ARLINGTON, Texas — There will be no October baseball for the Texas Rangers in 2024. Following a series loss to the Seattle Mariners in their final home series of the year, the defending World Series champions have been mathematically eliminated from any chance at the postseason.
Chances of them finishing with a positive record were also extinguished, as their loss on Saturday was their 82nd of the season. The disappointment from a season-long, team-wide slump finally coalesced as everything was made official.
With the season over but for the schedule requiring six more games, the plan now for the final week of the season is to give further opportunities for big-league experience to the likes of Wyatt Langford, Kumar Rocker, and Jack Leiter while the veterans of the club lick their wounds and gear up for 2025.
Game 154: Seattle 8, Texas 2 (W: Kirby, 13-11, L: Leiter, 0-3)
Game 155: Seattle 8, Texas 4 (W: Hancock, 4-4, L: Chafin, 4-3)
Game 156: Seattle 5, Texas 6 (W: Yates, 7-2, L: Munoz, 3-7)
Shut down
The biggest news coming out of the series against the Mariners wasn’t Jacob deGrom’s home debut, but rather that Max Scherzer, who returned after weeks on the IL with a nerve issue, was going back on the IL for the rest of the season with a new injury.
Scherzer was scratched from his penultimate start against the Mariners with hamstring tightness. While he wasn’t with the team on Saturday night, manager Bruce Bochy said that the righty woke up with tightness after stretches the day before.
The move ends Scherzer’s season, obviously, but with the 40-year old destined to be a free agent this winter, it likely ends his time with the Rangers as well.
With Mad Max out, the Rangers tabbed Dane Dunning for the spot start and he was decent after being reinserted into the rotation, going over 3 ⅔ innings and surrendering two runs while striking out five in his first start since mid-August, but the Rangers’ bullpen gave up considerably more runs, closing out the victory for the visitors.
Happy returns
Recovered ace deGrom did not really have to come back to pitch this season. There was very little to fight for by the time he completed his rehab, and coming off Tommy John surgery, the Rangers were going to take it easy with him regardless of the situation.
Nevertheless, the former Cy Young winner found it important to pitch in the big leagues this season to reacquaint himself before gearing up to go full bore in 2025, so he returned to the mound in Seattle last week and was able to make one, singular starter at Globe Life Field this season.
He was on a short leash again, as was expected, but still looked every bit the dominant pitcher that the Rangers coveted when they signed him prior to the 2023 season. Over three innings, deGrom struck out five, allowing one run.
Despite only a 58-pitch look, the home fans got a tantalizing glimpse at greatness. Slated for one more start before going into a full offseason of preparations for 2025, deGrom leaving surgery and rehab in the rearview mirror is one of the things to be excited for following a tough year.
A fun finish
There couldn’t have been a better way to finish the home schedule, given the circumstances. Texas was able to walk off the Mariners in the finale of the series, completing their largest come-from-behind victory all season when they turned a 5-0 deficit into a 6-5 win.
While they still didn’t offer any run support to starter Andrew Heaney, Texas did get their starter off the hook after he exited the game and landed in the win column for their efforts.
Josh Smith, who was the Rangers’ best player at the All-Star Break and, despite a drop-off in the second half, finished the homestand with a hit in every game of the series against Seattle. From last man on the bench to everyday replacement for injured Josh Jung, Smith has shown that he can be a regular in the big leagues. Over the weekend, Smith collected a home run, three RBI and three runs scored.
Wyatt Langford, meanwhile, continued his incredible month with the big blow in the comeback, a three-run homer to start the comeback bid. And it was Marcus Semien that laced the walk-off hit, his first with Texas. That run was scored by Leody Taveras, who was on fire the whole game, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and the game-tying homer.
The Rangers were able to send the sellout crowd at their home closer happy. In a season full of forgettable moments, the last game at Globe Life Field certainly provided a pleasant memory to send off the Arlington faithful.
Now, the team travels to the West Coast to close out the season where first they will bid farewell to the Oakland Coliseum as the last visitors in Oakland.
Do you think the Rangers will bounce back in 2025? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
