The Rangers came out of that road trip going 2-5. Two of those five losses were pinned on Jacob deGrom, who is suddenly very human, and very hittable, after a first half where he was neither.

That’s two games in a row now where he allowed five earned runs per game. He had only one game this year where he allowed four earned runs, and that was his second start of the season, against Tampa Bay. DeGrom gave up five earned runs in his very first start as a Ranger. And before that, it was 2021. It’s a rare occurrence, and now he’s done it twice in a row. Baseball is not used to seeing deGrom be deScheppers.

It’s the home run ball that’s killing him. He’s given up five his last two starts, in 10.1 innings. His ERA was a whopping 8.71 in the two games on this road trip. 

Combine that two other noteworthy bad road trip performances from the Rangers, and you can see why they won only two of those seven games.

Robert Garcia had two blown saves on the road trip, although he did get a save in the lone game they won in Anaheim. And Joc Pederson did what seems impossible, but he actually lowered the .127 batting average he had before the road trip by going 2-for-17 in the six games in which he was in. Two singles, no RBIs.

Maybe one can chalk up the road trip to the Rangers not being strong on the road, and rarely ever winning in Seattle. But they’ve fallen two games behind the Mariners for the third and final wild card slot and how have to crawl back out of the hole they dug themselves in once again.

All in all, it was “Christmas Vacation” all over again. Just a bad road trip. For the Rangers sake, let’s hope Jacob deGrom left his struggles behind. As far as Robert Garcia and Joc Pederson, let’s hope this road trip finally brought with it clarity that neither deserves to continue in the roles the were in. A closer should be able to close games. A Designated Hitter should be able to hit

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