After being swept in Baltimore, the Rangers are now 1-5 in July. They started June 1-5 as well. That was after finally, for the first time in seemingly forever, getting to .500 on the last day of May.

The Rangers recovered from their slow start in June to end up 12-14. How does that bode for the July?

You might have to look back for that answer. But not back to June, back over the previous three seasons Chris Woodward has been at the helm of the Texas Rangers.

He has never had a winning record once July hits.

In his first season managing the Rangers, 2019, Texas started strong. They were a surprising 46-38 heading into July. Then the bottom fell out. They proceeded to go 8-16, then followed that up with a losing August and a losing September.

There was no April, May, or June in 2020 due to the pandemic. Not much July either. But what July there was ended up 2-9 for Texas. They, of course, had a losing August and losing September.

Last year was miserable all season long. 

May of 2022 brought with it a bit of hope. The Rangers went 17-10. That snapped a string of thirteen consecutive losing months.

Woodward, of course, has to play the hand he is dealt. And, if this were the Old West, the dealer may have high-tailed it out of town by now. 

It’s hard to say whether Chris Woodward is the right man for the job. But it is undeniable that his teams get progressively worse as the season rolls on. Much of that might be due to the fact that baseball has a way of sorting itself out. Hitters and rotations and bullpens can come out of the gate hot but teams figure them out and eventually they revert back to their stats. Maybe that is happening now.

So, if the prospect of being swept by the Orioles left a bad taste in your mouth, history is not going to offer much relief.

Chris Woodward has never seen a winning second-half of any season he’s managed. This season is on trend.

Of course, ever the optimist, Woodward points to all the close one-run games they have lost and reasons, had they gotten a hit here or there, those outcomes could have been different. 

Texas is a dreadful 4-17 in one-run games. Even the most rosy optimist can’t really believe a .190 winning percentage is simply due to a few missed opportunities here and there. Maybe, just maybe, they were lucky to get within one run in those 17 losses. Could be fool’s gold.

So, Chris Woodward has an uphill battle. Can he do something he has not been able to do his first three seasons as Rangers manager? Can he secure a winning month the final half of the season? 

Starting July 1-5 doesn’t help.

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