ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have spent the last week sweeping and been swept by last place teams. It’s really a microcosm of their season – a step forward and steps backwards, hardly able to get any traction or sense of direction.
Last time this year, the Rangers were nearly 20 games above .500 and adding players on their way to winning the World Series. Flash forward, and they are four games below that mark and 4.5 games out of first place in the AL West.
That deficit is not an impassable obstacle – but the team has not done anything to show that they have the ability to overcome that distance. As they head to St. Louis to take on a Cardinals team hovering around the .500 mark, their direction might be decided for them by the time Tuesday’s trade deadline comes and goes.
Texas Rangers (51-55, 3rd Place AL West, 4.5 GB) @ St. Louis Cardinals (54-51, 2nd Place NL Central, 6.0 GB)
St. Louis at the deadline
It’s been more good than bad for the Cardinals, but St. Louis has experienced a season similar to that of the Rangers. Playing just above .500 baseball, the Cardinals’ chances were mostly offset by a poor first month and a half of the season. This included a seven-game losing streak at the start of May. Following that stretch, the Cardinals have won more than any team in the National League. After a May 11th loss to the Brewers, St. Louis has gone 38-27.
St. Louis’ starting pitching is where they will look to upgrade. With just two days until the deadline, one of their targets could be right across the field. Nathan Eovaldi, whose contract expires after this season, would make a nice addition to a staff that features Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.
Eovaldi wouldn’t need to be the staff ace and would be among veteran company with a team competing to play in October. But Eovaldi’s availability is pending the Rangers’ own decisions on what to do by Tuesday.
In June, St. Louis starters pitched to a 4.02 ERA, but their relievers were among the best in the game with an ERA of 2.81. Since the calendar turned to July, however, Cardinals’ starters have put up a 5.43 ERA and the relievers are posting a 4.14 ERA. The Cards are just one game back of a Wild Card spot right now, so grabbing an arm to bring the pitching staff back under control could be just the ticket to helping a lineup that has been plenty good enough to power them through.
Since the break, St. Louis has taken a series from the Atlanta Braves, but they’ve also lost consecutive series to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals. The Rangers are the second team in a stretch of 16 games in 16 days for the Cardinals – by the time Tuesday’s game comes around, both teams could look drastically different.
The matchups
Game 107, 6:45 PM CT - RHP Nathan Eovaldi (7-4, 3.31 ERA) vs. RHP Andre Pallante (4-4, 3.92 ERA)
Game 108, 6:45 PM CT - RHP Max Scherzer (2-3, 3.57 ERA) vs. RHP Lance Lynn (5-4, 4.17 ERA)
Game 109, 1:15 PM CT - LHP Andrew Heaney (4-10, 3.77 ERA) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (10-6, 3.79 ERA)
The current slate of Rangers’ pitchers has Eovaldi, Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney set to take the mound in St. Louis. Eovaldi, should Texas general manager Chris Young and the Rangers’ front office choose to sell, could be pitching in his last game in a Rangers’ uniform. His last start against the White Sox was a vintage Eovaldi start – 10 strikeouts and just two runs surrendered with no walks across seven innings. That’s the kind of outing that will get teams calling about the veteran, but the Rangers would love for the team to do enough to keep the World Series-clinching winning pitcher around.
Scherzer’s last start was also impressive, going six innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts as he moved beyond 3,400 career Ks into 10th place all-time in league history.
Scherzer likely won’t be on the trading block, as he has a full non-trade clause and hasn’t indicated a willingness to be moved, but he’s also been vocal with his teams in the past about wanting to win. His voice is a strong one as the Rangers decide what to do at the deadline.
Andrew Heaney has also made himself more attractive at the trade deadline. Even though he’s coming off one of his poorer outings in recent months, four runs in five innings against the Blue Jays, Heaney’s had a far better season than expected after being moved to the bullpen by the end of the year last season. His record may not indicate it due to a lack of run support and not pitching deep into games, but Heaney’s been a valuable member to this Rangers’ rotation that hasn’t yet been at 100%.
The Cardinals will begin the series with recent rotation addition Andre Pallante. Pallante was transitioned into a starter in late May and has now made nine appearances as both a starter and a reliever. His last outing was against the Pirates, where he scattered three hits and gave up just one run in six innings; a true accomplishment after a near 30-pitch first inning. As a starter, Pallante is 4-3 with a 3.42 ERA and is averaging 5 ⅔ innings per start.
The Cards follow that up with Lance Lynn and Sonny Gray. Lynn, the former Ranger, re-signed with his original club before this season. He most recently pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and three walks. He’s posted one of the highest WHIPs of his career at 1.39, but is still a bulldog, giving the Cards a decent supply of innings nearly every time out.
Gray, who was touted as the team’s ace after signing with St. Louis over the winter, has been having a very rough July. The 2023 American League Cy Young runner-up has given up 18 runs across four starts, for an ERA of 6.75 with opponents hitting .330 against him. His progression downwards is one of the reasons that St. Louis is looking for supplemental starting pitching help at the deadline.
The cards (no pun intended) are subject to change. Tuesday could bring about a world of change for both the Rangers and Cardinals, who are treading water in similar situations. The biggest difference is that the Rangers have starting pitching help coming around the corner without the need to make trade additions.
Texas has already made a couple of moves by acquiring an offensive upgrade at catcher and moving a superfluous starter. On Sunday evening, Texas announced the acquisition of backup catcher Carson Kelly from the Tigers. Kelly’s been enjoying his best offensive year of his career, slashing .242/.327/.393.
In addition, on Monday, the Rangers shipped rotation member Michael Lorenzen to Kansas City with injured Tyler Mahle nearing a return. Lorenzen made 18 starts for Texas as they navigated pitching injuries throughout the first half of the season. However, with Mahle expected to make his debut soon, and with Jacob deGrom ramping up his rehab efforts, Lorenzen was deemed expendable. In return, Texas acquired left-handed reliever Walter Pennington from the Royals.
That combination of moves would seem to indicate that Texas is leaning toward buying but with the potential to do some selling as well.
Do you think the Rangers will close out July with a series win in St. Louis? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
