ARLINGTON, Texas — The 2024 season wraps up this weekend. For the Texas Rangers, it means a trip to The Big A in Anaheim to take on the Los Angeles Angels.
The season didn’t go according to plan for either team, for Texas, it meant being unable to follow up their first-ever World Series championship with a satisfying defense, but for Ron Washington’s Angels, last place was not at all in the cards for the beleaguered franchise.
Having lost Mike Trout early in the season for the rest of the year, in the season after Shohei Ohtani departed, the Angels were a mere shell of themselves. Contention was never really in the cards, but there were still expectations for some improvement.
After already accruing the most losses in a season in franchise history, it hasn’t been the kind of season that Ron Washington will be proud of in his first season as manager for the Angels.
Texas Rangers (75-84, 3rd Place AL West) @ Los Angeles Angels (63-96, 5th Place AL West)
Los Angeles at the end
As the Rangers come in from making their own history from playing in the final game in Oakland, the 2024 iteration of the Los Angeles Angels have made their own history in a worse way.
The Angels were swept by the league’s worst team, a history-making team in its own right, with the 39-120 Chicago White Sox handing Los Angeles their 96th loss of the season. That is a franchise record for most losses in a season, a mark that had stood untouched for 44 years.
The Angels still have growing pains ahead of them, but the development of players like Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto, Mickey Moniak, and Jo Adell provides hope for a club that seems to win headlines in the offseason more often than they put together winning seasons. Washington has been vocal already about what the team needs in the offseason, asking for more pieces to the roster that can produce a winning culture.
The Rangers and Angels last crossed paths on the first weekend of the month, a four-game set that saw the Rangers take three of four from Los Angeles as they were still clinging to wild-card hopes.
Jacob deGrom hadn’t yet rejoined the rotation at that point and the series featured a rare game where Andrew Heaney got run support and a victory. Neither team has changed positions in the AL West standings since then, and with just three games to go, the goal is to escape the season without any further major injuries while giving the youngest or unestablished chances to see big league action.
The matchups
Game 160, 8:38 PM CT - RHP Jacob deGrom (0-0, 1.35 ERA) vs. LHP Reid Detmers (4-8, 6.67 ERA)
Game 161, 8:38 PM CT - LHP Andrew Heaney (5-14, 3.98 ERA) vs. RHP Griffin Canning (6-13, 5.24 ERA)
Game 162, 2:07 PM CT - TBD vs. RHP Jack Kochanowicz (2-5, 4.01 ERA)
The opener sees deGrom take the hill for Texas, making his third and final start of the season after coming back from Tommy John surgery. The righty pitched just three innings last time out, allowing one run on three hits, and striking out five.
It’s unlikely that deGrom goes longer than three frames in this start, as he’ll be on a low pitch count once again as Texas wants to see him fully healthy going into the offseason.
Opposing him is lefty Reid Detmers. Detmers has been roughed up in both of his last starts, giving up seven runs each to the Astros and White Sox, but he’s pitched well against the Rangers in his career (3-2 with a 3.58 ERA in nine starts).
Saturday’s game will be the final game of the year for Andrew Heaney, making his 32nd start of the season as the lone survivor in the rotation from the start of the season to make it through the year without injury.
Run support, or the lack thereof has been the story for Heaney as he looks for just his sixth win of the season despite holding his ERA below 4.00 throughout the year. His starts haven’t been lengthy, which has contributed to the losses and no-decisions, but he has pitched well enough for a once-lauded Rangers offense to pick him up, it simply just hasn’t happened for him this year which is how he’s ended up with a team-high 14 losses.
Griffin Canning will take the hill for the Angels on Saturday, also making his 32nd start. He’s coming off a start against the Astros where he gave up four runs on six hits in 4 ⅓ innings. Canning allowed two runs in 4 ⅓ innings in a start against Texas back in July.
There is no starter listed for Sunday’s game as of yet. In the current six-man rotation, Heaney on Saturday will be going on normal rest. Dane Dunning would have technically taken the start on Saturday under the usual cadence. Dunning still could make the start for Texas on Sunday. The righty had been demoted at the end of August but was recalled for a start against the Seattle Mariners. In that start, Dunning went only 3 ⅔ innings, giving up two runs on seven hits.
There’s also the possibility for the Rangers to turn to Nathan Eovaldi in the finale on regular rest to give him one last time on the bump for Texas before hitting free agency this winter.
Rookie Jack Kochanowicz will close the season out for the Angels, having thrown 14 innings against the White Sox over his last two starts, allowing just one run. Kochanowicz faced Texas in Arlington earlier this month and allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings, taking the loss.
While it has been a disappointing season for the Rangers, clearly identifiable issues came to light that can hopefully be addressed this offseason. Regardless, there are only three more games left in the season, three more games before the postseason crowns a new champion – therefore, your last chance to see the Texas Rangers as defending champs is this weekend. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Do you think the Rangers will end their 2024 campaign with a series win in Anaheim? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
