The market these days is volatile, especially in the Rangers-related sector. It’s hard to figure out what’s worth investing in now. It’s too early for a sell-off, but there are some places you may want to hold off on taking deep positions. So, after a rough road trip that extended the streak of road series without a win to five, where should you put your money and where should you hold off? Here’s this week’s guide:
Duran Futures: Ezequiel Duran went 7 for 20 (.350) on the road trip and is now hitting .304 for the year. More impressive: For a guy who averaged five strikeouts per walk last year, he’s got 11 walks to 16 strikeouts this season. Hot streaks at the plate come and go, but plate discipline is something that better predicts long-term success. It’s hard to see the Rangers writing a lineup any time soon that doesn’t include Duran. He has seized a starting job.
EVO Inc.: Since those first two-clunkers of starts, this traditional blue chip has turned things around by steering away from velocity and relying more on its big portfolio of offerings. Nathan Eovaldi has a 2.45 ERA over his last six outings, which include a pair of dominant performances against the New York Yankees. He’s using his curveball now more than 20% of the time, keeping hitters from sitting on a fastball. They used to be able to count on at least one per at-bat. Right now, they may not get more than one in an inning. He threw nine four-seam fastballs in each of his last two outings.
Big Tech: When is it ever a bad investment? But the Rangers seem to finally be figuring out what to do with the new tech tools available to them, like the ABS challenge system. Used it a record number of times (seven) in a win at the Yankees on Wednesday. Two of those challenges resulted in strikes turned into balls that changed at-bats for Rangers hitters to positive outcomes in a put-away inning. Maybe that will make them more comfortable with the process; they’d only been using it about 1.5 times per game prior.
Pop-up business: Due to miscommunication and bad reads, the Rangers lost two more pop ups that turned into hits at New York on Thursday. The second of those two, a soft fly ball on which Alejandro Osuna got a late read, was key in the Yankees breaking the game open. According to MLB Statcast, the Rangers have had six pop ups fall for either hits or be mishandled for errors. That is the most in the majors. This should be the simplest fundamental to master and the Rangers haven’t. Do they need pop up practice?
Pederson Pension Fund: Joc Pederson singled in the second of his two at-bats on Thursday to break a road-trip-long 0-for-10 skid that is actually a 3 for 24 over a longer stretch. It’s dropped his OPS to .599. Pederson has a .187 batting average and .320 slugging percentage over nearly 350 at-bats since joining the Rangers. He’s taken good at-bats without results, but if the Rangers offense doesn’t start producing soon, he’s liable to be the first person to take the fall.
Inheritance taxes: Jalen Beeks’ specialty in the bullpen is to clean up messy innings. He failed at that on the just-completed road trip, allowing inherited runners to score in each of his three appearances. He’s now allowed six of 11 inherited runners (55%) to score this season. Among the 47 relievers to have inherited at least 10 runners thus far, it’s the third-highest percentage of guys who ultimately scored.