The culprit is the offense. It’s easy, and correct, to blame the bullpen. It started this mess in the first place. But the bullpen has been a trainwreck the entire season. It’s been out in the open with its putridness for all to see. The bullpen has been honest with […]
He’s the Rangers number-one prospect. For far too long that meant nothing. Or, to be more precisely, it meant the kiss of death. But the last guy—Josh Jung—turned out just fine, until he broke his thumb on a freak play. Here’s hoping this one has a similar impact. Evan Carter […]
The Rangers came into their three-game series against Houston wanting to make a statement. 13-6. 14-1. 12-3. They made one. Loud and clear. “We were humbled, humiliated, taught a lesson, overpowered, overwhelmed, routed, baffled, conquered, taken to the woodshed, cowed, crushed, discombobulated, licked, treated like a punching bag, overcome, beaten […]
There is nobody Bruce Bochy can rely on in his bullpen. Like an old horror movie where the call is coming from inside the house, every time he picks up the bullpen phone, fear follows. Runs do too. Josh Sborz, twelve earned runs in his last five appearances, spanning four […]
The Rangers have twenty-seven games left. All they need to do is win seven of those to finish over .500. After six years of futility, where they languished under .500 and lived in oblivion and irrelevance, 2023 has a chance to be the year when they finally finish above .500. […]
“We felt he had done his job.” That was Bruce Bochy’s casual, breezy explanation for why he removed Max Scherzer after only 88 pitches, after only six innings. He had done his job. As if it was a spring training tuneup getting ready for the regular season. As if it […]
Some days you’re the boxer. Some days you’re the heavy bag. For the first few months of the season, the Rangers were the boxer. Jabs, right, lefts, pokes, slashes, combinations. They were attacking, their punches were landing with precision, hitting above the belt, below the belt, bobbing and weaving, landing […]
Down 3-1 in the sixth, the Rangers loaded the bases on a single and two walks, wrapped around an out. A base hit would blow the game open. They couldn’t do it. They relied on bad Mets pitching to walk a runner in. Then the next two Rangers struck out. […]
Imagine a prize fight with both contestants in their 90s. And blind. And slightly incontinent. That’s what watching a Rangers-Mets game is like. In one corner, the Rangers, a team that is performing so much better than expected but is stuck in a deep offensive rut. In the other corner, […]
Finally, after fifty-seven tries, the Rangers succeeded. Going into last night’s game, Texas was 0-57 when trailing after seven innings. Like the most obedient dog, if they were down, they stayed down. They didn’t bite. The offense couldn’t win late and the bullpen couldn’t hold a lead late, having blown […]
