Texas Rangers Week Seven Recap + Los Angeles Angels Series Preview

Season record: 13-27

Week 7 record: 1-6

Series record: 3-9, 1 split

I wasn’t writing about the Rangers in 2014 so this has been the first awful season I’ve had to put into words. At least in 2014, we could have a laugh at the absolute absurdity of the comedy of errors that happened to Texas. The light at the end of the tunnel was that eventually everyone would get healthy and better luck next year. This year? I don’t know? We’re just in the dark for the foreseeable future. It is hard to be excited about anything with them. There’s Lance Lynn and the young guys getting chances sure but thank god this is a shortened season because I’m not how we would get through 102 extra games of this. It’s rough.

The Rangers are tanking. They are now the basement dwellers in the Majors. And unlike 2014, it’s not looking like they’re gonna have a good September run to somewhat dig themselves even an inch out of it.

Elvis and Rougie are no longer every day players. The Rougie has been a long over due decision but the Elvis move hurts because it feels like the true end of an era. While the Rangers won’t admit to it, to me, it signals the true start of a rebuild. Or as close to one the front office is willing to show.

The 2014 team was fun awful. They were bad but it felt like a greater being was at work. It was fun to see how many players could end up in the roster. Six years later, it’s fun to realize how many players you forgot were on there, especially when there were 40 pitchers and 11 first basemen used.

The 2020 team, much like everything else this year, has been bad awful. Don’t want to watch awful. Not fun awful. Why bother awful?

What’s worse is, if this was any other season would a record of 13-27 in 40 games feel this abysmal? Probably? But we also wouldn’t have been passed the trade deadline yet and could look forward to something?

In my opinion, the best game of the season happened last week. When Texas beat the Astros and Houston just looked sloppy. We finally got to feel something good. It felt like the good old days again.

And that might just be the game we have to hold on to this year.

The Rangers are now headed home to start a three-game series against the former basement dwellers, the Los Angeles Angels, who just swept the Houston Astros.

Lance Lynn, Kyle Cody, and Kyle Gibson will start for the Rangers and Andrew Heaney, Julio Teheran, and Dylan Bundy will start for the Angels.

Joely Rodriguez was placed on IL for a hamstring strain after landing awkwardly on his right led in Saturday’s game in Seattle. Jesse Chavez is off IL and Shin-Soo Choo sprained his right hand sliding into home plate in Monday’s game and will likely be put on the injured list as well.

The Rangers are 3-0 against the Angels this season, outscoring them 13-6 when the two teams played each other in early August. Heaney and Lynn were the matchup in the final game of that series, the only starters that will repeat in this series. Heaney gave up five runs on eight hits in 3.2 innings and Lynn went five innings giving up two runs on four hits and three walks.

Tuesday and Wednesday games will start at 7:05 pm CDT and Thursday’s get away game for the Angels will start at 3:05 pm CDT.