Four Reasons Why The Rangers Will Compete For A Playoff Spot

As spring training is getting started, there is little optimism surrounding the Texas Rangers fan base. But there are reasons to be optimistic. Let’s take a look at some of the players that could turn the outlook for the season around. If things go right, this team could even make a playoff push.

Here are four reasons why the Rangers will compete for a playoff spot in 2019:

Revamped Pitching Rotation

Mike Minor will likely be the only familiar face in the starting rotation on opening day. He was very solid for the team last season, and he’ll look to continue the tear he was on after the 2018 All-Star break (6-2 with a 2.97 ERA).

Lance Lynn is also going to be a part of the Rangers rotation. Although he’s coming off the worst year of his career, he did start to turn it around after being traded to the Yankees. He’ll make the Rangers very happy if he can return to his pre-2018 self, in which his career-high ERA was 3.78.

Edinson Volquez is getting ready for his MLB return after having Tommy John surgery. He deserves some optimism as well. Volquez said his arm is feeling great. Hopefully, that means he will continue doing what he was doing in 2017 when he posted a 4.19 ERA across 17 starts. You may recall one of those starts resulting in a no-hitter.

Drew Smyly is an interesting case, having not pitched since the 2016 season in his recovery from Tommy John. Smyly has been reliable throughout his career and has a respectable 3.74 ERA. If he can stay healthy, look for him to have a solid season for the club.

Shelby Miller is one of the low-risk, high-reward players that the Rangers have been going after the past few seasons, as he looks to complete his first full season since his Tommy John surgery in 2017 that cost him to miss the majority of that season, as well as most of 2018. He was a disaster in Arizona, having posted a 6.35 ERA there across 3 seasons full of injuries. Hopefully, the change of scenery can help him return to what he was with the Braves and Cardinals, where he posted a 3.22 ERA and was an All-Star in 2015.

Jesse Chavez is a familiar face for Rangers fans, as he was here for about half of the 2018 season before he was traded to the Cubs. Chavez was a reliever for all of last season, but the club could look at him as a starter if some of the other options don’t work out. Regardless, he will be a solid piece to either the bullpen or rotation.

There are also a plethora of young guys that could jump into the starting rotation, such as Jordan Romano, Brock Burke, Taylor Hearn, Ariel Jurado, Yohander Mendez, and Joe Palumbo. Any of those guys could make it into the starting rotation with a solid spring, or with good outings in the minors that force management’s hand to call them up.

Young But Experienced Lineup

The Rangers are not only going to have a pretty young lineup but one that is experienced as well.

With the expected Opening Day lineup of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Ronald Guzman, Rougned Odor, Asdrubal Cabrera, Elvis Andrus, Joey Gallo, Delino Deshields Jr., Nomar Mazara, and Shin-Soo Choo, the Rangers are only putting two players out there with less than two full seasons in the majors, in Kiner-Falefa and Guzman. Yet six of those players are 26 and under.

If the Rangers can get Odor, Kiner-Falefa, Cabrera, and Choo to continue doing what they were doing last season, see Joey Gallo hit around .225 with the same power and a decrease in strikeouts, get Mazara and Guzman to take the next steps, and then see Delino and Elvis return to their 2016 forms, the offense would be in fantastic shape.

The team also has Willie Calhoun on the bench, who took the off-season very seriously, and is coming into spring in great shape. If someone slips up or gets injured, Calhoun could step right in and take over their spot with a good spring.

ARLINGTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 21: The grounds crew returns to the field as a security guard pumps his fists as the Rangers are declared the winner during a rain delay against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Park in Arlington on September 21, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)

It’s baseball. Anything can happen.

Going into the 2015 season, the Rangers had just posted their worst record since 1994 and had very low expectations for the season. At the All-Star break, the team was 42-46 before they turned everything around, thanks primarily to the new life they found with the Cole Hamels trade. The 2018 Rangers won the same number of games as the 2014 Rangers, so we could all be in for a bit of a surprise this season.

The Rangers more than likely are not going to give the Astros that much of a challenge, even if they are contending for the playoffs. The Astros are just that good. But it’s completely possible that we can see the A’s and Rays take a step back, which could open the door for the Rangers to break into the playoffs and make a run.

And as the Royals showed us a few years back, if you are hot come October, you can make a run deep into the playoffs, and can even win the World Series, even if you don’t have as much talent as some of your opponents have.