Rangers have to take advantage of dashed Astros offensive reinforcement hopes

If the Texas Rangers don't catch and surpass the Houston Astros in the AL West pennant race, they certainly won't have any excuses. The Astros aren't a very good team, and they were just hit with another piece of bad news regarding Carlos Correa.

The longtime Astro, who returned to the team last season, was really hoping that he would be ready for the end of the season and a possible postseason run. He was officially shut down for the rest of 2026 on Tuesday, and the Rangers have to take advantage of the latest blow to their in-state rival and make a final push to overtake them and get a shot at the playoffs.

Carlos Correa's misfortune could help the Rangers make a late-season surge

Correa, 31, tore the peroneus brevis tendon in his left ankle in May, a tendon that helps stabilize the outside of the ankle. He had surgery on the ankle and has been rehabbing all summer, hoping to help his team hold onto the slim 1-game lead. They do own the tiebreaker over the Rangers, so it is essentially a two-game lead.

Houston manager Joe Espada shared with local reporters that there was no setback (although other outlets reported new inflammation), but the heavy workload needed to be in game shape was too much for a season with less than two weeks left.
Correa was hitting .279 with an 827 OPS over 32 games and 122 at-bats before being shelved.

No one wants to see the misfortune of another athlete help your cause, but it is yet another bit of hope for a Rangers team that has struggled to get to and stay at or above .500 for the entire 2026 campaign. Outside of Yordan Alvarez, the Astros do not have a hitter with an OPS over .800. Additionally, other than stumbled-upon treasure starter Peter Lambert, they don't have any pitchers with at least 100 innings pitched.

They are ripe for the taking, but the question remains whether the Rangers are even good enough to take advantage of all the Astros' warts. They have owned the AL West for the last decade, and the Rangers haven't won the division since 2016. Unless they can get some consistency against the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Mets, and Twins to close out the regular season, it will be an 11-year drought.

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