Texas Rangers: Waiting To See Who Round 1 Opponent Is

The Texas Rangers are enjoying a couple of days off before they start their first round of playoffs against one of the wildcard opponents in the Baltimore Orioles or the Toronto Blue Jays. There are several different dynamics between the Rangers facing both teams but ultimately the Rangers probably don’t have a preference who they face.

The Texas Rangers know they don’t have any control over who they play in the first round and they  have made it known that they feel confident no matter who it is. That’s exactly what the team with the best record in the American League should be saying. Looking at the overall stats against both teams this season, both matchups are quite similar but there is obvious bad blood with the Blue Jays.

Here are the batting stats for the Texas Rangers against the Orioles and Blue Jays throughout the 7 games played this year:

Vs. Baltimore

.265 AVG,  226 AB,  31 R,  60 H,  4 HRs,  .309 OBP

Vs. Toronto

.219 AVG,  233 AB,  21 R,  51 H,  7 HRs,  2.83 OBP

obviously the Rangers faired a little better against Baltimore than they did against Toronto offensively. That was reflected in the record against the teams as the Rangers went 4-3 vs Baltimore and 3-4 vs Toronto.

The pitching stats for the Texas Rangers against these two teams were similar as well:

Vs. Baltimore

4.57 ERA,  31 ER, 16 HRs,  16 BB,  56 Ks

Vs. Toronto

4.45 ERA,  31 ER,  9 HRs,  28 BB,  48 Ks

Now these stats are fun to look at but they may not reflect the teams as of late because the Rangers last faced Toronto in May and Baltimore beginning of August. The Rangers have obviously changed quite a bit personal wise since May with the addition of players like Carlos Gomez, Carlos Beltran, and Jonathan Lucroy.

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Baltimore has been the hotter team as of late while all signs point to Toronto possibly self imploding. There were talks that the starting pitching staff for Toronto had conducted closed meetings in which reporters observed them coming back into the clubhouse disgruntled. Not only that but there apparently were pictures of two reporters posted in the locker room with red x’s on them to remind players not to speak with those reporters.

The Texas Rangers will either take on that Toronto Blue Jay team in a series that may be filled with possible distractions or they will take on the “Rangers of the East” in the Baltimore Orioles. No matter who it is, the Rangers are focused on what they can control and that is the type of attitude that yielded them the number 1 seed in the A.L. for the first time in franchise history.

Next: Texas Rangers Secure Home Field Advantage For Playoffs

I have confidence in the Rangers and Jeff Banister, who would you like for the Rangers to see in the first round of the playoffs? Join the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter pages!