Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Revenge of the injury bug
The Rangers have had several injuries to some key players as of late but are bringing in reinforcements via trades.
Before we get to all the latest Texas Rangers news, I would like to apologize for not doing a Rangers Weekly Report last week. For those who don't know, I run the Dallas Stars page on Fansided. We had some late-breaking developing news that I needed to attend to, so that's why we didn't have a Weekly Report last week.
This past week, for the Rangers, is one I would like to describe as terrible. The Rangers only won one game during this week's road trip and thank goodness it was against the Houston Astros. Nathan Eovaldi, Corey Seager, and Jonah Heim all went down with injuries and the rest of the team just decided not to play good baseball at all.
I don't even think I can do a Who's Hot or Who's Not Hot list this week because the team was so bad. I mean, the Rangers had a shot of at least tying the game Sunday during the top of the ninth inning and Josh Jung is chasing sliders down in the dirt on the first two pitches. The AL West lead is down to one game and thank goodness for the Tampa Bay Rays for holding off the Astros. The Rangers need to get it together quickly if they want to skip to the ALDS in the playoffs this season.
Texas Rangers trade deadline acquisitions
The Rangers made a couple of blockbuster trades for some pitching help this week. Let's start off with the huge one that kicked everything off when the Rangers traded for New York Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer. The Rangers traded one of their top prospects Luisangel Acuña to the New York Mets for Pitcher Max Scherzer and cash.
The Mets will be paying the remainder of Scherzer's contract except for $22.5 million. Scherzer will also be opting into the final year of his deal next year, which means he will be a Ranger through the 2024 season. It hurts to lose Acuña with his promising future. But Marcus Semien and Corey Seager blocked his path to making the major league roster in Texas. Rangers General Manager Chris Young is giving him a shot to make a major league roster before he's 29.
The next trade happened on Sunday where the Rangers traded for St. Louis Cardinals pitchers, Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton. In return, the Rangers send Thomas Saggese, Tekoah Roby, and John King to the Cardinals. Both Stratton and Montgomery are on expiring deals which is somewhat concerning, but if they do a great job for the remainder of the season, I don't see why Young would not try to keep them.
September 4th-6th may bring some fireworks to Arlington
After the only win this past week against the Astros, the last remaining series against the Astros this season might bring some fireworks. I'm sure you know which game I'm talking about. It is the one where Marcus Semien went off after getting hit in the ribs by Framber Valdez. Semien hit a home run during his next at-bat and that's when the offense decided to ignite for the Rangers.
As Semien crossed home plate during Adolis Garcia's grand slam, words were exchanged with Martin Maldonado, and the benches cleared. After the dust was settled, Semien and Maldonado were ejected from the game and the Rangers went on to win 13-5. All I know is to get your tickets for September 4th through the 6th when the Astros return to Globe Life Field. You might witness some "fireworks" between the two teams.
Texas Rangers Injury Updates
Nothing has changed for Corey Seager, as he is day-to-day with a sprained right thumb. He might need a rehab start or two down in Frisco when it's better. Knowing what kind of player Seager is, he will probably want to jump right into the lineup to preserve first place.
As for Eovaldi, he was just placed on the 15-day injured list as he's dealing with some elbow soreness. I know Rangers Twitter is holding their breath as Jacob deGrom had the same thing happen to him and now, he's out for the season. Eovaldi was supposed to pitch on Sunday against the Padres, but the Rangers decided to hold him out for just a bit longer to heal that elbow. If Eovaldi pitches again this season, he is joining a very deep pitching rotation with the latest pitchers acquired at the deadline.
Jonah Heim is probably the one injury to be really concerned about. He was placed on the 10-day injured reserve list as he has a wrist tendon injury. Heim is going to rest it and see if he can catch with it once he gets off the injured list.
If he can withstand the pain, he will hold off on getting surgery until the off-season. However, if it's so painful for him that he can't play, his season will be over as he will need to get surgery on his wrist. This would be such a huge loss for the Rangers as they look to go all in and make a run at winning the World Series this year.
He is one of the best framers in the league and is described as a pitcher's best friend. It will also be hard to replace his bat in the lineup as well. The Ranger's front office is praying very hard right now that he can continue to play the remainder of the season and help this team in their quest for the World Series.