It was a bad week on the TRSE (Texas Rangers Stock Exchange). Virtually every index was down, pointing toward a depression and great sell-off if things don’t turn around soon. And June presents strong headwinds, with the team facing two-thirds of its games on the road.
Here’s the report from a market that has turned very bearish very quickly:
Pederson Products: Been a long slog. But as production all around has slowed, this old-money standard has been reliable. Entering Thursday, Joc Pederson led the Rangers in OBP (.361) and was second to Josh Jung in OPS (.791). He’s moved into the leadoff spot as manager Skip Schumaker searches for any combination that might help the Rangers get off to a quick start. Over the 19 games before Thursday, Pederson had a .333/.458/.667/1.124 slash line. In troubled times, look to old, reliable investments.
Aerospace: Uh, Houston, we have a problem. Never good to hear when you are trying to harness space efforts. Especially trying to come up with some kind of defense against the Yordan missile. Yordan Alvarez entered Thursday’s series finale with a 1.216 career OPS at Globe Life Field. He launched five homers in the first three games of the series that AVERAGED 110 mph off the bat and 432 feet in distance. The Astros also will take a lead in the season series into the final two meetings in July.
Manufacturing: Been a lot of talk lately about investing here in old-fashioned efforts to churn out some runs. But so far the results have been minimal. After Rangers management talked about it at length on Wednesday, the Rangers had four different opportunities to show off something to potential investors. Evan Carter struck out twice to lead off innings in a tie and one-run game, Sam Haggerty didn’t steal after walking with nobody out in the eighth with the Rangers trailing by one and Ezequiel Duran failed to make contact after Carter walked and stole second with one out in the fourth.
Higashioka & Jansen Partners: The Rangers are getting absolutely nothing offensively from their catching tandem. They are slashing a combined .188/.278/.328/.605. In May, it’s been getting worse: .153/.247/.306/.543 entering Thursday. Is there an infusion of young blood needed for this experienced firm? Well, there isn’t anybody on the horizon. What’s more amazing: The Rangers’ season OPS from the position ranks only 19th among all MLB catching units. There are 11 that are worse!