ARLINGTON, Texas — It’s been a while, but this is not the first time that the Texas Rangers have faced off against the Cleveland Guardians in 2024. Their first clash this year came at Globe Life Field in Arlington back in mid-May.
At the time, the Rangers were in second place in the AL West, a scant 1.5 games behind Seattle for the division lead. The Guardians at that point were holding a one game lead over the Minnesota Twins and a 1.5 game lead over the Kansas City Royals in what would become a very hotly contested AL Central.
Flash forward to now, with just over a month remaining in the regular season, and the Rangers have struggled to stay competitive in the West, while the Guardians are still atop a very narrow field of competition in the Central. That brings us to Progressive Field and a three-game weekend series where much more is at stake for Cleveland than the defending champions.
Texas Rangers (59-69, 3rd Place AL West, 10.5 GB) @ Cleveland Guardians (73-54, 1st Place AL Central, +2.0 G)
Guardians after the deadline
For a first place team in a tight division with a narrow lead over the next nearest chasers, the Guardians didn’t exactly make a huge splash at the trade deadline to enhance their chances. They had a very simple approach of filling in the areas of need and trusting the rest of their team from there.
Going into the deadline, the Guardians had a very strong lineup compared to last year’s team. Cleveland sits in the middle of the pack among the league in runs scored but were near the bottom in 2023. Like the Rangers, a slumping player or two can make the difference between productivity and zeros (unlike the Rangers, though, it hasn’t been a year-long conundrum for Cleveland).
To address the lineup, Cleveland acquired slugging outfielder Lane Thomas from the Washington Nationals. In Thomas, the Guardians received a low-chase, high-impact, all-around player with a penchant for hitting left-handed pitching. A top of the lineup guy, having hit second for the Nats, Thomas had been enjoying one of the better years of his career in Washington, slashing .253/.331/.407 with eight homers and 40 RBI.
With Cleveland, however, Thomas is hitting just .117/.209/.167 in 19 games, making him more of a new problem than solution for the Guardians. However, the real issue for Cleveland has been holding together the starting rotation.
With former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber out for the rest of the season and Carlos Carrasco now on the injured list since the start of August, the Guardians have been relying on new top starter Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, and Ben Lively to carry them through. Even so, Bibee has unofficially missed some time, having made his second start after a two-week break last time out.
To augment the pitching staff, the Guardians got some veteran arms, but both have an injury history. Alex Cobb hasn’t taken the hill for the Guardians yet, as he continues to recover from hip surgery, and Matthew Boyd recently wrapped up his second start since coming off Tommy John surgery last summer.
One of the biggest strengths of the Guardians has been their bullpen, headed by Emmanuel Clase, the former Rangers prospect. Cleveland was able to walk away from the trade deadline with all of its bullpen arms intact and are looking to enter the last month of the season on a high note by knocking off the most recent World Series Champions.
The matchups
- Game 129, 6:10 PM CT - RHP Nathan Eovaldi (8-7, 3.76 ERA) vs. RHP Tanner Bibee (10-5, 3.33 ERA)
- Game 130, 6:10 PM CT - RHP Jon Gray (5-4, 3.75 ERA) vs. RHP Ben Lively (10-8, 3.68 ERA)
- Game 131, 12:40 PM CT - LHP Cody Bradford (4-1, 3.56 ERA) vs. LHP Matthew Boyd (0-0, 3.38 ERA)
The series starts with an impromptu “Ace off,” as Bibee takes the hill for the Guardians against Rangers’ top starter Nathan Eovaldi. Bibee was a hard-luck loser the last time out against the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. He gave up just one run on three hits in five innings as Cleveland would go on to get swept. Before that outing, in a contest against division rival Minnesota, Bibee gave up one run again, this time in 5 ⅔ innings as the Guardians split a series with the Twins.
Eovaldi, who had a minor scare after coming out early in a start against the New York Yankees earlier this month, almost went the distance last weekend against the Twins. Instead, he was hurt by a rough eighth inning, but completed seven frames of work. With Max Scherzer having been scratched from his rehab start and Jacob deGrom finishing two innings of his first rehab on Thursday, the Rangers are going to be relying on Eovaldi again down the stretch, although this time, it appears, with far fewer stakes.
Saturday’s contest puts Lively against Rangers’ swingman Jon Gray, who came off a relief outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates this week. Lively, a righty who faced Texas last time in May, is coming off a start against the Brewers in which he pitched six innings and gave up just two runs. For the month, Lively is at a 4.79 ERA in 20.2 innings. Last time against Texas, Lively took a win, despite giving up three runs in just five innings.
Gray came off the injured list in a relief effort, taking over for Cody Bradford in what was at the time a 3-0 Pittsburgh lead. Gray would give up just one more run in the ninth, as Texas would proceed to lose via shutout. Despite reintegrating himself back into action from the injured list out of the bullpen, Gray was perhaps Texas’ best starter for much of the first half.
The finale will see the aforementioned Boyd in his third start since returning from Tommy John surgery. Boyd gave up just one run in 5 ⅓ innings against the Chicago Cubs in his first start before getting roughed up a little by the Yankees in his second outing.
Opposing Boyd will be fellow lefty Bradford. The former Baylor standout has been sharp in his last three starts as he himself returned from the injured list at the end of July. Against the Pirates, Bradford had one bad inning where he allowed three consecutive two-out hits that scored three runs, but he would ultimately pitch seven innings, giving up just those three runs. Over his last three starts, Bradford has pitched to a 3.00 ERA, holding opponents to a .232 average, striking out 17 hitters and walking just two.
If Texas can get to the Cleveland starters, it might be a fun weekend. If they have to face the Guardians’ bullpen while down, the weekend will start to look a little longer for the Rangers.
Do you think the Rangers are due a road series win in Cleveland? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
More Texas Rangers coverage: