Could the Rangers sneak into playoffs with team of young core and waiver pickups?

In the last 15 days, the Texas Rangers have lost eight crucial impact players due to injury and with each passing blow, it seemed the hole they dug kept getting deeper and deeper.

Entering September, they are closest to a playoff spot that they've been since August 11 thanks to three straight series wins and a 8-2 record in their last ten games against the Cleveland Guardians, Los Angeles Angels and Athletics.

Relying on a scorching hot August from Wyatt Langford, Ezeqiuel Duran and Joc Pederson, as well as a few unexpected names, Texas is spitting distance from a playoff spot.

Rangers have leapfrogged back into the playoff conversation

After a sweep of the A's this weekend, Texas surpassed Kansas City in the wild card race and have delete a bit more of the distance from Seattle for the final playoff spot in the AL to just 2.5 games.

Before going on their most recent winning stretch on Aug. 22, the Rangers were sitting at a 7.3% chance to make the playoffs. Entering the Arizona series on Monday, Texas's playoff odds are at 14.3%.

Rangers largely relying on waiver claims, young core down stretch

While Pederson finally had a breakout month, Langford hit the ball well and we started seeing shades of 2023 Duran, the Rangers can owe a lot of their offensive success on some lesseer known names.

For example, in this 10-game stretch, outfielder Michael Helman has appeared in seven games and is not only hitting .316 but slugging .684 with two home runs, six runs driven in, three walks and six runs scored.

The 29-year-old Texas A&M Aggie was claimed off waiver by the Rangers back in May after being released by the Pirates. Helman is on his second major league stint with Texas, having been recalled on August 22 following the Evan Carter injury.

The most recent waiver claim pickup following Corey Seager's appendix injury is former Mariner Dylan Moore. In his first game with Texas on Saturday in Sacramento, the 33-year-old came into the game as a pinch hitter and went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer that capped off a 9-3 win.

As for the young core, Texas goes as they go. The two big names on that list are Wyatt Langford and Josh Jung. Both of whom have largely struggled this season but are no part of a crucial late-season resurgence.

Jung is on a seven-game hit streak and surprisingly plays the role of the glue that holds the offense together. Jung has been a major player in most of the team's big winning streaks this year, whether it was taking 7 of 8 in May, a six-game winning streak in July or this current streak.

On top of that, Langford finished August with a .287 average, five homers. 14 RBIs, 21 walks, 21 runs scored and a .945 OPS in 27 games. And thanks to a walk on Sunday stretched his on-base streak to 20 games.

It's important we don't fail to mention the dominance of the Rangers' pitching rotation that has an 8-0 record and a 1.60 ERA in the last nine games.

But it really is the young offensive core and contributions from players like Helman that has really been a fire for Texas lately, especially with the loss of eight important players, including Carter, Seager and Marcus Semien.