Rangers status as buyers isn't confirmed as offense falters with key bat on the shelf

The way this team has been up and down all season, it should come as no surprise that just when Texas Rangers fans thought the club had turned a corner and were all-in buyers, their bats go cold and they lose three in a row. Now, depending on what happens over the weekend in Houston, it is still very much up in the air whether the organization will still be buyers at the trade deadline on August 3.

And incidentally, the sudden offensive dry spell coincides with their most consistent contact hitter being out of the lineup. It's hard to ignore that since Josh Jung has been sidelined with a serious calf strain, the Rangers are struggling once again to score runs - particularly against left-handed pitching.

The Rangers are still not confirmed buyers since Josh Jung went down with an injury, and the offense is struggling without him

Rangers insider and DMN beat writer Evan Grant couldn't help but notice that Texas has struggled badly against the many left-handers they have seen since Josh Jung went down. In three games, they have mustered only four runs on 11 hits. The Rangers have now ceded first place to the suddenly red-hot Astros and are scrambling in the Silver Boot Series.

Jung has been the keystone in the lineup, hitting anywhere from second to fourth in the order with a .294/.361/.441 slash and 133 OPS+. He had been dominant against lefties, slashing .342/.441/.481 with an sOPS+ of 162. That is some serious production to have pulled out of the middle of the lineup.

The news surrounding Jung's return isn't good either. It was recently reported that he is "trending in the wrong direction" and is unlikely to be back this weekend for the key series at Daiken Park in Houston. Josh Smith was anemic as his replacement and has since been sent to Triple-A Round Rock to make room for Corey Seager's return from lower back inflammation.

In the meantime, it will be Ezequiel Duran who will be manning the hot corner. It will not be up to just him to get this offense headed in the right direction, as several Rangers bats have cooled off over the last four to five days, but if they want to be confirmed buyers with the deadline looming, getting the bats heated up in Josh Jung's absence would be a good place to start.

Chris Young has already struck a brilliant deal to bring in right-handed reliever Chase Silseth and backstop Logan O'Hoppe. He doesn't want to stop buying, but it is up to the guys on the field to give him the reason to keep adding players to fill the team's holes.

With that said, the Silseth-O'Hoppe deal landed Texas with two young, controllable players. In and of itself, it doesn't prove the Rangers are all in as buyers. If the series against the Astros continues to go off the rails, we could see the club pivot to sell once deadline day rolls around on Monday.

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