Texas Rangers Poised to Make Power Rankings Jump

The Texas Rangers have swept back-to-back series coming out of the All-Star break.

© Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers have come roaring out of the All-Star break, sweeping a pair of series and strengthening their lead in the American League West.

The six-game winning streak – the longest of the season – leaves the Rangers at 58-39, tied for the best record after 97 games in franchise history with the 2012 club. The only other time the Rangers won their first six games after the break was 1977.

Texas also made a statement by breaking out the brooms against the Tampa Bay Rays, who still sit above the Rangers in the latest MLB Power Rankings from ESPN’s panel of baseball experts. Texas is No. 3 again, but poised to make a jump.

Per ESPN:

Bruce Bochy can make room on his mantle for manager of the year as the Rangers might end up with the best record in the American League and a No.1 seed in the postseason. There’s a long way to go, but their post-All-Star break performance has been stellar. A series sweep of the Guardians followed by a series win over the Rays has Texas positioned to potentially take over the top spot in the league.

While the Rangers have been linked to pitching – and Shohei Ohtani – as the trade deadline gets closer, ESPN notes that the current rotation continues to get the job done.

The wins over Tampa Bay, in particular, were about as good as it gets. Both came via late-inning, run-scoring rallies including a walk-off on Monday. But the story of the Rangers is their pitching staff minus Jacob deGrom. Nathan Eovaldi garners most of the headlines, but Dane Dunning is having a breakout season. He held the Rays to five hits and two runs over seven innings on Monday, reducing his ERA to 2.82. It’s hard to imagine the average baseball fan would know Dunning ranks in the top five in the league in that category.

As for the power rankings for rest of the AL West: Houston Astros (6), Seattle Mariners (17), Los Angeles Angels (19) and Oakland Athletics (30).

---

You can follow Art Garcia on Twitter @ArtGarcia92.

Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.