Just a few short weeks ago, the Rangers were looking at a first round bye and perhaps a top seed after winning 9 straight games after the All-Star break. Since, that time the team’s bullpen struggles have finally found their ultimate destination with tragic results.
Sure, the entire team went into a slump at the same time in all phases of the game. That happens in baseball but good teams usually find something that works to get out of those long slumps, the Rangers haven’t found it. In just the last 18 games the entire season has slipped away as the team is 4-14. One would think that the Rangers are now the Oakland A’s instead of the team setting baseball on fire, and being the quickest team in franchise history to win 72 games.
Today the Ranges are in 3rd place in the division and a half game out of any wild card spot.
Where? Why? How? Are you kidding me?
The reality is that this bullpen has suffered all season long and has ranked in the lower third of the league. Currently the Rangers are the 17th ranked team in ERA and they are 26th in all of baseball in relief. Before the All-Star game the team ranked 12th in ERA so they have dropped 5 spots.
This problem is not going to be fixed this season. No team can win and make the playoffs with an ERA close to 5 runs per 9 innings. That means that even if your offense can score 6 runs a game, the reality is that they cannot score enough to actually win games.
Injuries matter and losing several All-Stars at the same time did some serious damage to the team. A team just cannot lose a Josh Jung, Jonah Heim, Corey Seager, and Nathan Eovaldi at the same time. While Seager recovered quickly the others have not. Even with those losses it just does not explain how this team cannot pitch despite the trades, the acquisitions/free agents.
Mathematically, they play the Mariners 7 of the final 10 games of the season so they are not officially out of contention until then. Realistically, this team will be lucky to win 1 of 3 against the A’s during the next home stand. This season is over in my mind, and now we get to think about what could have been before next spring training.
I personally hate it when a team exceeds my expectations only to let me down way to early. I never thought they would win a world series this year and I questioned the bullpen early, but I did think they would win 87 games. The Rangers ability to win 11 more games out of the 24 remaining feels like a long way away as of today.
Is this the worst meltdown in MLB history?
1. Apparently, the worst collapse was the Phillies in 1964 who led the division by 6.5 games with 12 to go, yet lost 10 in a row. This epic collapse is known as “The Phold”.
2. In 2011, Boston lost 20 games in the month of September with a 9 game lead and missed the playoffs. In the final game with a shot at a wild card, they held a 3-2 lead over Baltimore and lost it despite having 2 outs and the Orioles down to their last strike.
3. 2009 Tigers held first place from May 10 until the final day of the season. The Twins beat the Tigers with four days left, and they ended up in a one game playoff and lost in the 12th inning.
4. 2011 Braves held a 9 game lead over the Giants and 8.5 over the Cardinals at the end of August. On the final day of the regular season, knowing the Cardinals had won, the Braves bullpen collapsed, the Phillies scored the tying run in the ninth, and they lost it in 13 innings.
5. The 2007 Mets had a 7-game lead on September 12. They promptly lost five in a row, then won 4 of 5, then lost six of the final seven. On the final day of the season, Tom Glavine allowed seven earned runs in a third of an inning to complete the collapse.
I think this Rangers meltdown will at least make the top 10 in history, what a huge disappointment to the team, the organization, and most of all us fans. There will be a lot of soul searching this offseason and someone could lose their job. One thing is clear there is a bullpen culture that must be built and whatever it is now has to change. There are talented players in the bullpen, but mentally or with control, they just do not have what it takes to be winners at a high level. I think they have to clean out the entire bullpen and start over for next year, but that is just my opinion. To get rid of smell sometimes you just have to throw out everything in the pantry, and there is a lot that stinks in the bullpen.
