Texas Rangers potential playoff schedule released

The Texas Rangers currently sit in first place in the AL West and are three games in front of the Houston Astros. They have 48 games and a little under eight weeks until the regular season ends. It is not too early to start looking ahead to October. On Tuesday, MLB released the entire postseason schedule, specific game times will not be released until matchups are determined at the end of the regular season. Here is an overview of the dates for each round.

A potential Red River Rivalry and AL Division Series weekend

It has been a few years since Texas was last in the postseason and so a reminder of how the postseason now works. Texas will finish the regular season on Sunday, October 1st. If they are the division winner and have a better record than the Central division champion they will advance directly to the AL Division Series and await their opponent who will be taking part in the Wild Card best of three series.

That could set up a red weekend in the Metroplex. The annual Red River Rivalry game will be taking place at the Texas State Fair on Saturday, October 7th. If the Texas Rangers win the division they will be beginning their division series on the same day. OU will be looking to avenge their 49-0 loss last year and the Rangers could potentially be looking to win their first home playoff game since the 2011 World Series.

This scenario would give Texas five days off after the regular season. We saw last year in the first iteration of this playoff format that the long rest was more of a detriment to the teams that had earned it. The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers were both upset in the division series after both won more than 100 games in the regular season. It will be on Bochy and the coaching staff to make sure the team gets rest, but also is remaining sharp. That is if they win the division.

If Texas fails to win the division

There is another scenario that could happen if Texas falls apart and loses the division lead and that is they end up as one of the three wild cards. If they finish as the first or second wild card they will likely be matched up with the AL East runner-up. If they finish as the third wild card they will be facing the AL Central division winner. In reality, if they lose the division the best scenario for them to advance is to end up as wild card number 3 and face the Central division winner.

Here is how the daily schedule breaks down through all four rounds.

We are still several weeks away from knowing if Texas will make the playoffs, where they will be seeded, and who they will be playing. We do know what days they will be playing and so put that in your calendar and be prepared to buy tickets when they are made available. Lets hope that Texas can end that six-year playoff drought and make a run deep into October or even into potentially November.