Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Still got some work to do
Well, the Texas Rangers learned this past weekend that they still have some work to do before becoming the top team in the American League. The Tampa Bay Rays proved why they are the top dog in the American League right now, taking two out of three games from the Rangers. They were able to get out to early leads on Friday and Sunday, leaving the Rangers trying to play catch up. There is still a lot of games to be played this season, so for now the Rangers need to keep calm. They have a big homestand starting tonight against the Los Angeles Angels and followed by one versus the Toronto Blue Jays.
Texas Rangers promo: Dallas Stars night at the ballpark
Dallas Stars' fans invaded the ballpark on Tuesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals for Dallas Stars night. Fans that purchased their theme night tickets ahead of time were able to receive a Nathaniel Lowe Blackout Jersey. Dallas Stars player Jason Robertson threw out the first pitch to Lowe, which was a tad high but over the strike zone. You can see his first pitch below.
Corey Seager milestone against Rays
Corey Seager set another career milestone on Saturday against the Rays. It was the first time in his career that he had a 5 hit game in MLB. He hit three singles, a home run, and a double on Saturday. Since he has come back from a hamstring injury, he has been making up for lost time. It stinks that he probably won't make the All-Star game in Seattle this year due to that injury.
Huge names at the ballpark this week
As I mentioned above, there will be some big names at Globe Life Field this week. Monday through Thursday we will have Shohei Ohtani and the Angels in town for a four-game series. Monday night the Rangers will be giving away an MLB Network hat for those who attend. Friday through Sunday, Bo Bichette and the Toronto Blue Jays will be in town. Friday night is the Jacob deGrom City Connect Bobblehead giveaway. Make sure to be there early to receive yours.
Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Who's Hot
Corey Seager
Seager is continuing to impress Ranger fans, especially coming off of that hamstring injury that he had at the start of the season. Over the last week, Seager has had 11 hits for seven runs batted in and 2 home runs. Seager continues to be a huge factor in the Rangers lineup. I know Rangers' manager Bruce Bochy is very happy with the way he is playing. Let's see how Seager does against the Angels and Blue Jays this week.
Josh Sborz
The reason why Josh Sborz is on the Who's Hot List this week is due to his performance in Tampa Bay over the weekend. The Rangers needed him to come into the game and give them a solid eighth inning to set up Will Smith for the ninth. Well, Sborz decided to shock Ranger's Twitter and strike out the entire side in the eighth inning. He has really improved his game as the season has gone along. Let's hope that he is capable of keeping this up.
Jack Leiter
To no one's surprise, Leiter continues to strike out batters down in Double-A, with the Frisco RoughRiders. He pitched five innings against the Corpus Christi Hooks on Sunday and dominated. He only walked two batters and struck out seven. Of the 80 pitches he threw, 50 of those were strikes. I think someone is about ready for a promotion up to Triple-A to join the Round Rock Express.
Texas Rangers Weekly Report: Who's Not Hot
Jacob deGrom
We found out this week why Jacob deGrom has been on the IL for so long. On Tuesday it was announced that deGrom would have Tommy John surgery, thus ending his 2023 season. He will be out for the remainder of this year and most of next season as well. You can see how emotional he is at the press conference announcing the injury. I was hoping that he was going to come back and make this starting rotation one that the entire league fears. The Rangers are going to have to find a way to replace the production he brought to the team.
Martin Perez
I'm sure Martin Perez would like a redo of Sunday's game if he could. Four straight singles to start the game was probably not what he imagined happening. He gave up ten hits and seven earned runs in his start Sunday in Tampa. I don't know what is going on with him when he pitches on the road recently. It feels like we are watching the complete opposite of the Perez that we see at Globe Life Field. He's got to figure out how to get back to winning on the road quickly since DeGrom is out for the season.