Wednesday: Ice Cold

Last year, the Rangers based their chances of winning on how good the offense was. This year, at least for now, it’s been the pitching, because right now this offense is not one to be relied on. People haven’t really noticed the slumping offense because the pitchers have been such stalwarts all season long. The Rangers began this home stand 2-4, thanks especially to the scuffling offense of this team. That’s when it really started to occur to people that this offense was mired in a deep slump.

With the exception of David Murphy, none of the hitters are producing like they’re capable of. Of course, Ian Kinsler comes to mind first. It’s hard to believe that not too long ago he was hitting over 350. Now, thanks to a month long downturn, the Ranger’s second baseman is hitting 268. Nearly every other Ranger hitter has seen their batting average plummet in recent weeks. Nelson Cruz, after his stunning offensive outburst back in late May, has fallen down to 276. It wasn’t long ago that Elvis Andrus was leading all rookies with a 280 AVG. Now he’s hitting 256. And what happened to Andruw Jones? He hung around 300 for so long, and now he’s suddenly hitting 248. 248! How did that happen? Jarrod Saltalamcchia is batting a meager 247, and of course Chris Davis is still hovering just above 200. The only starter who is hitting in the 300s is Michael Young, though he too has been the victim of recent offensive ineptness.

Last night was pleasing, as the Rangers hit three homeruns and chased Wandy Rodriguez early, but they didn’t do much scoring after the fourth inning. For once I can honestly say that I eagerly await the next fifteen run outburst from this offense. The last time the Rangers scored ten or more runs in a game was on May 30th. So it’s been over two weeks since we've witnessed a slugfest from the Rangers. And though it’s slightly irrelevant, the Rangers have only had two 10+ run games since April 15th.

As nice as it’s been to see the Rangers in first place, it’s clear that this team has not had both the pitching and hitting clicking at the same time. The only question is this: when the hitting starts, will the pitching stop? If the Rangers really want to win this division (and I say this partly because the Angels look like a driving force on a mission) then they’ll have to put everything together, especially in July and August, when in the past the Rangers have notoriously started to fade.

Every single hitter on this roster will honestly say that this offense is not producing to the best of its abilities. These hitters can punish a team like no one else can, and as the weather in Texas gets hotter, let’s hope that the offense can do the same.

texasrangers.com