The second half of the season starts today but the reality is, its way past the halfway point. The Rangers have already played ninety-seven games, which is nearly sixty percent of the season.

They’ve squandered most of it because they can’t score runs. The irony is, if they expect to make the playoffs, now they are going to have to go on quite a run. 

They start this stretch run one game under .500, where they have seemingly been forever. They can never quite get over the hump. The task doesn’t get any easier since they open this second half with three games against the team with the best record in baseball in the Detroit Tigers.

They’re eight-and-a-half games out of first. Changes are slim they’ll catch Houston. The wild card is their only hope. They’re three-and-a-half games away from Seattle to get there. That’s encouraging because Seattle always folds. Of course, the Rangers have the Tampa Bay Rays between them and Seattle.

The Rangers start this second half with a few personnel changes. Of course, not the big splashes it would take to jump start this playoff run. 

Veteran first baseman Rowdy Tellez takes over at first for the injured Jake Burger. It’s really a swap of one power hitting first baseman who doesn’t hit for much average for another. The thirty-year-old left-handed batting Tellez was released by Seattle earlier this year and comes to Texas with a batting average of  .208, an OPS of .682, eleven home runs, twenty-seven RBIs, and a 96 OPS+. Jake Burger was hitting .228, with an OPS of .659, eleven home runs, thirty-five RBIs, and an OPS+ of 88. SoTellez is a slight upgrade.

The Rangers need all the help they can get.

They also traded Dane Dunning to Atlanta for reliever Jose Ruiz. The right-handed Ruiz pitched two games for Atlanta, putting up a 13.50 ERA. Before that, he had an 8.16 ERA with Philadelphia in sixteen games. 

While he hasn’t been effective, he also hasn’t been overused, and right now the Rangers need fresher arms. 

So, the final stretch of sixty-five games starts today. There’s nothing to indicate this team can play well enough to make the playoffs. But there’s also reason to think that with a little push and a couple extra players, they can.

Let’s hope they aren’t finished with Tellez and Ruiz. Otherwise, they might be finished.

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