Unsung Rangers' utility man is quietly having a monster August

Not much has gone right for the Rangers as they have faded from playoff contention over the past two weeks. The team now finds itself a full five games out of the final American League Wild Card spot with just 31 games left to play.

But don't tell utility man Ezequiel Duran that the season is likely over. The often forgotten end-of-the-bench jack of all trades has blown up in August and is making a push to be the Rangers' player of the month.

Duran is hitting over .400 in August

In what had previously been a season to forget for Duran that saw him hit below the dreaded Mendoza Line for the first 4 months, he has found his groove.

In August, Duran is 16-for-39, good for an average of .410. In just three weeks, he has raised his batting average from .146 to .228 and while most of his damage has come in the way of singles, Duran is consistently registering exit velocities over 100 mph and barreling the ball at an astounding rate.

If he continues to make that kind of contact, he has shown the ability to hit for more power, and it will come. As evidenced by his frozen rope, two-RBI double in Saturday night's 10-0 win over Cleveland.

Duran got off to a red hot start in August, and has kept it going

From August 1 to August 9, Duran went 9-for-15 (.600) and has continued to perform well over the past two weeks going 7-for-24 (.292) with three doubles and two stolen bases.

For the month, Duran has an impressive slash line of .447/.500/.947 and has forced manager Bruce Bochy into giving him more playing time as guys like Josh Jung and Josh Smith have fallen off in recent weeks.

Now that Marcus Semien has hit the IL for just the second time in his career, Duran will likely be inserted into the starting lineup on a daily basis for the foreseeable future. A guy like Duran will be looking to continue his terrific play as he is consistently just a few bad months away from losing his spot on the roster.