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Rangers losing Jon Gray to IL was a lot more significant than fans might've realized

No injury is great, but Jon Gray's ailment couldn't have come at a worse time for the Rangers.
Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Nolan Writin'

Texas Rangers v Philadelphia Phillies / Tim Nwachukwu/GettyImages

Anyone who has followed the Texas Rangers this season knows that they must have some sort of curse on them when it comes to injuries. Getting Wyatt Langford and Nathan Eovaldi back from the IL this week was great, but they still have a lot of guys out on both sides of the ball.

One such injury befell Jon Gray last week when he was placed in the injured list with a groin issue. While the injury was described as mild, it couldn't have come at a worse time for the Rangers.

Not only had Texas been scuffling terribly before winning four of their last five, but Gray looked like he was working on a special season since the beginning of April.

Jon Gray's injury could derail his special run and halt Rangers progress

Given everything that has gone wrong for the Rangers this year, Gray had been a rare bright spot. Now, with Corey Seager finally waking up and trying to carry the offense, the Rangers have to go without a guy that was putting up ace-like numbers this year. Even if Gray is only out for the minimum 15 days (which is not a sure thing at all given how 2024 has gone), there is no guarantee that he will be able to capture that magic again.

Again, there are signs that Texas could actually be getting (more) healthy again soon. However, Texas really needed Gray to keep being the guy he was on the mound before he got hurt to climb out of the hole they had dug for themselves this year.

Instead, Rangers fans just have to hope that he can pick right up where he left off and dominate once he eventually returns. The problem with that kind of optimism is that that requires some good fortune, and the Rangers have decidedly lacked that this season. At some point, Texas has to have some things break their way, right?

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.