Here’s an interesting stat.

The Houston Astros are 9-19, in last place in the A.L. West. They have played twenty-eight games. Of those twenty-eight games, Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, Ronel Blanco, and Cristian Javier have started fourteen. In other words, half.

In those fourteen games, those four Houston starters are 7-0 with a 1.83 ERA. In the other fourteen games, Houston’s other starters that we pressed into action because of injuries, went 0-10 with a 9.49 ERA.

Dominating starting pitchers still matters. A great rotation still matters. And even though the Astros are languishing in last place, now that they are getting their starters back off the I.L., don’t expect them to continue playing .321 baseball. There are only two teams that can win the A.L. West and they are the Rangers and the Astros. 

Don’t count Houston out. But, until the Rangers start hitting, don’t count Texas as a shoo in. Sure, they need deGrom and Scherzer back. But they need Josh Jung back more than that. They desperately need his offense.

Last year, when Josh Jung broke his thumb on a line drive on August 6, the Rangers were 66-46. He missed thirty-seven games. When he came back, the Rangers were 82-68.

They went 16-22 without him. Overall, the Rangers were 73-49 in games Josh Jung played, 17-23 in games he didn’t play.

The Rangers were 3-1 when he broke his wrist this year. Since then, they’ve gone 12-13. 

Like the Astros and their starters, the Rangers need Josh Jung in order to win. He is the straw that stirs the drink. 

Until then, they need to scratch and claw and tread water like they’ve been doing.

Oh, and they could use Corey Seager back, as well.

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TODAY’S GAME: