The Texas Rangers are trying to claw their way into the postseason as they decided not to make many moves at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline. However, they are going to be without one of their star pitchers in Max Scherzer as he winds up being placed back on the Injured List with right shoulder fatigue.
This is going to be a massive blow for the Texas Rangers as they attempt to secure a spot in the playoffs after winning the 2023 World Series. Let’s take a deeper dive into what this could mean going forward for the team.
Can the Texas Rangers make the playoffs?
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As of this writing, the Texas Rangers are third in the AL West with a 52-57 record and are 4.5 games back in the division as well as eight full games back of the third Wild Card spot. Losing Max Scherzer for an undisclosed amount of time is certainly going to make things a bit more difficult for the team going forward.
Outside of Scherzer, the Texas Rangers have four legitimate starting pitchers who are healthy:
- Nathan Eovaldi
- Andrew Heaney
- Jose Urena
- Dane Dunning
Max Scherzer did not get to pitch in the majors until June 23 and made eight starts as he is 4-2 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 39.1 innings before winding back up on the Injured List. With very little news coming out about fellow former Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom’s return from Tommy John surgery, it is difficult to imagine this rotation being able to absorb the loss of Scherzer.
As of this writing, we do not know any expected timetable or if he will be able to return to the Rangers as soon as the 10-day window is officially over. The 40-year-old starting pitcher never really has suffered many injuries throughout his extensive career so it will be interesting to see if little injuries continue to pile up.
The way for the Texas Rangers to make the playoffs will be winning the American League West and that just feels unlikely. They are not going to be better than one of the New York Yankees/Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners/Houston Astros, and Minnesota Twins record-wise when the 162nd games conclude.
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