ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers are a team in search of answers. Despite being the reigning World Series champions and having retained most of their roster from last year, Texas hasn’t found the same success that they enjoyed last season thus far.
As the season approaches its mathematical halfway point, and with the trade deadline coming shortly after that, the Rangers could still be buyers if they’re not yet ready to punt on their title reign, but what kind of buyers remains to be seen.
Pitching help appears to be around the corner, and the back end of the bullpen has been a strength for the most part. The offense, however, has remained the biggest mystery of the 2024 season and Texas is hoping that a team like the Kansas City Royals may help them finally get back on track.
Kansas City Royals (42-34, 2nd Place AL Central, 6.0 GB) @ Texas Rangers (34-40, 3rd Place AL West, 8.5 GB)
Previously, for Kansas City…
Kansas City comes to town on the tail end of a road trip and in the middle of a stretch of 13 games without a day off. They now arrive in Arlington having lost three of their last four series to fall off their torrid pace to start the season a little.
The Royals just left Oakland, where they most recently faced the Rangers’ division rival Athletics and lost the series, being outscored 14-9. Prior to that, they lost a series to the Dodgers – outscoring Los Angeles 10-9, but getting shut out in the finale. They also lost three of four to the Yankees, with New York crushing Royals’ pitching and scoring 28 off KC.
One of the concerns with the Royals’ pitching staff has been how many walks they’ve given up. At 56 for the month, that puts them at sixth-most in the American League. The number of walks combined with being fourth lowest in strikeouts, has driven up the pitch counts. They haven’t been able to put hitters away, with opposing batters putting up the fifth-highest average against the Royals with two outs at .243.
Over the month of June, the Royals have traded places back and forth with the Minnesota Twins for second place in the division behind the Cleveland Guardians. The month of June has not been nearly as kind to them as the previous two months – they went 17-11 in each of April and May, but in June, they’re 7-10 and being outscored by 21 runs so far.
The Royals’ bats have maintained their output for the most part, but it has been the pitching that has deflated KC over the last few weeks. Their bullpen ranks last in the American League in strikeouts, and second last in opponent’s batting average. While the Rangers are trying to find their championship form again, the Royals are looking to regain footing after stumbling to start the month of June.
What to watch for
Game 75, 7:05 p.m. CT - RHP Brady Singer (4-4, 3.39 ERA) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (3-3, 3.15 ERA)
Game 76, 3:05 p.m. CT - TBD vs. TBD
Game 77, 1:35 p.m. CT - RHP Alec Marsh (5-4, 4.37 ERA) vs. TBD
Unlike Texas, the Royals know who will be starting and ending the series against the Rangers. Starting it on Friday will be righty Brady Singer, who gave up just one run in six innings against the Rangers back in early May. June has not been kind to Singer, however, as he’s allowed 11 runs in 15⅓ innings spanning three starts. In that time he’s also given up 21 hits.
Finishing off the series will be Alec Marsh, the righty who has had more downs than ups this season. Marsh did not face Texas earlier in the year, but last time out, against Oakland, he gave up seven runs in three innings. For the month, he’s given up 16 runs over 20 innings in four starts, including a whopping 22 hits.
The middle game could see the return of veteran righty Michael Wacha from off the injured list. Wacha is recovering from a foot fracture that happened as a result of a comebacker. That line drive happened early in a game on May 31 and Wacha stayed in the game and pitched 5.1 innings. His rehab outings have gone well, though, putting him in line to start on Saturday. Wacha faced Texas on May 4, giving up seven runs on nine hits in 3⅔ innings.
Beyond Nathan Eovaldi in the opener, the Rangers don’t have an established rotation for the weekend. Eovaldi, against division leader Seattle last time out, was not at his best. He gave up four runs on four hits in three innings. It was just his third start after coming back from the IL which limited his pitch count; his other two outings went well, with a start against the Giants being among his best of the season.
The rest of the Rangers’ starting rotation hinges on whether Max Scherzer is ready to go or not. Scherzer has not pitched in a Major League game since Game 3 of the World Series, a game that Texas would eventually go on to win. In that game, it was thought that he strained his shoulder, but MRIs would reveal a herniated disc in his back. Scherzer underwent surgery at the start of 2024 and has made a couple of rehab starts since.
He was on his way earlier than expected in May, but thumb soreness on his pitching hand set him back. Assuming he passes the final checks and feels fine, Scherzer could be the starter on Saturday.
With the Royals’ pitching scuffling a little and the Rangers’ offense seemingly perking up after two games of scoring at least five runs in the series against New York, Texas has an opportunity to start stringing together some wins to help gain some ground in the AL West where they now have to jump the Houston Astros as well.
Do you think the Rangers can end their homestand with a series win against KC? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
