The Rangers took three of four against the Red Sox. Here are a few thoughts, some crazier than others.

Corey Seager started just two games at short. He DHed one game and sat out one game. Keeping him healthy seems like it’s going to be a season-long challenge. Maybe he should be the team’s permanent DH. You keep his bat in the game and limit his time on his feet to four or five at-bats a game. This way he can be in the lineup every game. Joc Pederson can play left, with Wyatt Langford shifting to center.

That’s where Josh Smith becomes valuable. If Seager is the everyday DH, Smith starts at short. Okay, he’s hurt now. While Smith’s injury might not be prolonged, the worry over an impending Seager injury will be. 

It didn’t take long for Josh Jung to go on the I.L.  Last year he got nineteen plate appearances in four games before he was lost for most of the season. This year, he got seven in a game-and-a-half. Of course, he’s only on the ten-day I.L. For now. Face it, Jung is a player that you don’t expect to be in the lineup but when he is, it’s a nice bonus. He’s like finding a twenty-dollar bill in a pair of pants you rarely wear. From here on out, don’t expect him to play but if he does, it’s like a nice bonus. 

The Rangers bullpen is going to be overworked. Luke Jackson, Robert Garcia, and Chris Martin have made three appearances each already. That would be fine if the starters were allowed to go longer, but they haven’t been. Eovaldi went six, Leiter five, Mahle 1.2, and deGrom five. Yes, it’s early. And maybe they are allowed to stretch out a bit more. It didn’t help that all four games were close.  

The Rangers have been behind only twice so far this season. In the ninth inning in Game 1, and in the sixth inning in yesterday’s fourth game. They came right back and scored two in the bottom of the inning, so, they have been behind only once after a completed inning.

Adolis Garcia set a personal goal of hitting fifty home runs this year. He’s on pace for eighty-one. Chances are, he will tail off a bit and not hit eighty-one. But, at least for now, he appears to have discovered the swagger he lost last year, and that is a really good thing for the Rangers.

Jack Leiter looked good. Jacob deGrom looked really good. And Nathan Eovaldi looked really really good. It’s early, of course, but at least for this first series, Rangers fans can imagine what it’s like to have an actual rotation. 

Baseball is back. Life is good.

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