ARLINGTON, Texas — The 26-17 Texas Rangers are presented with a fresh opportunity this weekend. The Colorado Rockies are in last place in the NL West, a familiar place for the team in purple and black. They come into Arlington for a series with a record of 19-25.
Texas has played four teams that haven't hit the 20-win mark thus far, and their record against such opponents is 10-8. Despite a successful start that sees them leading the AL West, the Rangers could, and should, be posting a better mark against the chaff of the league.
Here’s a look at what Texas is facing this weekend:
Where Colorado is coming from
The Rockies are coming off of a homestand in which they won three and lost three. The last series of that stand was against Cincinnati, a team that swept the Rangers earlier this year. The Rox took two of three from the Reds; the two wins were offensive slugfests, as they won 9-8 on Monday and 11-6 in Wednesday’s finale.
Pitching continues to be an issue for the Rockies, not just because of their perennial problem finding and developing pitching to thrive at Coors Field. Within the span of just a couple of weeks, Colorado lost starters Antonio Senzatela, German Marquez, Noah Davis and Ryan Feltner to injury.
Senzatela, who has been with the Rockies the longest, could be out until mid-July after feeling elbow discomfort back on May 10. Davis has been on the IL since the end of April with elbow inflammation and may return at the end of the month. Feltner suffered a fractured skull on May 13th and his return date is unknown.
The biggest blow, however, came when Opening Day starter Marquez went under the knife for Tommy John surgery, which put him out for the rest of the year. The Colorado relievers are also down one, as Nick Mears is on the IL with an oblique strain.
The injuries haven’t been limited to just the pitching staff either as first baseman C.J. Cron is on the IL and will miss this series. The former Rangers-killer from his time with the Los Angeles Angels leads the team right now with six homers.
The renowned Rockies offense hasn’t been quite the slugging machine that it has been throughout franchise history. In fact, Colorado is in the bottom five in home runs in 2023 despite playing their home games at Coors Field.
Colorado’s 11-6 victory on Wednesday marked the first time that the team had reached double digit runs without the benefit of a home run in four years.
Things to watch for
Game 44: 7:05 PM CT - RHP Karl Kauffmann (MLB Debut) vs. LHP Martin Perez (4-1, 4.25 ERA)
Game 45: 3:05 PM CT - LHP Kyle Freeland (4-4, 3.16 ERA) vs RHP Jon Gray (3-1, 3.15 ERA)
Game 46: 1:35 PM CT - RHP Connor Seabold (1-0, 5.14 ERA) vs. LHP Andrew Heaney (2-3, 4.71 ERA)
An old friend arrives with Colorado this weekend – outfielder Jurickson Profar, who signed late in the spring with the Rockies, returns to the place where he was, at one point, baseball’s top prospect. The “new-look” approach to the Colorado offense is triggered partly by Profar, who is in the midst of a 27-game on-base streak, during which he’s hitting .245 with three homers, twelve RBI and seventeen walks.
The Rockies are set to send rookie Karl Kauffmann to the hill on Friday’s opener for his big league debut. On a staff heavily depleted by injuries, opportunity abounds for those in the Colorado minor league system. Kauffmann, for his part, hasn’t been outstanding at Triple-A Albuquerque by any stretch. He’s featuring a 2-3 record with a 7.78 ERA, but he did show potential during Cactus League action at spring training.
The Rockies do have seasoned lefty Kyle Freeland ready for the middle game of the series on Saturday. Freeland is coming off a great start against Philadelphia where he went six innings and allowed zero runs while striking out eight to pick up a win against Philadelphia.
Colorado will close the series with Connor Seabold, a former Boston Red Sox hurler who was traded to the Rockies in mid-January. Seabold most recently experienced a bumpy start against Cincinnati, only going 4.1 innings and giving up six runs (although only four were earned).
Meanwhile, the Rangers will send the “bottom 3” of their rotation. Friday night’s starter Martin Perez is hoping to avoid a third bad start in a row. After finishing April with a 4-1 record and a 2.41 ERA, the lefty has been extremely hittable while losing his command during the most recent road trip.
In his two starts so far in May, Perez has given up 11 earned runs, four homers, and five walks, with opponents hitting .400 off of him. He has been fortunate enough that the Texas offense has picked him up, but Perez is trying to regain his form.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jon Gray is looking to keep the momentum from his last start going against his old team. Gray, whose career with the Rockies can be defined by heightened expectation after being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, is coming off a season-best game against Oakland, pitching eight innings of 3-hit ball.
Texas finishes with Andrew Heaney in the finale on Sunday afternoon. Heaney most recently had a great outing against the Athletics, going six innings while giving up just one run. With an extra day of rest for each of these starters, the Rangers will be looking for them to go deep in games.
You never can assume a sweep in a big league series but the way these three games shake out, with first place Texas rested and last place Colorado limping with injuries, everything seems aligned for the Rangers.
But then again, the bullpen is undoubtedly going to come into play in this series. That’s been the rub for Texas for weeks and they have to hope that this is the series where the relievers can start to figure things out.
Do you think the Rangers will be able to build upon their lead in the AL West? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
