Can't Talk, I'm Choking

Can you say “Choke”? The Rangers are on thin ice right now. The Tampa Bay Rays are too, but Texas had a much larger lead coming into September. In fact, the Rangers went 20-7 in August, but are now 6-12 in September. In fact, on August 30^th, the Rangers were in first place, two games ahead of the Oakland Athletics. They were 76-56 then. Now, they are 82-68, and 6.5 games back from Oakland. Going from a 38-28 home record and an impressive 40-28 road record, Texas is now 39-35 at home and 43-33 on the road.

While that’s still pretty impressive, good god, every year the Rangers choke. I’m not saying that they had it in the bag this year, but they were highly likely to make the playoffs before. Now, they have about a 50-50 chance of making it. 

Let’s go all the way back to 2010, a long time ago I know. In 2010, the Rangers entered the playoffs for the first time since 1999 with a 90-72 record. They beat the Rays in five games, then pulled an upset on the Yankees in the ALCS, winning in six games. It marked the first Pennant in franchise history. But in the World Series, the offense struggled big time, and they lost in five games to the San Francisco Giants.

2011 was even worse. They set franchise records with a 96-66 record, and a home attendance of 2,946,949. They went back to the World Series with a great ALCS against the Tigers, in where Nelson Cruz became the first player in postseason history to walk-off with a grand slam. But in the World Series, the Rangers were one strike away TWICE to win it all in Game 6, but miraculous efforts by David Freese and the Cardinals stole Game 6, and they would go on to win Game 7. 

Last year was another disappointing year, as they didn’t even make the playoffs. Though it wasn’t one strike away from a World Series, this year is arguably the worst because this year’s Rangers wad better than the previous two years. They lost starter C.J. Wilson, but would pick up Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish, a great acquisition (especially for this year). With Neftali Feliz, the former closer, moving to a full-time starter, the Rangers acquired veteran Joe Nathan, who has done an excellent job with the team. 

This team, even with injuries, dominated the AL West for the majority of the season. In the very last series, the Rangers would split in a double-header against the Angels that would guarantee them in the first ever AL Wild Card Playoff Game. But the A’s stormed back and won the division at the very last game. But of course, the Rangers would choke yet again, and would lose 5-1 to the Orioles in the Playoff Game. 

So is it surprising that they just snapped a seven game losing streak, and are not only a half-game ahead in the wild-card spot, tied with the Rays? If you believe in curses, then you’d probably say no. They have battled with plenty of injuries, and a suspension on Nelson Cruz, but until recently that hasn’t slowed them down. 

Offensively and defensively, they are pretty solid. Their offense is led by Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler, who are batting .318/.374/.478 and .274/.339/.410, respectively. They rank 8^th in batting average (.262), 10^th in OBP (.324), and 8^th in Slugging (.412). They have a team 3.72 ERA (10^th in MLB), a 1.28 WHIP (10^th), and a .249 BAA (11^th). So they are good contenders too. Like I mentioned before, they are 43-33 on the road, which some teams would dream of doing (including the Atlanta Braves who, despite a 52-22 record at home, are 37-40 on the road). 

I think they will be able to pull out the wild card spot, despite going 2-8 in their last ten, but they need to work to get it. Last night, some magic by Kinsler brought a win against the Rays to tie it up. They have one more game against each other tonight, and if the Cleveland Indians win also, the loser of the Ranger-Ray game will lose their wild-card spot. 

Don’t choke, Rangers. The Pittsburgh Pirates have changed their ways, and you can too. Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns.

-Evan Boyd