Texas Rangers Remain in Top Half of FanSided MLB Power Rankings

In this week’s edition of the FanSided Power Rankings, the Texas Rangers have finally remained motionless. The team has been steadily climbing the rankings for several weeks but remain in the 15th spot this week. Here’s what was said about the Rangers this week:

"Joey Gallo gets all the press, but how about some respect for rookie Chi Chi Gonzalez. Making his first two Major League starts, the 23-year-old has thrown 14.2 scoreless innings and surrendered just five hits. Granted, his K/BB rate is is a meager 0.57 mark, but fellow starter Nick Martinez has been getting by on low strike-out marks as well.-Kyle Franzoni"

There were many high points this week, highlighted by a strong starting rotation and some solid hitting performances. Notably Gonzalez and Martinez who combined to give up just one run in 13 innings. Veterans Wandy Rodriguez and Yovani Gallardo combined to give up 2 runs in their last starts over 13.2 innings. As a team, the Rangers have a 3.57 ERA in the first 11 games of June and have kept batters to hitting just .230/.289/.348 against them.

Offensively, the Rangers had some solid performances from players such as Mitch Moreland, Leonys Martin, and Joey Gallo. As a team, they have hit  .272/.345/.398 in the month of June with an OPS of .743 which is good enough for 11th in the league.

More from Nolan Writin'

• Framework for a potential Max Fried trade to the Texas Rangers
• Early 2023 MLB mock draft has Texas Rangers selecting an Ohtani-lite
• 3 Texas Rangers outfield trade targets not named Bryan Reynolds
• Did Jacob deGrom really mean what he said at his Texas Rangers press conference?
• Where do Texas Rangers prospects Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker stand after the DeGrom signing?

The low points for the week include struggles from the bullpen and more struggles from Colby Lewis who gave up six runs over 14 innings. The Rangers could look for a replacement from a trade for a pitcher or pull one from down in the farm system. A possible option from the Round Rock Express could be Anthony Ranaudo, who has a 7-1 record with a 2.45 ERA in his 11 starts. While he is getting closer to a return, Matt Harrison has a 7.2 ERA in his first two rehab starts, having given up eight runs in his 10 innings.

Taking a look around the American League West, the Houston Astros are 13 spots above the Rangers in the number 2 spot even though they have lost 8 of their last 10 games and are just 1.5 games ahead. The Los Angeles Angels have lost 6 of their last 10 but have won their last three. They dropped two spots from 12 to 14 and are just one spot ahead of the Rangers. The Rangers are one game ahead of the Angels in the standings. Having also lost 6 of their last 10 games, the Seattle Mariners drop four spots from 18 to 22 and are 5 games behind the Rangers. The Athletics remain in the 27th spot after losing their last two games. The Athletics managed to take 2 of 3 from the Rangers but remain 9 games behind the Rangers and 10.5 games behind the Astros.

Next: Texas Rangers June 13 Week in Review: Who's Hot, Who's Not