Even with the franchise’s first World Series win, the Texas Rangers battled bad luck health-wise for most of 2023. Especially concerning their rotation, which was short its two biggest names before October began. Well, it appears that 2024 will start similarly to how 2023 ended in that department, as Max Scherzer had back surgery recently. He is being ruled out until the middle of the season, at least.
Max Scherzer’s Texas Rangers Stint has been Rough so far
It’s tough to say that a trade ending with a World Series win hasn’t worked out. Yet, that is an accurate assessment of Scherzer’s tenure in Arlington thus far. He only started eight regular season games as a Ranger. Although those eight starts came with a 3.20 ERA, his biggest start of the regular season was a bust. In September, when the Texas Rangers took on the Houston Astros for the final time, looking to avoid a sweep in a tight AL West race, Scherzer started the game. He allowed seven runs (three homers) in 3.0 innings, an eventual loss. Texas finished with the same record as Houston but lost the division due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Max Scherzer is expected to be out until at least midseason. pic.twitter.com/1AJWxll9sD
— MLB (@MLB) December 15, 2023
Scherzer missed the final stretch of the regular season with an arm injury, not returning until the ALCS. He started Game 3, giving up five runs in 4.0 innings as the Rangers fell to the Astros. His next start was Game 7, and he had a short leash with Texas jumping out to a 3-0 lead immediately. Manager Bruce Bochy yanked Max Scherzer after 2.2 innings and two runs allowed. His lone World Series start was his best postseason outing, 3.0 innings of shutout baseball. That’s fine for most people, but the Texas Rangers expect more from future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer.
All of this is without mention of two injuries in less than six months.
Scherzer is Not Alone as an Injured Rangers Pitcher
Teams everywhere battle injuries constantly, so Texas isn’t alone in that department. However, not every team has the luxury of Scherzer being the second-best guy missing a chunk of time. People may forget that Jacob deGrom is a Texas Ranger now since he only started six games in 2023. He is also expected to return sometime during the 2024 campaign following Tommy John surgery.
He went down with a torn UCL in June before getting Tommy John for the second time in his career. Before then, he had a 2.67 ERA, 1.54 FIP, and 0.758 WHIP in six starts as a Ranger. deGrom’s career strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.38) is the best in MLB history. However, as Texas found out one year into his five-year/$185 million deal, his talents require good health, something that seldom stays for long. Jacob deGrom hasn’t started 20 games in a season since 2019 when he was a New York Met.
Texas Rangers Still Eyeing a Repeat
Those major injuries didn’t stop Texas from winning it all last year, nor will it be an excuse in 2024. Nathan Eovaldi, Dane Dunning, and Andrew Heaney are still healthy in the Max Scherzer-less rotation. Meanwhile, the team’s offense was the true strength in 2023, led by World Series MVP Corey Seager, who is under contract until 2031.
Last year’s club finished third in runs scored, third in home runs, and third in walks, among many other impressive statistics. Five position players were All-Star game starters Seager, Adolís Garcia, Marcus Semien, Josh Jung, and Jonah Heim. Texas’ batting order averaged 5.71 runs per game in 17 postseason contests. A banged-up rotation shouldn’t slow this team down too much.