Playoffs?! Young — And Fun — Rangers Are Out to Prove Doubters Wrong
ARLINGTON, Texas — With their 10-2 walloping of the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, the Texas Rangers have won eight of their last 11 games, bringing them back to .500 at 18-18.
Fun baseball is always appealing to the eye. And when the Rangers began making some noise a couple of weeks ago, the low expectations remained throughout the league. But now this young Rangers team is forcing people to ask the question: "Are the Rangers...good?"
"We all have a chip on our shoulder, the whole roster does," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "We love that people doubted us, and we still have a lot to prove. We still have 120-something games left."
Intangibles are impossible to measure. There is no barometer for belief or chemistry. It's why so many have remained steadfast in their doubt of how far an inexperienced Rangers team can go this year. However, veteran slugger Khris Davis returned to the team from an injury on Saturday and wasted no time throwing the P-word out there.
"The first thing he said when he got here was, 'I'm going to get this team to the playoffs,'" Woodward said of Davis. "So, he immediately puts that belief in the guys' minds to say, 'let's do something that nobody thinks we can."
But the belief the Rangers have in each other didn't begin with Davis' entrance. His comment just threw gas on an already unquenchable fire — one that has been steadily building since February.
"[The belief] started in spring training," said Rangers shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. "I think those first couple of games in Kansas City where we got a lot of runs, it was kind of that first example of adversity we deal with and how we don't quit. ... So, I think having those types of games and having a bunch of close games just made everybody a lot closer. The key is we're learning how to play together."
Now with some tangible results, it would appear the increase in winning percentage over the past couple of weeks has truly galvanized the belief this team has in each other. If you've been able to watch the Rangers this season, or scrolled through enough social media posts, you've seen the fun brand of baseball developing in Arlington. But they've done more than just play fun baseball.
They are a threat.
The Rangers have an exciting 28-year-old rookie in Adolis García, who has the most home runs in all of Major League Baseball since April 15. They have an emerging frontline starter in Kyle Gibson, who owns the sixth-lowest ERA in the American League. Texas also has shortstop — yes, a shortstop — in Isiah Kiner-Falefa that had the fifth-best bWAR (1.8) in MLB heading into Sunday's slate of games.
As a team, in an era where the home run is valued so much, the Rangers are tied for the third-most in MLB (46). They also have a more-than-respectable .719 OPS (sixth in the AL), and satisfy the traditional crowd with the fifth-best team average in MLB (.248). Nothing overpowering from Texas, but enough to force the naysayers to take a second look.
So, what is it? Is there something in the water in Arlington? Is it playing in front of 20-30,000 fans on a nightly basis again? Kiner-Falefa sums it up in one word.
"Freedom," Kiner-Falefa said. "Everybody walks in here, they do whatever they want. When game time hits, that's all that matters. We're giving guys the freedom to be who they are, do what they wanna do, show up when they wanna show up. But when they step in between the lines, all we ask for is 100 percent focus. That's all we can do.
"You're seeing how comfortable everybody is. When everybody's comfortable, we're a scary team. It's cool to start seeing that culture change and what we've got going."
That culture is something the Rangers have preached since before spring training started. They expect to win, regardless of what anyone says outside of their walls.
As the Rangers pack up and head for San Francisco, they'll be riding high off of yet another exciting series win. But it's only May 9. They understand, this belief to prove the doubters wrong and shock everyone with a postseason berth, it's far from over.
"The hardest thing to do in this game is to prove, if you're a good team, to stay a good team," Woodward explained. "We're gonna have our bumps along the way, but I love it. Tell them that they can't do something. This is the wrong group to do that with."
READ MORE: 'They Love Playing Together' Rangers Win Another Thriller in Dramatic Fashion
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