Thursday, July 31

ARLINGTON -- Every player will tell you their clubhouse is blocking out the outside noise, keeping things contained and trying to take everything one day at a time. 

But during Trade Deadline season, sometimes those things are hard to ignore. That’s why it’s hard to overstate how important this homestand has been for the Rangers. Texas has already secured a winning homestand and a winning month of July, propelling the club back above .500 and right into the thick of the competition in the American League.

“We don't have a lot of season left,” said veteran catcher Kyle Higashioka. “It's kind of make or break, especially if we want to be in contention and not have this team dismantled. We need to show that we're capable of playing well. … You have to show the front office that you're a good team. We've had our moments, but we haven't really put together that consistency that we need yet. Hopefully that's happening right now, soon.”

The first three months of the Rangers' season didn’t go to plan. That much is obvious when the record sat at 41-44 at the end of June. They haven’t been the worst team -- obviously -- but they’re a team that came into the season with big expectations that they haven’t quite lived up to yet.

President of baseball operations Chris Young has admitted that this is obviously not where the Rangers wanted to be. But he also noted that you can’t dwell on that right now. Right now is about winning as many games as possible in the next five days. 

“It's just part of the game,” Young said. “I look back on 2023 and we went 40-20 in our first 60 games. After that, the next 102 we were two games under [.500]. Every season has a different ebb and flow to it. My hope is that the next 62 games are our best 62 games of our season. 

“If that's the case, then we'll look back and say, ‘Hey, the first half of the season wasn't as much fun as we had hoped, but it was all worth it to get where we wanted to go.’ I think we're seeing signs of that. There's a lot of indicators that we've played really good baseball over the past four or five weeks, and we can continue that.”

The last two weeks, even going into the break, the Rangers have shown signs of life. That includes series wins over two first-place teams in the Astros and Tigers, as well as a sweep over the A’s, a team that has given Texas a hard time this season.

“If we can continue the progress we've shown over the last several weeks and win series against good teams, it's going to determine a lot,” Young said. “Not to put any more pressure on anything. It's just the reality of this point in the season. We're looking up in the standings. We can't afford losing series at this point. We need to stack together wins.”

So where does that leave the Rangers at the Deadline?

They could use a couple of high-leverage bullpen arms -- though the return of Jon Gray does alleviate some burden -- as well as a bat that could hit left-handed pitching -- though the return of Sam Haggerty also helps out there.

Josh Sborz is nearing a return, as are Joc Pederson and Jake Burger. The Rangers are nearing as close to healthy as they’ve been since pitchers and catchers reported. 

The Rangers have put themselves in a good position over the last month. Now it’s up to the front office to enhance the club in the best way possible. 

“Things are very fluid at this point,” Young said. “We’re very excited about the way the team has played. I believe in this team immensely. I know that if they play their best baseball, that we can be a really good team. The hope is that we just continue to get better and better as the season goes here. If we do that, like I said, I'm going to do everything I can to help give this team a chance to win. But we can't go backwards at this point in time.”

This weekend's series features MLB's two oldest active managers: Rangers skipper Bruce Bochy (70) and Atlanta’s Brian Snitker (69). Angels manager Ron Washington (73) is currently on medical leave. 

Snitker said he remembers first meeting with Bochy when he was the Braves third base coach and Bochy was the manager in San Francisco. He went on to praise Bochy’s longevity and consistency as one of the best managers in the game.

“I got to visit with him earlier,” Snitker said. “I always looked forward to when we’d go into San Francisco because he always had tremendous coaches. I always love talking to Boch because he’s been really good to me in my career and I have a lot of respect for everything he’s accomplished and the guy he is.

“He has consistency. He understands how this is a tough game to play because he was a player. He gets it, that it’s a hard game, he’s got a great baseball mind and great demeanor about him.”

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