63-83 - Rangers fall short in finale with 5-3 loss to Rays

The Texas Rangers scored three runs but the Tampa Bay Rays scored five runs.

I could have been granted a million guesses and never been able to name the transaction that saw Jeffrey Springs leave the Texas org. Turns out, it was a trade with the Red Sox for Sam Travis back in January 2020, who never again suited up in the big leagues.

At the time, it was merely a blip on the radar as Springs was coming off a season where he sported a ghastly 6.40 ERA in 25 appearances out of the bullpen for the Rangers. Springs to that point was perhaps most known as a developmental win for Texas if only because they had made a big leaguer out of a 30th round draft pick.

After another bad year in Boston, Springs caught on with the Rays. That proved to be a fortunate career move as they did what they often do by transforming him into a viable two-times-through-the-order kind of starting pitcher who is enjoying a 2.45 ERA after 29 appearances (22 starts) and 100+ innings in 2022.

This isn’t all about bemoaning a situation where a guy reached an unforeseen level of success upon leaving the Rangers — he pitched Tampa Bay to a victory over Texas today, after all — as Texas developing him into a big leaguer after taking him in the 30th round is a part of his success story.

Anyway, it will be nice when (if?) the day comes where the Rangers can mold their Jeffrey Springses into starting pitchers instead of watching other teams do it and then weaponize their former arms against them.

Anyway, the Rangers lost today and are back to 20 games below .500.

Player of the Game: Josh Jung hit his third home run in his tenth big league game. He also singled and drove in a second run for Texas.

Up Next: The Rangers have another day off before opening a series against the Angels at The Shed on Monday.