Rangers rotation faces the ultimate test against Aaron Judge and the Yankees

The Texas Rangers are coming off a successful homestand that saw the team go 5-2 combined against the Colorado Rockies and Houston Astros. The starting pitching continues to be among MLB's best, owning the 3rd-best ERA in the American League. Jack Leiter even got in on the action with 7 sparkling innings Sunday afternoon.

The Rangers' pitching staff and fans will get to see how good they really are this week in New York. The staff took care of business against two of the league's most offensively challenged teams this past week, but they will see something far more dynamic and dangerous as they take the field in The Bronx on Tuesday

Everything the Rangers have built on the mound gets put to the test starting now.

Led by the modern-day Babe Ruth, right fielder Aaron Judge, the Bombers have scored over 260 runs, which is the best on the junior circuit. Judge has been far and away baseball's most potent singular force at the plate, hitting over .400 and raking to the tune of a 1.241 OPS number.

In supporting roles, Paul Goldschmidt has turned back the clock a few years, hitting .341, Burleson, Texas-native Trent Grisham is taking advantage of that short right field porch, launching 12 homers already this season, and youngster Ben Rice is having a coming-out party of sorts with 9 long balls and 20 RBIs in 40 games.

So the Pinstripers are getting it from a variety of of places as they currently sit atop the AL East standings.

This means that if the Rangers' pitchers are going to have continued success as they set out on the road in the Big Apple, they will have to be sharp. DeGrom will have to have that nasty slider working low in the zone, Nathan Eovaldi will need to remain a three-pitch guy while being consistently around the plate, and Patrick Corbin, who will start the first game of the series, will need his full arsenal of off-speed pitches dropping just below the hitters' knees.

We have no reason to doubt that they will be up to the task as they have performed at an elite level through 49 games, but the level-up in competition will test them.