Baseball makes no sense. 

Many baseball experts predicted the Rangers and Braves would face off in this year’s World Series. That prediction makes sense. What didn’t make sense is this.

After seven games, the Rangers are 5-2 and in first place on the American League West. The Braves are 0-7 and about to disappear into the quicksand in the National League East.

The Braves are the worst hitting team in the National League—in fact, in all of baseball at .151—so there is a reason they are 0-7. 

But the Rangers are one of the worst hitting teams in the American League, with a combined team batting average of .192. There is no way they should be 5-2. But they are. Last night they sweated out their second consecutive 1-0 win. 

Every victory is a grind.

Marcus Semien is batting .115.  Corey Seager, .176. Joc Pederson, .158. Jake Burger, .125. Josh Smith, .154. Leody Taveras, .158. Only Adolis Garcia (.227) and Wyatt Langford (.269) are doing much of anything offensively. At least the catching tandem of Johah Heim and Kyle Higashioka are hitting: Heim at .308, Higashioka at .222.

It will get better, of course. It’s just to point out how strange baseball can be when one team that is ice cold offensively is 5-2 and the other is 0-7. 

In fact, the four teams with the worst batting average in the American League are all in the A.L. West: Seattle at .172, Houston at .178, Texas at .192, and Los Angeles at .198. Sacramento is leading the A.L. West in hitting at .219. And they are in last place.

Baseball makes no sense.

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