Rangers slugger plays August hero as playoff chase in rejoined in earnest

Now that the Texas Rangers are officially back in the playoff race, there's one player among others who deserves quite a bit of credit. No, that player isn't Marcus Semien. He's not Corey Seager. He's not Nathan Eovaldi. He's not even Jacob deGrom. The hero is the same guy who spent most of the first part of the season being derided and hated on by fans. Joc Pederson was the man the team needed in August, and he played a massive role in the team getting back into the race.

Pederson got off to a career-worst start to the year. There were all kinds of people wondering just what had happened. The insult turned to literal injury with a broken wrist, and he missed the better part of a couple of months.

Joc Pederson’s hot August fuels Rangers’ return to playoff contention

When he first came back, he showed flashes. And as August continued, the Texas Rangers slugger found his footing. For the month, Pederson slashed .286/.342/.600/.942 with 6 home runs and 15 RBI. He was feeling it so well that he even stole a base.

In one month, he hit three times as many homers as he had coming into August. It was the kind of turnaround he badly needed.

It was also the kind of turnaround the Texas Rangers badly needed. Now they'll have to hope Joc Pederson's hot streak continues to September and then that he's hot enough that the team will need him in October as well. Sitting 2.5 games out of the Wild Card, that seems more realistic than it has in a long time.