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4 Things the Texas Rangers must do to make the playoffs

The Texas Rangers enter September in the mix for the AL West and the wild card for the first time since 2016. Here is what needs to happen for them to extend their season deep into October.

ByMichael Sanders|
Minnesota Twins v Texas Rangers
Minnesota Twins v Texas Rangers | Tim Heitman/GettyImages
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#4 Win Baseball Games

Process is important, and routine is important, but as we get to the end of the season results are ultimately what is most important. This team has to find a way to win baseball games. It is as simple and hard as that. This team is stocked with veterans that have been through tough pennant races. They have players such as Seager and Scherzer that have World Series rings. They have players like Jordan Montgomery that have played on the biggest stages in New York and St. Louis. They have players like Aroldis Chapman who have been called upon in the most difficult of situations and come through. They have players like Will Smith who has closed out a World Series.

Texas needs to take that knowledge from these veterans and use it to help this team be able to come together and win games. The teams they are competing against have that postseason experience. Seattle is in their third straight season of making a September playoff push. Houston has been a postseason regular since 2015. Toronto has been in the playoffs or making a September playoff push in every season since 2020. They all know what it will take to get to October.

Texas is still learning how to do this as a unit and unfortunately, with a leaky bullpen, it makes winning that much more difficult. If Texas is going to make the playoffs they are going to need the bullpen to do their job when called upon, they are going to need the offense to come through with timely hits, and the starting rotation to pitch deep into games. The formula to win baseball games is tried and true and is as old as the game itself. The teams that are championship contenders have figured out how to apply that formula to their squads.

Texas is still working to figure it out. The individual knowledge of what it takes is immense on this team, but they have not gone through this as a team. Next season this team will be better for having gone through this in 2023. 2024 can wait though as this team is still in the hunt for a playoff spot this season. This team despite a terrible bullpen and an all-or-nothing offense has a chance to really surpass preseason expectations by making the playoffs. Texas could spend October on vacation or in the playoffs. It is on them to do everything they can so that their season goes well past the end of September.

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