ARLINGTON, Texas — Fresh off losing three of four to the Seattle Mariners, and five of six overall on the road, the Texas Rangers appear to have reached terminal velocity in their descent from which no trip to October to defend their championship awaits.
In the interim, with games still left to be played, the club has switched to a six-man rotation to accommodate for the returns of Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer and the insertion of Kumar Rocker. Expect that trio to get as much action as possible in the last two weeks of the season, while starters Jon Gray and Tyler Mahle are finished for the season.
Also finished is shortstop Corey Seager, hurt now by the opposite side of his offseason sports hernia surgery. A new surgery awaits with a long offseason ahead. With two weeks to go, Texas kicks off its final homestand of the year against a team in last place, but whose record is fairly close to their own – the Toronto Blue Jays.
Toronto Blue Jays (72-78, 5th Place AL East, 15.0 GB) @ Texas Rangers (71-79, 3rd Place AL West, 10 GB)
Toronto down the stretch
The Blue Jays seemingly waved their white flag months ago, being active sellers at the trade deadline. Sporting a bullpen that’s one of the worst in the league, and an offense that hasn’t been much better, the Blue Jays have been cellar dwellers of the AL East for most of the season despite being a playoff team last year. To that end, the Blue Jays were one of the most active teams at the trade deadline.
Toronto sprinkled talent like Danny Jansen, Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier, Yusei Kikuchi, and Trevor Richards around to contenders with a clear eye on 2025 and beyond. Their two franchise players – Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. – remain with the team, going down with the ship, so to speak. The contracts of each star will be the source of much conversation in the winter, as will the needs of the club as they attempt to compete again.
However, by going almost fully in on selling, Toronto was able to load up its farm systems after the eight trades that they made at the end of July. There will also be talent available to get in the winter, but what they decide to do with Bichette and Guerrero will dictate the immediate future of the club. Neither player is a free agent until after next season, at least, which not only makes them extension candidates, but also high-value trade candidates.
As for the remainder of 2024, Toronto is starting its last road trip of the season, having just swept the St. Louis Cardinals at home before heading to Texas. Ironically, despite being sellers at the deadline, the Blue Jays played their best stretch of baseball in the month immediately following.
The team played to a 16-12 record in August, despite losing several sluggers and arms. Now, with Tampa Bay and Boston not too far ahead of them in the division, Toronto’s final goal is avoiding a last place finish in the highly competitive AL East.
The matchups
- Game 151, 7:05 PM CT - TBD vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (11-8, 3.67 ERA)
- Game 152, 7:05 PM CT - TBD vs. LHP Cody Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA)
- Game 153, 1:35 PM CT - TBD vs. RHP Kumar Rocker (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
The time has come for the Rangers’ starters to make their penultimate starts of the year so they can go out throwing their best stuff and empty the tank. With deGrom and Scherzer returning from the injured list and with Rocker turning heads, the Rangers signaled that they would move to a six-man rotation for the final two weeks of the season.
Toronto will see Nathan Eovaldi, Cody Bradford, and Rocker in this series. Eovaldi, ever the bulldog, was undeniably knocked around in Arizona, giving up four runs on seven hits in just five innings in his worst outing in months. But beyond just looking to bounce back, an even more interesting plot point for Eovaldi might happen during Tuesday’s game.
Should Eovaldi pitch at least four innings in his remaining outings, he will trigger a vesting option in his contract. If he chooses to exercise the option, he will earn a $20 million contract to play for the Rangers next year. Regardless, for Eovaldi, it’s nice to know that once he hits that innings mark, he knows that he has an option to remain in Texas in his back pocket.
Bradford doesn’t have a free agent contract to worry about, he just has to worry about making a good enough impression to warrant consideration for the rotation next year. Bradford is coming off his worst start of the year, being tagged for eight runs on nine hits in just 3 ⅔ innings. After pitching well after missing most of the season, Bradford will be looking to bounce back against Toronto.
The Rangers’ top pitching prospect Rocker closes out the series, having made quite the impression in his debut, giving up just one run in four innings against Seattle. He’ll be making his first start in front of the home fans on Thursday in what he hopes to be many at Globe Life Field.
The Blue Jays have not established a rotation for this series yet, likely a by-product of having both Thursday and Monday off, allowing them to move people around a bit. Going by their usual order of arms, Bowden Francis should be making a start in one of the games this series, fresh off taking a no-hitter to the ninth inning for the second time in the last few weeks.
Righty Chris Bassitt could also make a start in this series, also having held the New York Mets to one run in six innings in his last start. Toronto could also turn to Kevin Gausman, after the two-time All-Star most recently held the Cardinals to two runs in seven innings.
Regardless, after playoff appearances last year, neither of these teams have much to play for except to give their younger or returning talent some opportunities in the big leagues.
Do you think the Rangers will start their final homestand of the 2024 season with a series win over Toronto? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
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