This is one of those rare weeks when the Rangers had two off-days. The good thing about that is, it allows them to skip their fifth man in the rotation.
Off-days also give the staff at RR3 time to check the Rangers stats and leader boards.
After 68 games, the team is in second. But that’s because only one team in the West is good. And because no other team in the division is playing well. And legally someone has to be in second. Standings aren’t worth getting excited about until you’re over .500.
Taking a look at individual stats, the Rangers home run leaders are Corey Seager with 15, Adolis Garcia with 13, and two players who are tied for third, Nathanial Lowe and Jonah Heim, with 9.
Surprisingly, the leader in hits is Garcia, followed by Lowe.
Garcia and Marcus Semien are one-two in doubles, 12 and 11. Garcia is leading in triples with 3.
RBI leaders are Garcia (45), Seager (32) and, surprisingly, Kole Calhoun (29).
Semien and White are leading the team in steals, 12 each, and then Garcia with 11.
The leader in batting average and on-base percentage, by default, is Lowe, at just .274. Garcia is leading in OPS with a not too great .764.
Garcia came out of nowhere last year, turned heads, hit game-winning home runs, played gold glove caliber defense, and made the All-Star team. He might not make the All-Star team this year but he’s certainly the Rangers most productive hitter on a team that is in the bottom third overall in offense.
On the mound, it’s all Perez. He’s leading the team in wins (5), ERA (1.98), strikeouts (71), WHIP (1.13), and batting average against (.239).
Three pitchers have 4 wins: Hearn, Otto, and Burke. Burke’s ERA is a miniscule 0.80 but he doesn’t have enough innings to qualify.
Joe Barlow has 13 saves. The next highest is 1.
Compared to baseball as a hole, Rangers players are pretty far down the list on most offensive categories. Seager is tied for 17th in home runs. There’s not a single Ranger in the top 25 in any other offensive categories other than Garcia in runs (23d) and triples (tied for 6th with 15 other players).
Perez has the fifth-best ERA, and is one of only five pitchers with a shutout. Other than that, the only other Ranger in the top 25 in any pitching category is Joe Barlow’s 13 saves. That’s tenth best.
If you think about it, it’s pretty amazing the Rangers are doing as well as they are when so many position players are underperforming and they really have only one starter.
Just wait until they get good.
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