by at least making contact some of those situations. IMHO he needs some tough love from JD and Woodward. Long and towering dingers with no one on base and the game decided are not in the best interest of the Rangers.

Winning - the only stat that counts. The league standings are starting to show some clarity (teams with .500 records):

AL
East: NYY .659; TB .584; Boston .532
Central: Twins .632; Cleveland .592
West: Astros .632; A's .573
NYY puts some space between themselves and Houston in their fight for home field.
Wild Card (in order): Clev, TB, A's, Bos

NL
East: Atlanta .587; Wash .545; Phillies .516
Central: Cards .533,

Cubs .532; Brewers .516​

West: LAD .651 (and +18.5 games); Giants .504; (Giants comeback on Arizona)
LAD loses a half-game over second-place (SF replacing Ari); however basically still commands home-field advantage. Who they will play is a toss-up.
Wild Card (in order): Wash; Cubs, Mil; Phil, Mil, SF

After falling out of the Winning statistic, Rangers have 4 at home (DH on Tuesday) with the Angels followed by 3 at CWS. An even chance to get back to .500.

 

Nice W in the 2nd game yesterday. Brock Burke was very impressive - six shutout innings, deserved the W if Levlerc hadn't blown the save in the ninth. Nice job by Solak to put the ball in play to drive in the winning run in extras scored as E-3 on Pujols, could have been scored a hit - but nonetheless, he hit the ball hard and gave the team a chance to have something good happen, and it did.

I like the players they're looking at so far - looks like some potential in the farm system.

 

I was also impressed with Burke especially with his motion. Smooth delivery with the same motion for every pitch. Unusual for a young pitcher.

 

Unbelievable 1 run victory again last night in spite of the Keystone Cops imitation in the top of the 7th by the Rangers.

 

Say what you wish about the Rangers and their play, they don't quit fighting - they play hard until the last out is recorded. IMO, Woodward gets a lot of credit for that attitude - he should get some serious consideration for MOY.

 

A 4-4 record over the past 7 days for the Rangers. The series with the Angles to start the week was entertaining and showed a never quit effort. 1 win against the White Sox was disappointing, but Allard's gem on Saturday showed his future potential.

Winning - the only stat that counts. The league standings are starting to show some clarity (teams with .500 records):

AL
East: NYY .644; TB .576; Boston .530
Central: Twins .608; Cleveland .580
West: Astros .644; A's .574
NYY and Houston tied again in their fight for home field.
Wild Card (in order): Clev, TB, A's, Bos

NL
East: Atlanta .606; Wash .562 Phillies .519; NYM .515
Central: Cards .550, Cubs .531; Brewers .515
West: LAD .652 (+20 games); Giants .500
Good week for all NL leaders as all gained in percentage points. LAD's Magic Number against the Giants is 12.
Wild Card (in order): Wash; Cubs, Phil; Mil, NYM, SF

Disappointing statistic of the week is the Astro's Magic Number against the Rangers is 10. Rangers this week have 2 at LAA followed by 4 at home against Sea.

 

Agree. I like what I've seen so far. If he continues to shine, the Rangers will have made a great trade to get him.

 

Very nice evening at The Ballpark to retire #10 for Michael Young - long overdue. And the Rangers walk it off with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Another very good pitching performance by Burke - the young players look like they're getting pretty close to big-league-ready for next season.

 

#10's honor was way overdue. Looks like the Rangers have found their 3/4 - 4/5 SP's for next season. With Minor and Lynn 1 and 2 they need to find at least one journeyman to plug the gap between Lynn and Allard.

A lot more in the offseason, but if pitching has at least a way forward, 2nd base and the outfield need to be sorted. Odor has issues that I am not sure the Rangers need to throw money down that hole. The outfield is crowded, but no one stands out. Is this the offseason that they finally take the financial hit and cut Choo? However, the main issue in the outfield is making a hard decision on Galloway. If the Rangers cannot get him straight at the plate, someone is going to have to take a brave move and move him. His fielding skills are good - it is just those K's (especially in critical situations) that cannot be tolerated on a team that could be on the verge of being a playoff-contending team.

 

A 3-3 record over the past 7 days for the Rangers. The good news for the Rangers was the excellent efforts of Allard and Burke (see the post above)

Winning - the only stat that counts. The league standings are starting to show some clarity (teams with .500 records):

AL
East: NYY .652 (+10 games); TB .580; Boston .540
Central: Twins .618; Cleveland .577
West: Astros .645; A's .574
NYY and Houston still trading first place for home field.
Wild Card (in order): TB, Cle, A's, Bos

NL
East: Atlanta .609; Wash .570; Phillies .519; NYM .507
Central: Cards .559, Cubs .537; Brewers .515
West: LAD .640 (+18 games); Ari .511
St. Louis is beginning to put its stamp on the Central. LAD's Magic Number to tie against the Ari is 7.
Wild Card (in order): Wash; Cubs, Phil; Mil, Ari, NYM

Astro's Magic Number against the Rangers is 3. Rangers this week have 3 at NYY followed by 4 at Balt.

 

Very nice W in NY this afternoon - a shutout of the Yankees. Great work by Minor and great cleanup by the bullpen. And good to see the offense light it up just a bit. It will be interesting to see the line-up tomorrow against a lefty - some of the RH kids should get into the game.

BTW, not surprising that the Yankees hit a lot of homers - the park is kind of like a telephone booth, especially to right field.

 

Rangers are 4-2 on this road trip and lead today 7-2 in the sixth to potentially finish off a four game sweep of Baltimore. With a win today they would creep back to within a game of .500. They close with a killer run but it not out of question that they could get to 80 wins, a truly tremendous accomplishment with the patchwork staff they have had all season long.

 

They did win FW - 2 in a row, but then Minor should (and did) get the win to go 13-8.

 

Nailed it FWHORN. Given the expectations before the season and the state of the rotation (not to mention the injury to Joey Gallo), the Rangers have played very well. I would love to see them end at .500 - a stretch, but not out of the question. And with the progress they're seeing from the young call-ups, that would set the stage for a very interesting off-season to lead into the first season in the new ballpark.

 

Article in the DMN either yesterday about organizational pitching development. Seems they have thrown the out the director and reassigned others. Danny Clark is the new leader.

 

^Does that mean a top-to-bottom housecleaning of the pitching coaches?

 

^^^^^^^^
HHD, the article was focused on the minors and didn't get into the big club.

 

Nice W over Tampa last night - another comeback, thanks to a three-run homer by Odor in the seventh. I fear that Ariel Jurado is pitching himself out of consideration for the majors next season - another sub-par performance. Based on what we're seeing now, it looks like the Rangers have four rotation spots filled - Lynn, Minor, Burke, Allard. I'd still like to see the team spend some in Free Agency to get a #3 to fill the rotation.

Also wondering what they'll do about 3B. Can Solak play there? He has shown that he can hit. And I'm thinking Trujillo is probably the starting catcher next season. Guzman looks like he'll be a fixture at 1B. OF is probably set, although it would be nice to be a bit less left-handed - a nice right-handed bat in the outfield would help.

Thoughts?

 

HHD, agree on the starting pitchers. I would like to think they can get a healthy 3 or 4 without giving up to much talent. Relievers? I assume it will be the usual scramble to complete the staff.

July was the time to find an MLB caliber catcher outside of free agency, so I guess Trujillo will be penciled in. Whoever it is the Rangers need to enlist Pudge to show the catchers how to catch in the major leagues.

Guzman is the full-time 1B. One of Sloak and Kiner-Falefa will play 3rd and the other probably will be the utility guy. Personally, I would like to see Kiner-Falefa at third and Sloak at second/SS (relieving Elvis). For me, Odor has become more of a liability at the plate. I am sure Woodward sees it differently.

Someone has messed up the outfield, but some trade bait could come out of the mess. Calhoun, Mazara, and DeShields are basically the same players with DeShields being the only right-handed bat. Gallo is where Chris Davis was before the Rangers traded him to Baltimore. The K's in challenging at-bat situations are killers, so something has to be done with him. I doubt they will trade him, but they need to find a quality hitting instructor and a shrink just for him as his arm in the field is his beneficial quality right now.

They will have full houses until after the All-Star break next season so maybe they will spend the extra income wisely.

The downer for today is Houston's magic number against the Rangers hit zero at the conclusion of yesterday's games.

 

Rangers win last night and get to .500. On September 13 they sit at 74 and 74. If you had told me in March the Rangers would be a .500 team in September I would have asked for some of what you were smoking. Woodward's job this year is nothing short of extraordinary. 14 games left to see if the Rangers can finish year at .500 or above.

 

Totally agree FW. With what appears to be a decent starting pitching staff in 2020, they can be a bigger factor in the Wild Card chase anyway. Running down Houston will take a little more time.

 

^FWHORN and Viper, I join you in amazement at the record. Who woulda thunk it! It would be great to see them end at .500, but it will be tough, with the A's, Yanks, Astros, and Bosox still ahead - only Boston is out of the playoff race and playing out the string.

Nonetheless, the Rangers have exceeded expectations for the season, and it appears they have some nice young players emerging - especially with Burke and Allard in the rotation. And I'm intrigued with the potential of Solak. Who knows - perhaps a run at a Wild Card slot next season.

 

A 2-4 record over the past 7 days for the Rangers. Even if the Rangers lose out (which is a distinct possibility) the Ranger season can be described as pleasantly surprising with at least a way forward with starting pitching.

Winning - the only stat that counts. The league standings are starting to show some clarity (teams with .500 records):

AL
East: NYY .649; TB .589; Boston .530
Central: Twins .611; Cleveland .580
West: Astros .649; A's .600
NYY and Houston still trading first place for home field.
Wild Card (in order): A's, TB, Cle, Bos

NL
East: Atlanta .616; Wash .554; NYM .517; Phillies .514
Central: Cards .557, Cubs .544; Brewers .537
West: LAD .642 (+20.5 games); Ari .507
LAD winner of West; Cubs and Brewers fighting for second place in Central
Wild Card (in order): Wash; Cubs, Mil, NYM, Phil, Ari

Rangers this week have 2 at Hou followed by 3 at Oak (two days off).