ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers can point to an extensive list of root causes that’ve halted what was expected to be a potent offense from its full bloom. There are the certain-handedness pitchers that they can’t seem to hit, the scenarios in which they statistically falter and the exhaustive tally of players that have underperformed.
They following, they will say, is no inconsequential issue either: The Rangers have been an incomplete lineup for nearly this entire season.
It took a step closer to completion Friday night.
Related:Command escapes Merrill Kelly as Rangers’ deadline prize struggles in home debut
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“It’s been a battle getting the completely healthy Rangers that we envisioned to start this season,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Friday afternoon. “To have them back, yeah, we’re close.”
The idealized Texas offense still felt distant in Friday’s series-opening 9-1 loss vs. the Philadelphia Phillies at Globe Life Field. The Rangers regressed to their ineffective mean vs. left-handers and were largely stymied by the National League’s best southpaw. Their own pitchers, led by right-hander Merrill Kelly in his second start since the trade deadline, issued a season-high nine walks and folded late when rookie right-hander Luis Curvelo allowed five ninth-inning runs.
But, the Rangers believe and hope, a healthy lineup will continue to help alleviate offensive problems.
First baseman Jake Burger returned from a 20-day stint on the injured list with a left quad strain Friday, started at designated hitter and recorded a double. Designated hitter Joc Pederson missed 56 games with a fractured hand, returned in late July and strung together his best stretch of at-bats in three games vs. the New York Yankees earlier this homestand. Third baseman Josh Jung returned from a minor league assignment two weeks ago and has been among the team’s hottest hitters since. He drove in the club’s only run Friday with a first-inning single off of Philadelphia’s Christopher that scored infielder Ezequiel Duran.
Friday’s game was the first since May 24 that Burger, Pederson and Jung each played. They have yet to play a single game this season with each of their projected everyday hitters healthy. Shortstop Corey Seager’s multiple IL trips in the season’s first half interfered with the perfect alignment. Outfielder Evan Carter started the season at Triple-A Round Rock and is in the midst of his second trip to the injured list. Carter, who hasn’t played since Aug. 2 with back spasms but threw and ran Friday, could return “sooner than later,” according to Bochy.
The fully-stocked Texas lineup will be tasked to battle the two incessant bugaboos that have stalled offensive consistency: left-handed pitchers and clutch situations.
The Rangers had slashed .299/.359/.470 vs. left-handed starters in six games against them prior to Friday night. Philadelphia’s Christopher Sanchez — owner of a 2.40 ERA and the third-best odds to win the NL Cy Young award — made Texas look like the offense that yielded a .571 OPS vs. left-handed starters in their first 23 games against them this season.
They were shut out in the game’s final eight innings Friday after Jung’s single in the first. It was their only hit with runners in scoring position and, for the third-straight game, the Rangers left at least 10 men on base. They’re 4 for 20 with runners in scoring position since Tuesday’s win vs. the Yankees and have left 31 runners on base in that span.
“Obviously,” Bochy said, “that’s what wins ballgames for you. They got ‘em, we didn’t.”
The competition hasn’t helped. The Rangers have faced a run of elite starters — specifically those of the left-handed variety — in the last week including New York Yankees left-handers Max Fried and Carlos Rodón, both All-Stars this season, and Sanchez. They split the two games vs. Fried and Rodón, lost to Sanchez and will face Phillies right-hander Zach Wheeler, another All-Star and Cy Young award candidate, in Sunday’s finale.
“You’ve got your hands full when you’re facing another team’s elite pitching,” Bochy said. “We’ve got to come back tomorrow and see if we can start getting some timely hits.”
Health helps.
Theoretically.
Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn
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