Short-Handed Rangers Refuse to Bow Out of the AL West Race

The Texas Rangers were supposed to have faded by now. A club with a pedestrian 71-73 record, a -44 run differential, and an injury list longer than a Texas summer heat wave has no business being two games behind the Houston Astros with 18 games left in the season. And yet, as the Rangers open a critical road stretch Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park against Seattle, the AL West race remains stubbornly within reach.

How are they doing it? By clinging to a roster held together by string, duct tape, and whatever fresh arms can be found on the waiver wire.

The most recent addition was veteran right-hander Trevor Williams, inked to a major-league deal at the start of the month after being released by Washington. Williams isn't a headline grabber, but he's exactly the kind of depth piece a staff in crisis needs. The Rangers rotation has been operating shorthanded since Nathan Eovaldi went down with right posterior elbow inflammation, a 15-day IL stint for a pitcher who has been their most reliable starter when healthy. Eovaldi's line — 10 wins, a 4.21 ERA, and 137 strikeouts in 132.2 innings over 22 starts — underscores just how much Texas is missing on the mound.

The bullpen is no healthier. Jack Leiter is on the 60-day IL, Jalen Beeks and Cole Winn are shelved, and the relief corps has compiled a 4.93 ERA while being asked to cover more innings than expected. Other position players on the shelf include Josh Jung (10-day IL, neck spasms) and Kyle Higashioka, not to mention a season in which Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Evan Carter have each spent significant time on the injured list at various points. A Lone Star Ball piece this week described the situation bluntly: the Rangers have survived despite their best players being unavailable for long stretches.

That's what makes this push so remarkable — and so fragile.

Texas closed last week by splitting a four-game set with the playoff-bound Rays, taking the opener 6-0 and the finale 8-6 while dropping the middle two. That came on the heels of a modest 5-7 stretch over their last dozen games, a record that looks pedestrian on paper. But consider what the Rangers have been dealing with in that same window. Their team ERA sits at 4.37 on the season, but over the last ten games it has ballooned to 4.98. Their offense is batting just .245 overall but has shown late-game pop, putting up .811 OPS over their last five contests.

There were also welcome signs of reinforcements on the horizon. FanSided reported this week that Josh Jung took a significant step in his recovery while Eovaldi threw a 40-pitch bullpen session — a precursor to a live session and eventually, perhaps, a limited return to the rotation. Leiter continues to work through his rehab as well.

The key variable down the stretch is whether any of those arms can actually contribute. If Eovaldi can give the Rangers even a handful of quality innings in late September, it would transform a rotation that has been stretched beyond its limits. If Jung can reclaim his spot at the hot corner, it would lengthen a lineup grading out at .727 OPS.

Given the club's struggles in one-run games — they're 18-25 in such contests this season, a disastrous mark for any playoff hopeful — Texas has no margin for error. Every game the Rangers drop from here could be the one that seals their fate, and the schedule doesn't offer any favors: a date with Seattle awaits.

The oddsmakers are skeptical about their World Series chances, listing Texas at roughly 55-1. But the Rangers have been counted out before this season, finding themselves 11 games out of the division at one point only to claw back to contention.

The trainer's room isn't empty, but for the first time in weeks, several players are actually walking out of it. Whether they arrive in time may determine whether this improbable late-season push turns into something more.