Texas Rangers: 5 obstacles Texas had to overcome to make the playoffs

#5 Corey Seager Hamstring Injury

This happened very early in the season. It was back on April 11th against the Kansas City Royals. Seager was off to a flaming hot start at the plate. He had a .359 batting average, with one home run, and four doubles. The play it happened it appeared that he was on his way to his first triple of the season. He went down with the injury and then was placed on the IL the next day. He would go on to miss the next month.

Texas was losing their best hitter, a good defender at short, and their best overall player. They could have went into the tank and really fell far behind Houston and Seattle. They did not. Josh Smith initially filled in at short, but then Ezequiel Duran stepped up and took over and provided the production that Texas was missing from Seager. Duran continued that hot hitting until the All-Star break. Texas instead of losing actually continued winning. They were 7-4 when he was placed on the IL and then were 26-16 when he came back off the IL.

The fact that Texas is playing into October is due partially to how Duran was able to fill in at short in Seager's absence and help to keep this team afloat during that month.

Next: The unit on this team that has held this team back

#4 The consistent failures of the bullpen

There is a famous phrase that says, "you get what you pay for" and that is an apt description for the Texas Rangers bullpen. The last offseason they spent 1.5 million on bringing in free agent help by signing Will Smith a week before camp started. It was an absurd decision to not invest more in the bullpen not only in hindsight but in the moment as well. It has cost them several games. They have one of the lowest save percentages in all of baseball currently. They also have a historically low save percentage as a team. Evan Grant recently made note of this and how amazing it is that they actually have a winning record.

The bullpen is the one element of this team that has really held this team back. If they had just a slightly better bullpen they would have clinched the division days if not weeks ago.

Texas through sheer determination got back up each time the bullpen blew a game and came back the next day and did not let it deter their season. They never made a big deal of it and never got into a blame game and just kept on trying to play winning baseball every day. They were able to quickly flush failures and move onto the next day. That does not apply solely to the bullpen. It applies to the entire team. That mentality allowed the team to not be sunk by the consistent bullpen failures.

Next: An injury prone pitcher is lost for the season due to injury

#3 deGrom's Tommy John surgery

Jacob deGrom right before the Winter Meetings and after Thanksgiving shocked the baseball world when he chose to sign with the Texas Rangers. People could not understand why he would choose to come to Texas over say resigning with the Mets or playing close to home with the Atlanta Braves. Texas offered more money and more years than any other team would offer. Most teams were scared away because of deGrom's injury past. Texas was not worried though and swooped in to land this generation's best pitcher.

Injuries followed deGrom from the start of spring training and into the season. On April 27th he was removed from a start against the New York Yankees. It appeared to be an arm injury. It was diagnosed as inflammation. He rested for the entire month of May and then tried to rehab and throw bullpen sessions. Then on June 5th a day after being placed on the 60-Day IL it was announced that deGrom would need Tommy John surgery. That was a huge blow to the team as their big free agent acquisition and their ace would now miss the rest of the 2023 season and likely much of the 2024 season.

That news did not derail the team. Nathan Eovaldi pitched like a Cy Young candidate for much of the first half. Dane Dunning turned into the Rangers' second-best starting pitcher by season's end. Texas went and traded for Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery. This team just kept rolling right along as if nothing happened.

Credit to Mike Maddux and Bruce Bochy for working with what they have and using it to the best of their abilities. Credit to the pitchers on the staff for stepping up in deGrom's absence and trying their best to fill his shoes. Credit to Jonah Heim for being the defensive stalwart he is behind the plate as well as a game-caller for each of his pitchers. It has been amazing to watch everyone step up at different times and make sure that this team was not going to fall off. deGrom was right there in the middle of the celebration on Saturday night because of the rest of this starting staff and their ability to step up in deGrom's absence.

Next: A Rookie of the year candidate goes down with a fluke injury

#2 Josh Jung's Broken Thumb

Josh Jung is still in his rookie season. That is amazing since it does feel like he has already been on the team for five season. He started the All-Star game this season. He has been a terrific defender and was having one of the best offensive seasons among third baseman this year until he got injured. On August 6th against the Marlins Jorge Soler hit a 109.4 mph line drive that bent Jung's hand back and broke his thumb. It not only ended his attempt at winning the Rookie of the Year award, but it left a massive hole in the Rangers' lineup.

Ezequiel Duran unlike when Seager went down was not able to fill in effectively in the field or in the batters' box. He eventually ceded most of the playing time to Josh Smith. The team struggled in Jung's absence and at one point lost 16 of 20 games. The middle of the order suffered as Jung is one of the best-run producers on the team. Texas had to wait for Jung's thumb to heal and then for him to rehab. The team was just trying to survive long enough for Jung to come back.

Finally on Monday, September 18th it was announced that Jung would be returning to the active roster. Since Jung returned Texas has an 8-4 record and has jumped from third in the division to first and is now one win away from winning the division. It turns out Jung was one of the most important players on the roster. The team was missing Jung's defense and his bat. Since returning it has unlocked the offense and they have been just as productive as they were before his injury.

This team just held on for dear life through that terrible stretch. They were missing guys and now the reinforcements have come just in time to finish off the season strong. They are playing in a way that will allow them to be a hard out in October.

Next: Texas is swept at home in a massively important series

#1 The three-game sweep at home against the Astros

The trade deadline featured dueling trades of former Mets aces with the Rangers trading for Max Scherzer and the Astros trading for Justin Verlander. Immediately on trade deadline day of August 1st people started talking about the September series in Arlington between Houston and Texas. The hype continued to build throughout the month of August.

Finally, on Labor Day the duel between the two AL West powers commenced. Texas took an early lead midway through the first game, but the bullpen blew the lead and the Astros took command. Once they got a lead in game one of the series they did not look back. They won the first game 13-6, the second game 14-1, and the final game 12-3. Houston clearly wanted to make a statement. They left Texas reeling after the series. Houston took the tiebreaker in the overall season series and had a three-game lead in the division.

Texas was reeling at the time and Houston took advantage. They put themselves in position to win the division by putting Texas in the rear view mirror. Unlike in past seasons Houston could not put Texas or Seattle away. Their lack of success against Oakland and Kansas City will likely be what costs them the division title if Texas can win on Sunday.

The Texas Rangers did not fold on the season after what was the worst series of the season. They bounced back and took two of three from the Oakland A's and then took advantage of Houston's failures against Kansas City and Oakland by sweeping Seattle and putting a firm grip on the AL West. So many teams would have been sent on a tailspin after that series. I think that is all Bruce Bochy. This team has taken on the attitude of Bochy. That is one of being calm and consistent.

This team has survived each of these adverse situations because of Bruce Bochy. This team trusts his leadership and gives it their all every game for Bochy. This team has a chance to play deep into October because of Bruce Bochy. His experience in October with three previous World Series titles will help this team go through the high and lows that every October presents. Just a reminder it was not a lie on Saturday night the Texas Rangers will be playing in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

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