Texas Rangers news: All-Star voting update, Yankees series, current playoff odds

Texas Rangers advance five players to the second round of All-Star voting

The first round of All-Star voting has concluded, and the Texas Rangers have landed five players into the second round. To move on to the next round, a player had to finish in the top two for all positions, except outfield, where the top six vote totals advanced.

The Rangers that are moving on to the next round are, catcher Jonah Heim, second baseman Marcus Semien, shortstop Corey Seager, third baseman Josh Jung, and outfielder Adolis Garcia. Both Semien and Jung are leading their positions in votes. Just because a player makes it into the second round of voting is no guarantee that they will make the All-Star team. The vote winners in the next phase will become the starters with the balance of the position player roster being selected by a player vote and then the commissioner's office. The pitching staff for each league is chosen by the respective managers, who this year will be Dusty Baker (Houston) for the American League and Rob Thomson (Philidelphia) for the National League.

With five players advancing to round two, the Rangers are tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the most in the American League. It has been pointed out many times that the Blue Jays have an entire country voting for the them. While that is true, Texas used to be our own country and we tend to do things bigger in the Lone Star State. With that being said, we all need to do our part to vote in some very deserving Rangers.

Texas Rangers schedule versus the New York Yankees

Today marks the beginning of the 17 game, 17 day march to the All-Star break for the AL West leading Texas Rangers (46-28). After getting some much-needed rest in the city that never sleeps yesterday, the Rangers open a three-game series in New York against the Yankees (41-34).

The Yankees are without their best player, Aaron Judge, as he is currently on the IL with a toe injury that he sustained at Dodger Stadium earlier this month. While making a catch, Judge slammed his toe into the wall and has been out ever since. The Yankees are hopeful that he can make it back into the lineup before the All-Star break, but that is still not certain to happen.

With Judge out, the Bronx Bombers have been scuffling a bit in the month of June. They are 7-10 for the month, and dropped five of six, to their rival, the Boston Red Sox. Despite their slow month, if the season ended before play today, the Yankees would be in the playoffs. They are currently tied with the Houston Astros for the second and third wildcard spots, but only 0.5 game ahead of both the Los Angeles Angels and Toronto Blue Jays. Because of the torrid pace that the Tampa Bay Rays have been on all season, the Yankees find themselves 9.5 games out of first place in the AL East.

This will be the second, and last, regular season meeting between the two clubs. In the previous meeting that occurred at the end of April, the Rangers dropped the opening game to the Gerrit Cole led Yankees by a score of 2 to 4. Texas would bounce back however, and take the next three games, and thus the series, three games to one. The Rangers will again have to face the Yankees' ace Cole, as he is the probable starter for Sunday's game.

Texas Rangers current playoff odds per FanGraphs

One of my favorite things to check on most days during the season, is the section on FanGraphs for MLB playoff odds. Early on in the season these numbers can change quite dramatically just based on a single win or loss, but as the season really gets going, they become a bit more stabilized. However, a hot or cold streak can still have a massive influence on the odds that are given for a team to advance past the regular season.

Currently the Rangers have the second highest percentage chance in the American League to both make the playoffs and win the World Series. The Rays are obviously out front in both categories with a 98.9% chance to make the playoffs and a 14.2% chance to take home the piece of metal, as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred infamously called it.

Fangraphs currently has the Rangers odds of winning the AL West at 58.9% and securing a first-round bye at 55.6%. As for simply making the playoffs in some form or fashion, Texas is deemed to have a 82.7% chance of making the postseason. And what about that ever-elusive World Series title? Well, the Rangers check in with a 6.6% chance to win it all. In the National League only the Atlanta Braves (21%) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (11.1%) are sporting a higher chance of being champions. Nobody really thought that this club would be where they are at this point in the 2023 season. Baseball is fun, and it is even more fun when our Texas Rangers are in the mix in late June.