ARLINGTON, Texas — The theme over the course of the first few series of the 2024 season appeared to have been “picking up right where they left off” for the Texas Rangers.
Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia were all making great plays and hitting like October never ended. Meanwhile, Nathan Eovaldi and Dane Dunning were pitching like two hurlers determined to get a taste of that championship adrenaline again with Cody Bradford even shining as an early-season surprise.
No one would have guessed that those good vibes would be derailed by the homeless Athletics, tentatively still from Oakland, especially not after they finished with baseball’s worst record in 2023 where they were buried in the basement of the AL West.
But indeed, after dropping a the last two games in the series against the Astros over the weekend, the Rangers suffered their first series loss to those A’s, as some of the less-than-stellar remnants of the 2023 season came back for an ill-timed visit in the embarrassing effort against a visitor that Texas is supposed to far and away outclass.
Game 11: Athletics 4, Rangers 3 (W: Kelly, 1-0, L: Leclerc, 0-2, Sv: Miller, 1)
Game 12: Athletics 2, Rangers 6 (W: Bradford, 3-0, L: Stripling, 0-3)
Game 13: Athletics 1, Rangers 0 (W: Sears, 1-1, L: Gray, 0-1, Sv: Miller, 2)
The difficult conversation
It’s no secret that the Rangers made it into the postseason last October in spite of their bullpen. It’s also no secret that once the Rangers started playing and winning on their way to a championship, their bullpen was anchored down almost exclusively by the cut-change specialist Jose Leclerc.
That performance, closing out 10 of the team’s 11 wins, is something the Rangers are never going to forget. But consistency has never been Leclerc’s strong suit and he’s been going through a rough patch to begin the season as Texas’ closer.
Having already given up six runs in four appearances, Leclerc’s status as the man that the Rangers are counting on to finish off games is in doubt. On Tuesday, after the team received another stellar performance from Eovaldi and had taken a lead late in the ballgame, Leclerc only cast more doubt.
Admittedly, A’s catcher Shea Langeliers had an NBA Jam-type night, on fire with three home runs, accounting for each of Oakland’s runs, but one of those homers was a 2-run shot in the 9th off Leclerc that put the A’s on top for good. Texas has a few other options for high-leverage relief, and it could be time for Bochy to mix things up in the ninth inning.
The much easier conversation
When the Rangers signed Michael Lorenzen towards the end of spring training, they had some evaluation time to burn through as he stretches out his pitch count to a starter’s load in the minor leagues, but it was widely assumed that Cody Bradford would eventually be the odd man out in the rotation.
The idea was that Bradford would be sent to the bullpen when Lorenzen was ready to join the rotation, as he was signed to do. The problem with that is Bradford has been extremely successful so far, with three victories in three starts to begin his sophomore season.
On Wednesday night, the Baylor product was sterling yet again. Mixing in sharp breaking balls with changeups with his well located fastballs, the left-hander Bradford, not exactly an overpowering pitcher, kept the A’s off balance through his whole outing. Bradford allowed one unearned run over his 6 ⅔ innings, striking out seven and walking just one batter. His night might have been even better, if not for a first inning Josh Smith throwing error that put an unearned run on Bradford’s ledger.
As it is, Bradford is now undefeated on the season, with a cumulative 1.40 ERA in his three starts where he has struck out 17 and walked two. Manager Bruce Bochy will surely be asked whether Bradford is making the decision difficult for when Lorenzen is ready – instead, Cody Bradford appears to be making the decision for the Rangers.
Just like old times
The finale on Thursday offered a bit of déjà vu for Texas starter Jon Gray, who exited the game after pitching five innings of one run ball with nine strikeouts. That marked the sixth time in Gray’s career that the righty took the loss while allowing one or fewer runs in at least five innings.
The last time it happened, Gray struck out 12 St. Louis Cardinals over nine innings while allowing just one run in a game that marked a downward turn to Texas’ season before they reclaimed their mojo in October.
While the loss on Thursday wasn’t a complete game by any stretch, Gray, after a dismal first couple of starts this season, engaged in a pitcher’s duel with Oakland’s JP Sears. The one blemish on Gray’s line was a second inning home run. That long solo shot proved to be the lone run by either team with Texas struggling to even collect a hit.
While he did need 91 pitches to make it through the five innings, the breaking ball effectiveness and the first-pitch strike efficiency were an improvement. With Texas’ first rotation decision growing closer, having Gray put together a good outing had to be a welcome sight.
Despite their current reputation, the A’s always seem to give the Rangers fits, no matter where they play, and no matter where the teams are in the standings. Even so, it’s difficult to swallow losing a series at home to a team that is expected to be among the worst in recent memory.
Texas will have to put that ugliness behind them because now they head into Houston on a bit of a downward trend themselves, having lost 4 of 5. They next go up against the Astros again, a losing team at 4-10 on the young season, the new cellar-dwellers of the AL West – but the Rangers just proved that no big league team can truly be underestimated.
Do you think the Rangers will bounce back from a disappointing series? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
