Have you heard the news!? The Mariners traded for Eugenio Suárez late last night (and also picked up Caleb Ferguson earlier in the day). By the time you read this, they might have made another trade or two ahead of the 3 pm PT deadline today. With the M’s going all-in for the stretch run, it’s almost enough to make you forget all about that lackluster series loss in Sacramento. Anyway, it’s time to look ahead to the final two months of the season and this weekend should be a pretty important bellwether
to see how the new-look Mariners stack up against one of their direct rivals in the standings. A lot can happen in two months, but this series against the Rangers should probably be treated like a playoff series.
The Rangers have been surging up the standings over the last month. They ended June with a 41-44 record and were 3.5 games behind the Mariners in the Wild Card standings. They’ve gone 16-8 in July and 9-3 since the All-Star break and enter this huge four-game series tied with the M’s in the standings. As of writing, Texas hasn’t been as aggressive in pursuing upgrades for its roster ahead of the trade deadline. Their recent surge up the standings has been built on excellent pitching and their lineup producing closer to expectation. There’s very little they could do to improve what has already been baseball’s best pitching staff and they may already be satisfied with their run scoring capabilities now that their superstars are hitting like they should be.
The Rangers have scored the second most runs in baseball in the month of July and their team wRC+ ranks sixth. That’s quite a turnaround from their early season woes. As you’d expect, Corey Seager has been in the middle of that offensive resurgence; he’s slashing .326/.442/.605 in July (183 wRC+). The guy with the highest wRC+ this month has been Kyle Higashioka — his .400/.404/.745 slash line gives him a 215 wRC+ and he’s been getting intermittent starts at DH to keep his bat in the lineup.
Probable Pitchers
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Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesFrom a previous series preview:
Kumar Rocker’s wild path to the majors finally came to its conclusion last fall when the Rangers called him up for a cup of coffee in September. At that point, he had thrown just 64.2 innings as a professional, thanks in part to a Tommy John surgery in 2023. He was as raw as you’d expect from a polished college starter who spent a year in independent ball after the Mets draft shenanigans left him high and dry. Still, despite the lack of pro ball experience, he held his own against major league competition across three starts last year. His slider is his best pitch by a wide margin — batters simply cannot touch it. The rest of his repertoire is still a work-in-progress and he has some serious relief risk because he doesn’t really have a third or fourth pitch that’s very reliable.
After a brief demotion to the minors, Rocker is back in the majors with a revamped pitch mix. He’s added a cutter to his repertoire which gives him an intermediary pitch between his four-seamer and devastating slider. The results have been promising, though his entire profile still rests on his ability to locate his pitches.
From a previous series preview:
Despite a phenomenal college career and a lofty draft pedigree, Jack Leiter has had some real trouble adjusting to professional baseball. Command issues have plagued him throughout the minor leagues and his brief cup of coffee in the majors did not go very well last year. He added a sinker and a new changeup to his arsenal this offseason and the widened repertoire gives him a few more tools to keep batters off balance. More than anything, he really needs to show that he’s developed his command to stick in the big leagues.
From a previous series preview:
Jacob deGrom hasn’t pitched in a full season since the pandemic shortened 2020 season. He’s dealt with a litany of injuries that have limited him to under 200 innings total over the last five years. He’s healthy right now, but there’s no telling how long he’ll stay that way, so every inning the Rangers get out of him is a precious commodity. In an effort to reduce the strain on his arm, he’s throwing a little softer this year; for him, that means his heater is averaging 96 mph rather than 98 or 99. All three of his secondary offerings are just as effective as ever so the real question is if he can continue to be one of the best pitchers in baseball with diminished fastball velocity.
From a previous series preview:
Patrick Corbin helped the Nationals win a World Series in 2019 and burnt himself out in the process. He hasn’t been the same since that year and he’s sort of just existed as an innings-eating back-end starter for the Nationals while he played out the end of his massive contract he signed ahead of that championship season. The Rangers signed him during spring training to cover for some of the injuries they picked up in February and March and he’s made four decent starts for Texas so far. Corbin’s calling card is still his wipeout slider but he also added a cutter to his pitch mix last year which gives him an intermediary pitch between his big breaking ball and his sinker.
The Big Picture:
The Astros bounced back from their five-game losing streak with two straight wins over the Nationals to earn the series win. They’ll travel to Boston for a three-game series this weekend. The Angels continue to straddle the line between fringe contender and a team in no-man’s land; they won their series against the Rangers this week and host the White Sox this weekend. The Yankees wrap up their four-game series against the Rays today looking for a series win and will travel to Miami on Friday for a weekend series in Florida.
More from lookoutlanding.com:
- 40 in 40: Mike Leake
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 1/1/18: New Year, Edgar Martinez, and J.D. Martinez
- Mariner Moose Tracks, 12/31/17: Edgar Martinez, Barry Bonds, and Sandy Koufax
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/30/17: Edgar Martinez, Miguel Sano, and Wade Davis
- Jerry Dipoto doesn’t care about your fan theories
- Sporcle Friday: Most Walks in a Season
- Mariners Moose Tracks, 12/28/17: 4MOM, Jose Altuve, and Michael Fulmer
