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saddles
Bullpen Failure is back, lurking like Gollum
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The Rangers face another opponent who, on paper, should be an "easy" opponent. The Rangers have two series left, including this one, with "easy" opponents. These are opponents with very poor records. Both of these series are at home. They have two more series against less than mediocre opponents, as well. Overall, the Rangers remaining strength of schedule is still 13th in the league.
The race for the third wildcard is still a jumbled mess. There are still 7 teams within 3 games of that spot. The Twins and Rangers are tied for the lead, but the Twins have the tiebreaker.
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Among those 7 teams, there are 3, including the Rangers, who face weaker opponents this weekend. Cleveland faces the Rockies. Detroit faces the Royals. Seattle, Baltimore, Toronto and Minnesota all face formidable opponents.
The Blue Jays and the Twins seem to be the most challenging competitors for the Rangers, presently. The Blue Jays have the best record in the American League over their last 10 games. One side note here, the Blue Jays are the only American League team with a better record in their last 10 games than the Rangers weekend opponent, the Angels.
Of course, the Rangers are also in the thick of the race to win the AL West. The Astros currently hold a one game advantage.
I decided to do an exercise where I looked at the next 7 series for both the Rangers and the Astros to try and guess how the race for the division will go between now and September 13. Each team plays 22 games in that span.
The Atros are home against the Athletics to begin this stretch. I think Houston will win 2 of those three games. Then they go on the road for three each against the Yankees and the Mets. I rhink the Atros will win 1 against the Yankees and 2 against the Mets.
Then the Astros schedule has them coming home for 4 with the White Sox and 3 with Arizona. I think the Astros will win 2 games in each of those series. To close out this stretch they travel for 3 against the Phillies and 3 against the Rays. I think they will only win 1 game in each of those series. That means the Astros would go 11-11 in that 22 game stretch. Their record for the season would then be 75-75
This is how I see the Rangers doing over their next 22-game stretch.
3 @ home vs. LAA 2-1
3 @ CWS 1-2
3 @ MIL. 1-2
3 @ home vs. ATH 2-1
4 @ home vs. TB 1-3
3 @ SEA 1-2
3 @ AZ. 1-2
That would give the Rangers a 9-13 record in that 22 game span. Their record for the season would then be 72-78. That would put the Rangers 3 games behind rhe Astros with 12 games left.
I won't go into the remainder of the schedule for both teams, but 9 of the Rangers12 final games are against good opponents, while 7 of the Astros 12 final games are against poor opponents and only 3 are against good opponents.
I am not saying that this is exactly how each team will do in all of these series, but that this appears to me to be the most likely outcomes. If nothing else, it gives me a series by series tool to see if the Rangers are actually going to be closer or further than 3 games out come September 13. If the Astros do worse in a series, or if the Rangers do better, then that means the Rangers would be that much closer to winning the division.
I was going to do this same exercise for the wildcard race, but there are just too many teams in contention right now. Doing so would take a whole lot of time. Maybe after another series or two that can be done. One rhing to keep in mind is how the remaining contenders rank in strength of schedule. Only the Orioles have a stronger remaining strength of schedule, and even their schedule is just barely stronger than the schedule the Rangers face. Several of the teams have a much easier remaining schedule than tne Rangers do.
At present, the Rangers have only MacKenzie Gore as scheduled to pitch in this series. He starts tonight. Bradford and Quantrill should be next, but they are not scheduled yet.
The race for the third wildcard is still a jumbled mess. There are still 7 teams within 3 games of that spot. The Twins and Rangers are tied for the lead, but the Twins have the tiebreaker.
Image hidden. Log in or register to see images.
Among those 7 teams, there are 3, including the Rangers, who face weaker opponents this weekend. Cleveland faces the Rockies. Detroit faces the Royals. Seattle, Baltimore, Toronto and Minnesota all face formidable opponents.
The Blue Jays and the Twins seem to be the most challenging competitors for the Rangers, presently. The Blue Jays have the best record in the American League over their last 10 games. One side note here, the Blue Jays are the only American League team with a better record in their last 10 games than the Rangers weekend opponent, the Angels.
Of course, the Rangers are also in the thick of the race to win the AL West. The Astros currently hold a one game advantage.
I decided to do an exercise where I looked at the next 7 series for both the Rangers and the Astros to try and guess how the race for the division will go between now and September 13. Each team plays 22 games in that span.
The Atros are home against the Athletics to begin this stretch. I think Houston will win 2 of those three games. Then they go on the road for three each against the Yankees and the Mets. I rhink the Atros will win 1 against the Yankees and 2 against the Mets.
Then the Astros schedule has them coming home for 4 with the White Sox and 3 with Arizona. I think the Astros will win 2 games in each of those series. To close out this stretch they travel for 3 against the Phillies and 3 against the Rays. I think they will only win 1 game in each of those series. That means the Astros would go 11-11 in that 22 game stretch. Their record for the season would then be 75-75
This is how I see the Rangers doing over their next 22-game stretch.
3 @ home vs. LAA 2-1
3 @ CWS 1-2
3 @ MIL. 1-2
3 @ home vs. ATH 2-1
4 @ home vs. TB 1-3
3 @ SEA 1-2
3 @ AZ. 1-2
That would give the Rangers a 9-13 record in that 22 game span. Their record for the season would then be 72-78. That would put the Rangers 3 games behind rhe Astros with 12 games left.
I won't go into the remainder of the schedule for both teams, but 9 of the Rangers12 final games are against good opponents, while 7 of the Astros 12 final games are against poor opponents and only 3 are against good opponents.
I am not saying that this is exactly how each team will do in all of these series, but that this appears to me to be the most likely outcomes. If nothing else, it gives me a series by series tool to see if the Rangers are actually going to be closer or further than 3 games out come September 13. If the Astros do worse in a series, or if the Rangers do better, then that means the Rangers would be that much closer to winning the division.
I was going to do this same exercise for the wildcard race, but there are just too many teams in contention right now. Doing so would take a whole lot of time. Maybe after another series or two that can be done. One rhing to keep in mind is how the remaining contenders rank in strength of schedule. Only the Orioles have a stronger remaining strength of schedule, and even their schedule is just barely stronger than the schedule the Rangers face. Several of the teams have a much easier remaining schedule than tne Rangers do.
At present, the Rangers have only MacKenzie Gore as scheduled to pitch in this series. He starts tonight. Bradford and Quantrill should be next, but they are not scheduled yet.
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