Over the 2022-23 offseason, the Rangers concentrated their attention and resources on the rotation. They signed Jacob deGrom, the biggest name on the market, and Nathan Eovaldi, a World Series champion and postseason hero. They re-signed Martin Perez, an 11-year veteran and a 2022 All-Star. They took a chance on the injury-prone Andrew Heaney, who flashed dominant strikeout stuff over the second half of the season.
Suffice it to say, very little went according to plan. deGrom went down at the end of April. Eovaldi looked like a Cy Young contender through the All-Star break, but a forearm strain ruined the second half of his season. Perez, meanwhile, struggled so badly through the first four months that he wound up in the bullpen after the trade deadline. Heaney was a similar case; he lasted longer in the rotation but never quite found his groove, and he landed in the bullpen in September. Jon Gray, who signed with Texas a year prior, was reliable for much of the season but suffered a forearm strain of his own in late September.
That’s a whole lot of misfortune for a team that still finished fifth in the AL in rotation ERA and FanGraphs WAR, not to mention a team that made the playoffs and swept its way to the ALCS. While the pre-season plan didn’t exactly work out, the Rangers made the best of some tough breaks with depth and aggressive trades at the deadline. Now, as they prepare to take on the Astros, the rotation could be as strong as it’s been since April.
Eovaldi has put his rough September far behind him with two phenomenal postseason starts. Across 13 2/3 innings, he has given up just two runs while striking out 15 and walking none. The righty is harkening back to his performance with the 2018 Red Sox, but even then, he was never quite as effective as he’s been over his last two outings.
Meanwhile, trade deadline acquisition Jordan Montgomery has been superb, pitching to a 2.79 ERA in August and September and a 3.27 ERA in the playoffs. While he has had a few rough starts, including his performance against the Orioles on Sunday, he has looked dominant more often than not, such as in his gem against the Rays last Tuesday.
Those two will lead the way in the ALCS, and with several off days between their victory last night and Game 1 on Sunday, the Rangers can set up their rotation however they’d like. That means Montgomery in Game 1, Eovaldi in Game 2, and no need to piggyback Heaney and Dane Dunning to open the series. In fact, Texas might not need to piggyback Heaney and Dunning at all.
Max Scherzer, another deadline addition for Texas, is approaching a preternatural return from a teres major strain. He seemed like a long shot for the playoffs until relatively recently, but he has been ramping up his throwing program in October, and now it looks like he could make the ALCS roster. As Evan Grant reported for The Dallas Morning News, the three-time Cy Young winner threw a simulated game on Wednesday, and he feels good about his chances to pitch against the Astros.
Grant had a similarly positive update about Gray, who plans to ramp up his rehab this week. He is not as far along as Scherzer, but he also didn’t miss as much time. If he gets back on a mound in the coming days, he, too, could be ready for the ALCS.
Neither Scherzer nor Gray is likely to pitch deep into a game. It’s a good thing, then, that manager Bruce Bochy has several converted starters in his bullpen. Not all of them will make the roster if Scherzer and Gray both return, but even so, the Rangers have plenty of options to pitch the middle innings. A rotation of Montgomery, Eovaldi, Scherzer, and Gray (with Heaney, Dunning, and Perez providing depth) should give Texas a chance to win every time out.
The starting rotation was supposed to be a strength for the Rangers this year. At the best of times, it has been just that, but more often than not, it’s been a large, looming question mark instead. The questions will remain until Scherzer and Gray actually take the ball, but all the same, this rotation is in a better place than it has been for quite some time.
Obviously… the lineup is the 2nd best in baseball, and a rotation with Montgomery, Eovaldi, Scherzer, and Dunning/Heaney/Gray would be a top rotation
Now, don’t ask about the bullpen. Chapman and LeClerc exist in case the offense and rotation don’t get them a 10 run lead. Beyond that… watch out
Chapman has been very shaky even when he throws a scoreless inning
If we pitch Chapman at all in this series we’re in trouble.
Their thing is mashing. If they mash, they have a chance against the Astros.
Placing a large wager on the stros so I’ll almost certainly be wrong!
But I have to believe that Texas’ bats cool down and their bullpen shows the cracks we’ve seen. Verlander & Valdez are the best 2 starters the Rangers have faced all postseason. I like the Stros back end of the bullpen a great deal as well.
houston will win another pennant because there’s no god and the universe stinks
Rangers could beat the Astors and if so what a Texas upset that would be!
Given how the Rangers spent the majority of the season in first place, I don’t think that would exactly be an upset.
Well, they came in 2nd place ultimately and they were only 4-9 against the stros. Stros are certainly the betting favorites.
Of course, Houston is a favorite. You are basically saying the sky is blue. Though Texas did have a bunch of injuries for guys who returned, Houston lost Alvarez and Altuve, amongst other top guys for quite some time. They have more talent. Texas was lucking out by being in 1st. The only upset was during the last series, when Texas had a magic number of just 2 for the West, with 4 left and 3 for Houston. A win is probably an upset, but not nearly as much as it was vs Tampa Bay.
Absolutely they are, I’m an Astros fan! I just don’t think it would be an “upset” of any kind of the Rangers pulled it off. They have a good team.
The betting favorite has only to do with how odds makers are managing betting patterns to maximize revenue. Which team is better right now? A very different question.
Yeah, this should be a fun series.
Rangers have 3 of the best in MLB…..the rest are a bunch of minor leaguers over performing. Worst BP in the playoffs by far too. That being said anyone can win and get hot at right time.
You are unaware of the roster. Seager and Semien have some of the highest WAR totals in MLB (if you are a stats person), and rheir RBIs, runs, homeruns, and batting average are elite. Eovaldi and Montgomery are well above average, as is Scherzer, plus Evan Carter has hit comparably to Juan Soto in his first 25 games, Garver has an .870 OPS this season, and Heim/Jung were All Stars. This is probably a troll seeking attention, but just in case you aren’t
bullen could be the rangers’ undoing. they’ll need to score early and often and hope the starters can be efficient with pitch counts
This is going to be a great series just because its Houston vs Dallas, but the star power on the Astros is legit top to bottom. They have SP, BP, the Bench, and Pos players covered. Whereas the rangers have the SP covered and only about 3 Position players only. The have n0 BP. The rest are just replacement players/AAAA guys over performing. Its baseball though so Rangers can get hot and win you never know.
I do love the passion that guys like @In Seager/Bauer We Trust has and the other Ranger fans there are only because they’ve been around for 50 years as an org and have nothing to show for it really. Kind of feel for them down in DFW because the Mavs , Stars, and Rangers are all bottom 5 in their collective sports in Championships won/tradition. I think between the 3 of them they only have like 2 total. Maybe the Rangers will pull it out!!
I’m sick of the Astros… go Rangers.
Lol Yankees fans should be sick of the Astros, it’s been a 6 year run of dominance over the Yankees. Everyone outside of NY used to be sick of the Yankees when they used to win a lot.
I’m actually a Sox fan, despite the username and picture. Nice try.
Lol just as bad. The only ones who whine more than Yankee fans are Red Sox fans.
Thanks, because that was a really genuine post. Generalizing a whole fan base doesn’t get you too far either.
I wouldn’t mind a Diamondbacks vs Rangers World Series. New teams in the WS is a good thing.
That would probably be the lowest tv rated matchup in history unfortunately.
“Meanwhile” needs to come at the start of a sentence, not the middle. How do you screw this up once and then get it right the second time?
“he, too, could be ready for the ALCS.”
NEVER commas after too. Stop doing this. Completely unnecessary. Archaic rule of punctuation that CMOS mercifully did away with. Overuse of commas makes everything more painful to read. Like this:
“Neither Scherzer nor Gray is likely to pitch deep into a game. It’s a good thing, then, that manager Bruce Bochy has several converted starters in his bullpen.”
Combine the two sentence and say “so” like a normal person. Look how much less awkward this is by taking out the completely superfluous “then”:
“Neither Scherzer nor Gray is likely to pitch deep into a game, so it’s a good thing that manager Bruce Bochy has several converted starters in his bullpen.”
This Leo guy is really struggling.
Yet again another weak puff piece that has NOTHING to do with transactions or actual news. Instead just a short post that looks amateurish. This belongs on a Rangers fan blog. Not a legit news site that MLB teams read. This player-friendly nonsense needs to stop. There is NOTHING special about this article. No interesting stats, just basic stuff at the top of the players’ Baseball-Reference pages.
Let Fangraphs do this stuff and stay in your lane, MLBTR. This biased stuff has gone too far.
They are quickly turning into a fluff news site, putting out “articles” to just have something posted. Many of these articles are useless and void of any real information, just opinion and filler. Soon they will insert their political bias (regardless of which way it leans), and the spiral will begin.
This site used to be amazing when it was about transactions, rumors, etc.