Power rankings tumble is latest slap in the face for Rangers

ESPN's new power rankings on Monday accurately reflects the tough week it was to be the Texas Rangers.

After dropping five of the seven games and struggling to push runs across the plate, the Rangers record has dipped below the .500 mark and 17-18 and sit four games back of the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

The Rangers took a precipitous slide in the rankings, and deservedly so, going from 10 to 16 and in the bottom half of the league. aside from a couple of outlier games that saw significant offensive output, the Athletics and Mariners pitching staffs had their way with the Rangers hitters. Scoring runs has proven to be difficult so far this season, but over the last seven days, it has been more like pulling teeth.

If it wasn't for some solid starting pitching, things would have been much worse and the team could have slid even further, but the team is wasting the top-notch efforts from starters like Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle.

It's no secret what is ailing the ballclub as in the seven-game homestand, they scored just 32 runs, and 28 of those came in two games where the Rangers singled their opponents to death. In the other 5 games they could muster just four runs with tallies of 1,1,0 and 1. It was truly some hideous offensive baseball, and as a result, President of Baseball Operations Chris Young decided to shake things up.

Offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker was relieved of his duties, Leody Taveras was placed on outright waivers, Evan Carter is set to be recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday and former big leaguer Bret Boone was hired to replace Ecker.

We'll see if these handful of significant roster moves and coaching changes will make a difference and hopefully accompany a rise in the rankings, and more importantly, put the Rangers' hitting woes behind them so they can rack up some more wins going on the road to Boston and then Detroit this week.