Desperately needing offensive help, and lacking a closer, the team with the best rotation in baseball came away from the trade deadline without a bat, without a closer, but with another quality arm for their rotation, and two more set up guys.
The Rangers got starter Merrill Kelly from Arizona, reliever Danny Coulombe from Minnesota, and reliver Phil Maton from St Louis.
Acquiring Merrill, though, might turn out to be a brilliant move because it gives the Rangers another top-of-the-rotation arm to allow them to go with a six-man rotation so they can tap the brakes on Jacob deGrom’s innings, along with Kumar Rocker who is at about the most innings he’s thrown in his professional career, and also Nathan Eovaldi, who is prone to injury and can used extra time off. Merrill gives the Rangers seven reliable starters along with deGrom, Eovaldi, Corbin, Rocker, Leiter, and Gray. Eight if you add in Mahle.
Danny Coulombe is a thirty-five-year-old lefty reliver who is having a brilliant season: a 1.16 ERA, a WHIP of 0.968 (anything under 1.000 is noteworthy), and an ERA+ of 371, meaning he is 3.7 times better than a major league average pitcher. With Minnesota, he was used mainly as a seventh-inning guy.
Phil Maton is a thirty-two-year-old right-handed reliever the Rangers got from the Cardinals who was also have a spectacular season, an ERA of 2.75 with an ERA+ of 178.
So, what happens in their first game without being able to land a bat? The Rangers get shutout. Now, before the world comes to an end and we run around town yelling the sky is falling, consider two things.
One, the Rangers cannot win in Seattle. So, even if they were able to trade for Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, and Juan Soto, it would not have mattered. Because of the second point.
Two, the Rangers cannot beat George Kirby. After last night’s lackluster 6-0 loss to Seattle, Kirby is now 8-0 lifetime against Texas, with a 1.05 ERA. Ray Davis might own the deed to the franchise, but George Kirby owns the Rangers.
Yes, not getting a bat is perplexing. But it wouldn’t have helped last night, and it won’t help this series. The Rangers just have to make the best of being in their House of Horrors and see if they can possibly come away with one win. Or, short of that, one run scored.
Last night, the few chances they had against George Kirby were squandered. If this team doesn’t want to come out of this Seattle series down four games to the Mariners, and in a hole they’re going to have to claw back out of, they are going to have to reach in and find it somehow. They’re going to have to get that hit when they have the rare chance. They have three more games to see what they are made of.
Joc Pederson, by the way, who never could hit lefties well but had always pounded right-handed pitching, and who earlier suffered through an 0-for-41 streak, is working on another hitless streak. He’s on an 0-for-15 run, with eleven of those coming since he returned from the I.L.
Desperatly needing a bat, the Rangers didn’t find one. Now, they are going to have to go with the ones they have.
Good luck.
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