Seattle is the Bad Place
Send in the rescue team because the Rangers need to be extracted from the Pacific Northwest.
If I’ve learned anything throughout my time as a Rangers fan, it’s that they can’t win in Seattle, Washington. They could be playing against a group of raccoons and they’d probably still lay a big, fat egg.
I’ll have more thoughts on Texas’ disastrous road trip tomorrow (I’m at work and don’t have time to do a deep dive into everything that transpired), but for now, here are some quick thoughts:
Jacob deGrom just wasn’t himself in his two starts this past week. In fact, he really hasn’t been the deGrom we all know for about a month. Whether that’s because teams are figuring him out or it’s simply general fatigue from the larger workload he’s taken on this year compared to recent seasons is anybody’s guess. I’ll look into deGrom’s supposed decline tomorrow, but what I do know now is that the Rangers desperately need him to be an ace.
Losing games in Seattle is one thing—but it’s the way the Rangers manage to lose that’s infuriating. Whether it’s a game that’s completely uncompetitive and therefore embarrassing (Thursday night), a collapse of epic proportions (Friday night), or your team’s best pitcher having a terrible day while the offense refuses to help (this afternoon), it’s always just a terrible, terrible time.
Joc Pederson does not need to be in the lineup right now. His .126/.256/.217 slash line (.473 OPS) should be enough proof that he’s just not someone who should be hitting fifth—of all places. And his at-bat in the bottom of the ninth this afternoon? Terrible.
I hope Robert Garcia is OK—he left Saturday’s game midway through his outing with what the team called mid-back spasms. That said, his role in this weekend’s general “I want to pull my hair out because this is so infuriating” shenanigans is clear evidence that he should not be the team’s option in the ninth inning. Two blown saves—both via two-run home runs that either tied the game or won it for Seattle—are not good enough. And five blown saves on the season? Also, well, not fantastic.
Shoutout to the following players for being cool and fun: Danny Coulombe, Phil Maton, Merrill Kelly (all three acquired at the trade deadline and absolutely lived up to expectations), Corey Seager, Adolis García (on Sunday in particular, when he finished a triple shy of the cycle), Cole Winn, and Rowdy Tellez (he’s just a fun watch).
There’s definitely a whole lot more to be said, so that’ll be done when there’s more time tomorrow.
The record after stops in Southern California and Seattle: 58–55. Two games back of the Mariners for the final Wild Card spot. I’m sure the Rangers are trying to get back to the plane as fast as possible. Getting them out of Seattle can only help.