As reigning champs, the Texas Rangers visited the White House during their day off on Thursday, but they face a tough challenge against New York on the other side.
ARLINGTON, Texas — Fresh off a trip to the White House to meet the President and listen to a classical rendition of Creed while celebrating their 2023 World Series Championship, the Rangers kick off a northeastern road trip in New York.
In a quirk of the schedule, this is the first time that the Rangers will have faced off against the Yankees this year. The Bronx Bombers will visit Arlington in September, but the first meet up between these clubs is in Yankee Stadium with a bit of a delay as Friday’s intended opener has been postponed due to weather concerns. The Rangers and Yankees will cram two games in on Saturday before Sunday’s finale.
The trip to New York also kicks off a stretch of 13 games in 13 days, with two series on the road and two series back home. For a Rangers’ club that is depleted on pitching and with an offense whose engine block can’t turn over, there is a fear that it could be a long, arduous stretch for the defending champs.
The Rangers are fighting for relevance in the AL West, while the Yankees are tied with the Orioles for first place in the always treacherous AL East. The Rangers find themselves quickly running out of time to make a good run against Seattle and Houston. But it has to start somewhere, and that might have to be the Bronx.
Texas Rangers (54-61, 3rd Place AL West, 5.5 GB) @ New York Yankees (68-48, T-1st Place AL East, +5.5 G)
New York after the deadline
Prior to the All-Star break, the Yankees had a top-five pitching staff. The relief corps was second best in the American League with an ERA hovering around 3.45. But, armed with a somewhat old school philosophy that pitching wins championships, the Yankees made moves for several arms at the trade deadline.
New York augmented their ‘pen with strikeout pitchers. The Yankees were in the bottom third in baseball in strikeouts. One of the notable additions was third-generation pitcher, Mark Leiter, Jr. Leiter was with the Cubs, making 39 appearances. In those appearances, Leiter struck out 53 batters in 36.3 frames, just under a 35% strikeout rate. New York also landed Enyel De Los Santos from the Padres. De Los Santos put up nearly a 30% strikeout rate in San Diego.
Since the trade, Leiter, Jr., has made five appearances for the Yankees, giving up just one run and eight hits while striking out seven. De Los Santos has struck out four in four games, but also given up three runs. Both are striking out people the way New York intended, but Leiter, Jr., so far, has been a prized pickup for New York.
Offensively, New York also added to its home run-heavy lineup by adding center fielder Jazz Chisholm, Jr., brought over from the Marlins, with the Yankees intending to use him as a utility player. With Miami, Chisholm slashed .249/.323/.407 with 13 homers and 50 RBI. The 26-year old’s impact was immediately felt.
In the 10 games since he was dealt, Chisholm has played third base and center field, slashing .262/.311/.643 with five home runs, nine RBIs and two steals. He’s a multi-faceted player that has already added another jolt to a team fighting with a stellar Baltimore club for the AL East crown.
The matchups
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Game 116, Doubleheader Game 1 12:05 p.m. CT – RHP Nathan Eovaldi (8-5, 3.62 ERA) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (3-2, 5.09 ERA)
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Game 117, Following doubleheader Game 1 – LHP Cody Bradford (3-0, 3.96 ERA) vs. RHP Carlos Rodon (12-7, 4.37 ERA)
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Game 118, 12:35 p.m. CT – LHP Andrew Heaney (4-11, 3.98 ERA) vs. RHP Marcus Stroman (7-6, 4.10 ERA)
The one thing that New York did not get to add at the deadline was starting pitching. They were in talks with the Tigers for starter Jack Flaherty, but the Yankees didn’t like something in Flaherty’s medical records, so Detroit made a deal with the Dodgers for the right-hander.
As it is, the Yankees will go down the stretch with their rotation intact, which might be the difference-maker in the division. The Yankees’ starting pitching has been very up and down, however. Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman have had stretches of poor performance, while Gerrit Cole was recently scratched from a start due to fatigue.
The Rangers will see all three in this weekend series, though with the doubleheader, the order might change. Rodon is coming off a start against the Toronto Blue Jays in which he gave up three runs in 5 ⅓ innings, good enough to take the win. Earlier in the year, Rodon gave New York consistent stretches of six-inning outings, but has been roughed up more recently.
Cole, the reigning Cy Young winner, missed the first half of the season with a right elbow injury. Like Max Scherzer, Cole has already had to be scratched once since coming back on June 19. Last time out, Cole gave up two runs on six hits in 5 ⅔ innings against the Blue Jays.
Sunday’s finale should see former Blue Jay Marcus Stroman take the mound for Detroit. Stroman had a string of four starts in May where he looked unbeatable but has proven to be very hittable recently. Against his former team last time out, Stroman lasted just 2 ⅔ innings, giving up seven runs on eight hits.
Texas, having its own starting pitching patchwork to do, was expected to start the series with recently-returned Cody Bradford, followed by ace Nathan Eovaldi. That could be flipped with Friday’s game canceled.
Bradford, who returned to the active roster after an injury in April with the idea that he would be in the bullpen, has been pressed into the rotation due to injuries to Max Scherzer and Jon Gray. His first start since coming back was just his second off the IL; against the Red Sox, he surrendered three runs in just 3 ⅔ innings. While Texas will probably not want to extend him too much and keep him on a short leash, they are also hard-pressed for long relievers, with Jose Urena and Dane Dunning both having extended-inning outings this week.
Former Yankee Eovaldi is also coming off a rough start against the Red Sox. In five innings, the veteran righty gave up five runs on seven hits. Eovaldi has been much more hittable as of late, giving up 31 hits over six starts since July.
Lefty Andrew Heaney is expected to close out the series. He hasn’t received much run support throughout this season despite strong outings, rendering him to just four wins on the year despite being one of Texas’ most consistent starters. He had a great bounce back appearance against the Astros most recently, going six innings and allowing just a solo home run in the outing.
The Rangers could try to take advantage of the hitter-friendly dimensions in Yankee Stadium to get their offense going. But it’s never easy playing in the Bronx, and the Yankees are going to be slugging with their powerful offense.
This series will likely come down to starting pitching and which pitchers let rough innings snowball on them. The Yankees hold the high ground and the Rangers are running out of time to make a move in the standings.
Do you think the Rangers will be inspired by their White House visit and win a series against the Yankees? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.