ARLINGTON, Texas — There’s no longer any opportunity to say, “Oh, the Rangers are facing the stumbling, bumbling Mets.” There can be no more taking the schedule or opponents for granted. The Texas Rangers have lost nine of their last ten and have fallen out of first place for the first time since the second week of the season.
Yes, if Texas is going to get back into the winning column in consecutive games, the Mets are the right team to do it again, but there are zero guarantees that the Metropolitans, who walked off against the Angels on Sunday, are going to roll over and let Texas win.
At the deadline
The New York Mets were winners of 101 games in 2022 but were 18 games out of first place in the NL East at the trade deadline. The NL’s New York squad had already made a series of surprising moves that cemented their fate for the 2023 season by the time August rolled around.
Firstly, they sent their closer David Robertson to the Miami Marlins to signal a selloff. Robertson had saved 14 games for New York, pitching to a 2.05 ERA. With the Marlins, Robertson has pitched in 10 games and put up a 7.20 ERA and was officially demoted as the team’s closer after Sunday’s game.
Secondly, they informed Max Scherzer that winning and competing was no longer part of the plan for 2023 – or 2024. Scherzer, who had gone to management to get a straight answer about the direction of the franchise following Robertson’s trade, was informed that the team would be looking at a full-scale rebuild with an eye on 2025 or 2026 as their next competitive year.
Obviously, that didn’t sit well with the ultra competitive Scherzer, and so when Texas came calling for an ace, the Mets grabbed Texas’ No. 3 prospect Luisangel Acuña, paid out a whole bunch of money and sent Scherzer to the Rangers. Scherzer, with the Mets, was certainly part of the underwhelming performance of the team, pitching to a 4.01 ERA in 19 games, while posting a career high 1.9 homers per nine innings. Since joining Texas, Scherzer has looked much more like his old self, pitching to a 2.64 ERA over five starts, allowing just two home runs in his time with the club.
With the clear intention of the club known, they sent their other Cy Young pitcher, Justin Verlander, to the Houston Astros to further shake up the AL West. Verlander, who pitched better for New York than Scherzer did, making 16 starts and putting up a 3.15 ERA, had an injury coming out of Spring Training and didn’t pitch for the Metropolitans until May. In Houston, Verlander has been much the same, posting a 3.38 ERA over four starts with the ‘Stros as he looks to lead them to another postseason run.
Predictably, the Mets have played to a 9-16 record since the firesale and sit at 60-71 overall in last place in the NL East, but are only nine games out of a Wild Card spot. Granted, there are five other teams ahead of them in that race, but with 31 games remaining, it’s not out of the question that New York could go on a streak. And with the way the Rangers are playing, that road could start now.
The matchups
- Game 131: 6:10 PM CT – RHP Jon Gray (8-7, 3.76 ERA) vs. RHP Tylor Megill (7-7, 5.54 ERA)
- Game 132: 7:10 PM CT – LHP Andrew Heaney (9-6, 4.34 ERA) vs. LHP Jose Quintana (1-5, 3.73 ERA)
- Game 133: 6:15 PM CT – RHP Dane Dunning (9-6, 3.36 ERA) vs. TBD
Texas is slated to send Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney, and Dane Dunning to the hill to face the Mets this week. Gray is looking to end the month a little better than his last start would indicate. He gave up five runs for the first time since his first start of August, and only pitched four innings against the Diamondbacks. In between those two starts, though, Gray pitched seven innings in back-to-back starts, allowing just one run total over those two outings.
Heaney, at this point, is essentially a placeholder until Nathan Eovaldi is ready to rejoin the team. That won’t come this week after Eovaldi had a setback in his rehab that is expected to move his return to September.
Meanwhile, the lefty Heaney hasn’t pitched out of the fifth inning in his previous three starts and gave up seven hits in each of his last two starts. He’s certainly not conditioned for going deep in games and his effectiveness in short bursts is being called into question as well, as he hasn’t exactly been dominant in his three shorter outings. In his last start against the Twins, Heaney gave up three homers, all solo shots in an eventual loss.
Dane Dunning is hoping to shrug off his bad outing against the Twins. Only going four innings, Dunning, who didn’t have command of any of his pitches, walked six and allowed four runs. In his previous start, against the Brewers, Dunning went just five innings, allowing three runs, but only walked one hitter. The righty has been Texas’ most consistent starter this season and, with New York potentially going to throw a bullpen game at the Rangers, Dunning will need to be at the top of his game to keep Texas competitive.
New York will start the series with Tylor Megill, who began the season in the big leagues, but was then optioned out to Triple-A Syracuse at the end of June before being recalled in August. Since coming back from Syracuse, Megill has pitched in four starts, putting up a 6.86 ERA and allowing 31 hits in that time frame. The righty’s last outing was a 4 ⅔ inning start against the Braves, where he allowed three runs on eight hits.
The pitcher Texas will see on Tuesday is veteran Jose Quintana. The lefty started the season on the injured list for New York with a fractured rib and did not make his debut with the club until mid-July. In the seven starts he’s made since then, Quintana appears to embody the idea of hard-luck loser, having given quality starts in every outing he’s made, except for his 2023 debut (five innings, two runs) and his most recent one, where he went 5 ⅓ innings and surrendered five runs to the first place Braves.
Quintana, the former White Sox and Cubs hurler, has faced Texas 10 times, with a 2-2 record and 3.81 ERA – right around how he’s pitching for the Mets this year.
With the now-first place Seattle Mariners about to take on the last-place Oakland Athletics and the Astros about to take on fourth-place Boston Red Sox, Texas absolutely must win these games to keep pace with their rivals.
A three-game set against the Mets doesn’t sound like it should be a must win; it seems on paper like a series that Texas should be able to put away handily. But after the late-August freefall has bounced them out of their first place perch, Texas now must try to finish the month of August as strongly as they started it.
Do you think the Rangers will earn a series victory in New York to end August on a good note? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.