ARLINGTON, Texas — Don’t be fooled by the last place positioning for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Central. With the American League West being baseball’s weakest division in 2024, the Texas Rangers' .456 winning percentage on the year actually falls below the Pirates' .472 figure.
The Rangers will wrap up their current stretch of 13 games in 12 days and this homestand while licking their wounds after what has been a very fruitless second half.
Going into this series, Texas has been 3-7 during this stretch, having won exactly one game in each of their last three series. Despite an exciting walk-off victory in the finale against the Minnesota Twins, hope for a repeat World Series Championship has gone far out the window -- and hope for a playoff berth is right behind it.
The Rangers just don't appear to have the offensive firepower to support what has become mediocre pitching as the task of carrying the lineup all year long has finally caught up with Texas’ arms. Still, the games have to be played, and even with September right around the corner, there are still technically enough games remaining for the Rangers to make a run.
It has to start somewhere, though, and a strong showing in the last weeks of August would at least lift spirits for the stretch run.
Pittsburgh Pirates (58-65, 5th Place NL Central, 13.5 GB) @ Texas Rangers (57-68, 3rd Place AL West, 11.0 GB)
Pittsburgh after the deadline
The Pirates come into this series 13.5 back of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers, but they are only 7.5 back of an NL Wild Card spot -- although they do need to pass five teams to get to that last spot.
Compare that with the Rangers at 12.5 games out of playoff spot in the American League.
To Pittsburgh ownership, a vague sense of being near striking distance signaled that they could make a run for it without having to overpay in terms of prospects at the trade deadline. What the Pirates did -- something their fan base has been vocal about them doing in free agency -- is identify their needs and then address them with decent players at a decent price.
Last month, Isiah Kiner-Falefa joined a Pirates team studded with former Rangers like Martin Perez and Aroldis Chapman. Kiner-Falefa, as Rangers fans will remember, is adept at playing a multitude of positions. This season, he’s also been quite a valuable player at the plate, slashing .290/.334/.427, including his time with the Blue Jays.
Bryan De La Cruz also came over from the Marlins at the deadline to provide some much-needed consistent power from an outfield position. De La Cruz is on the verge of a 20-homer season and is tasked with trying to balance out an underperforming Pirates outfield.
Pittsburgh also only had one lefty specialist in the bullpen, and that was Chapman. In need of something a little more useful in non-save situations, the Pirates got Jalen Beeks from the Mets and Josh Walker from the Pirates. Beeks, especially, has been a strong pickup for Pittsburgh, having held lefties to a sub-.200 average.
The Pirates are a team that still has a lot to fight for, despite being in the cellar of the NL Central.
The matchups
- Game 126, 7:05 PM CT - RHP Luis L. Ortiz (5-3, 3.41 ERA) vs. RHP Dane Dunning (4-7, 4.92 ERA)
- Game 127, 7:05 PM CT - RHP Mitch Keller (10-7, 3.95 ERA) vs. LHP Cody Bradford (4-0, 3.50 ERA)
- Game 128, 1:35 PM CT - TBD vs TBD
The rotation for both of these ballclubs is a little in the air. The Pirates would have been set after the trade deadline, but Marco Gonzalez, the former Mariner who had just returned after three months on the injured list, hit the IL again with a forearm strain. That injury effectively shut him down for the rest of the season.
The Rangers also look like they will miss facing rookie phenom Paul Skenes in this series. The 22-year old Cy Young candidate last pitched on Friday, so the Pirates could use him in the finale on Wednesday, but they are also trying to limit his innings down the stretch -- so his start could be bumped.
Right now, the Pirates look to open with Luis L. Ortiz, who has had a bumpy August but pitched decently last time out. Against the Padres, Ortiz pitched five innings and gave up two runs but still managed to take the loss, as the Pirates were shutout.
Tuesday’s starter is Mitch Keller, who has pitched decently overall for the Bucs after a breakout 2023 campaign, but has been thoroughly roughed up over his last two starts. Against the Dodgers, Keller gave up seven runs in four innings, and against the Padres, he surrendered eight runs in five innings. With a Rangers’ offense that put up their first five-run inning in a while in Sunday’s finale against Minnesota, seeing Keller might be a welcome sight.
The Rangers come into Monday nearly undecided about their rotation for this series. With Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray and Max Scherzer still days or weeks away from joining the roster, Texas elected to tab Dane Dunning in Monday’s opener with Cody Bradford set to start on Tuesday night. Like Pittsburgh, the Wednesday finale remains a question to be answered later.
Dunning will get the start Monday, but he’s had a rough go of it lately, with his latest outing seeing him allow four runs to the Boston Red Sox in just five innings of work. Bradford, meanwhile, is riding a streak of two good starts in a row. The native Texan pitched six innings of two-run ball against the Twins over the weekend.
Entering the last couple weeks of August, the Rangers could use some good momentum going into a weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland.
But then again, momentum is not something that Texas has been able to sustain at any point this season.
Do you think the Rangers will open their homestand with a series win against Minnesota? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.