Texas Rangers Near DEFCON 3 As Houston Astros Surge, Wild Card Spots Fade

The Texas Rangers have lost three straight heading into a four-game set against the tough Baltimore Orioles. The Rangers are desperate to put a lasting win streak together.

Jun 26, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers second base Andruw Monasterio (14) celebrates with teammates after driving in the winning run against the Texas Rangers in the tenth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports / Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Young doesn't make it a habit of publicly scolding his team.

The Texas Rangers offensive struggles remain an alarming issue, and the club's general manager felt the urge to sound an alarm inside the clubhouse.

And for good reason. The Rangers (37-43) are now 7 1/2 games behind the first-place Seattle Mariners (46-37) and three games behind the surging Houston Astros (40-40), who are at .500 for the first time in 2024.

The Rangers were swept by the Brewers, and a rematch with a recent playoff foe this weekend in Baltimore. Texas is 15-20 in its past 35 games.

The Astros have won seven consecutive games and eight of their past 10 after a disastrous start that many wondered if the defending American League West champions were fading from eight seasons of postseason glory.

Young was asked by reporters after Wednesday's roster moves about the timing of the shake-up.

“It's time,” Young told reporters, including MLB.com. “We can't sit back and wait and hope that it comes together. It's time for us to get going. It's time for us offensively to perform like the team that we know we can be. I have great confidence in all of these players. We just haven't performed to the level that we were expecting, and the reality is that we need to get going here."

It's not just AL West standings that should concern the Rangers. The AL wild-card standings are proving to be a logjam of legitimate contenders, with the Rangers stuck six games back of the three wild-card spots. Seven teams sit ahead of Texas in the current wild card standings. That's significant because, as of right now, the AL West is unlikely to grab one of those three wild card berths, as the Rangers did last season before going on their World Series championship run.

One team sitting ahead of the Rangers in the wild-card standings is the Baltimore Orioles, who host a four-game series with Texas beginning at 5:35 p.m. Thursday at Camden Yards. The Rangers wept the 100-win Orioles in three games in the AL division round last October. The O's undoubtedly will have a chip on their shoulders.

The Rangers need a chip of their own. They had the AL's most productive offense in 2023 but have been middling to near the bottom in most offensive metrics. Fewer hits, fewer home runs, fewer doubles, fewer RBI, and fewer runs.

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AL West standings on June 26, with wild card standings games behind

Teams	W-L	Pct.	GB	WCGB
Mariners	46-37	.554	---	---
Astros	40-40	.500	4.5	3.0
Rangers	37-43	.463	7.5	6.0
Angels	33-46	.418	11.0	9.5
AthleticsP	29-54	.349	17.0	15.5

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The return of All-Star third baseman Josh Jung will be a big boost, but his exact timetable for activation from the injured list has taken more twists and turns than Bruce Bochy's bullpen moves.

He hopes to start swinging the bat again soon, and be available to return to the lineup soon. At this point, we'll believe it when we see it.

Also, in no way am I insinuating that Jung's bat will be a magical panacea to the Rangers' lineup. But it will certainly help, especially with the club's slumbering slugging issues. Although Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim hit homers in Wednesday's loss in Milwaukee, they're still 11th of 15 AL teams with 78 homers. Last season, the Rangers led the AL with 233 homers, along with the Twins.

"They're good. They played well, they pitched well. We could have won every one of these games."

Bruce Bochy on the tough 10th-inning loss.
@Rangers | #StraightUpTX | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/iH3ahvO1Vo

— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) June 26, 2024

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