Twenty-six games into the season and the Rangers are treading water, trying to find their footing, trying to get something to work consistently. There are bright skies on the horizon, though.

Josh Sborz was activated off the IL yesterday. That gives Bochy three relievers he can trust, along with Robertson and Yates.

Max Scherzer threw his first rehab outing at Round Rock on Wednesday. He threw fifty-two pitches. The rest of the numbers don’t matter. All that matters is, he will make another start, build up to seventy pitches, then another one to get to ninety, then he will be ready to rejoin the Rangers.

Then, they can move Heaney to the bullpen where he should have been all along.

Cody Bradford is progressing as well. He was the Rangers best starter before he went down. Nobody expected that, and nobody expects him to be the Rangers best starer at the end of the season, but if he keeps pitching like he was, that gives the Rangers some great problems. With Scherzer, Eovaldi, Dunning, Lorenzen, Gray, and Bradford, do they go with a six-man rotation? If not, who is bumped to the pen? Or, do they trade their surplus starting depth for a bat?

Also encouraging is the fact that the Rangers are starting to rediscover the home run. Two games in a row they had two home runs. But, all four were solo shots. Now, if they can just get someone on base beforehand.

This team is too good to be 13-13. But, then again, who would have ever thought the Astros would be 7-19 at this point in the season?

Yes, the Rangers are just 13-13. But the Astros are 7-19. Suddenly, this season doesn’t look so bad after all.

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TODAY’S GAME: