The Texas Rangers have a chance to make the playoffs despite their struggles, and they need their pitchers to be at their best.
Coming off a lost series to the New York Mets, the Texas Rangers are once again below .500 at the worst time.
Luckily for them, the American League West is such a weak division that they still have a chance to make the playoffs. At the time of writing, they are in second place with the Houston Astros and are tied with the same record (79-80).
If the Rangers make the playoffs, they are going to have to put together a much better effort than what they have during the regular season in order to avoid immediate elimination. That type of effort will largely fall on the pitching staff.
Considering how important pitching is for each contender, where does Texas rank?
Toward the bottom
Recently, The Athletic took the 13 contending teams and ranked their pitching cores. For the Rangers, the results were not great.
Out of the 13 teams, Texas’ arms ranked 11th. The good news is that its staff was above the Astros, which ranked 12th. Otherwise, there is not a lot to get excited about with this group.
For each team's core of pitchers, The Athletic made a case for the good and the bad. For the Rangers, the best case is that the rotation is promising. In terms of the bad, it comes down to health.
Among the starters are Jacob deGrom, MacKenzie Gore, Kumar Rocker and Nathan Eovaldi. Not all that long ago, Eovaldi was 5-0 through six starts with a 2.95 ERA for the 2023 Rangers, who won the World Series. Now, his age has taken its toll.
The same can be said for deGrom, who, despite missing most of the Rangers’ magical 2023 run due to Tommy John surgery, has been great in the past. He has shown flashes of greatness this season, and he has had a healthy year, but at 38 years old, he is not the pitcher he once was.
In terms of Rocker, it is hard to trust the 26-year-old given the year he has had. Recent outings have been slightly better, but he is still 6-11 with a 4.38 ERA through 30 appearances, 27 of which were starts.
Rocker has had a tendency to give up a lot of runs, and that absolutely will not fly in the postseason. It will be interesting to see how manager Skip Schumaker and the coaching staff handle his workload if they punch their ticket to October.
Gore is in a similar boat to Rocker and carries a slightly worse ERA (4.59) but a slightly better WHIP (1.34) and a slightly better STUFF+ ranking (98 at the time of The Athletic's release). Still, he has had a below-average season, and trusting him as the second or third option in this rotation feels questionable.
Finally, there is the bullpen, and closer Jacob Latz is the star of the show. If the Rangers’ offense, along with the starters and relievers who come before Latz, can set him up for success, he can absolutely close a playoff game.
