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Texas Rangers third baseman Ezequiel Duran walks to the batters circle for an at-bat against the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field in Arlington, August 8, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
ANAHEIM, Calif.\u00a0\u2014 The trade deadline has officially passed, and as much as we\u2019d like to use this as a vehicle to rehash the events of it, the Rangers didn\u2019t offer much to rehash.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n That means that the actual\u00a0baseball, and the next two months of it, can now take center stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n We can get down with that.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Here are five things we learned about the Rangers last week as they continue to vie for a postseason bid.\u00a0<\/p>\n The opportunity ahead is as good as it gets<\/p>\n Of all the \u201copportunities to stage a run\u201d that the Rangers could face\u00a0\u2014 and they\u2019ve had plenty of theoretical ones this season<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the week at hand provides arguably their best chance yet. The Rangers will play two arguably directionless (and, in one case, home stadiumless) in-division teams on the road against the Los Angeles Angels and West Sacramento Athletics this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Angels, who are 45-73 and committed to a teardown at the trade deadline, dismissed general manager Perry Minasian a month and a half ago.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The Athletics, who are 47-71 and have the second-worst record in the American League, parted ways with general manager David Forst last week.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Yeah, this is, like, the kind of two-city road trip that a team needs to capitalize on. The issue is that the Rangers truthfully haven\u2019t done that this season when provided a seemingly easy opportunity. They\u2019re only 37-29 against teams with sub-.500 records this season, and against the Angels and Athletics, they\u2019re a ghastly 5-8.\u00a0<\/p>\n That all might explain this next section.\u00a0<\/p>\n Stuck in the middle with you\u00a0<\/p>\n The Rangers have had an exactly .500 record on 19 different occasions this season, and after Sunday\u2019s loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Globe Life Field<\/a>, returned to their dead-even status once again. That\u2019s tied with the Washington Nationals and the Pittsburgh Pirates for the most instances leaguewide this year. If records can\u2019t convince you of a team\u2019s capability (and, hey, this season of all seasons may be the best time to throw them out the window), statistics may. The Rangers have a collective 14.7 WAR that ranks 12th in the league, a .717 OPS that ranks 16th in the league and a 4.28 ERA that ranks 20th in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you are what your record says you are, and if numbers don\u2019t lie, then the Rangers can\u2019t ignore the fact that they\u2019ve been a league-average team.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That may be enough to clinch a playoff berth in a season like this one.\u00a0<\/p>\n Do the Rangers have one of baseball\u2019s best leadoff hitters?<\/p>\n The answer is kind of unequivocally yes, because since the Rangers moved designated hitter Joc Pederson atop their order<\/a>, he\u2019s slashed .280\/.351\/.625 and hit 19 home runs. Only Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (1.118 OPS) has been more productive in the leadoff spot than Pederson (.976) among players who\u2019ve taken 200 or more plate appearances in that spot.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s been convenient for a team that\u2019s been in need of an early spark for two-plus years, and even more so, it\u2019s convenient for a team in the midst of a playoff push. Pederson, a two-time World Series champion, has been one of the more ardent in-house believers that the Rangers are contenders. He\u2019s said so with his words and his play, like in Friday\u2019s series opener against the Orioles for example<\/a>, when he bashed a late-game home run to give the Rangers a win.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s the energy that he brings in on a day in and day out basis,\u201d Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, also a two-time champ, said. \u201cObviously, when he hits it, everybody knows it was a good one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He\u2019s hit more than a few of them lately.\u00a0<\/p>\n \nOne utility Silver Slugger is out, another may be in\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n