When Jason Frasor allowed a two-run bomb to rookie phenom George Springer on Wednesday night, it was the fourth straight outing for the Texas Rangers' once-rock solid reliever to allow a run.
In fact, it was the fourth and fifth earned runs Frasor has allowed in five July appearances, nearly matching his six earned runs he allowed in the season's first three months. Clearly, Frasor is worn out. He's been worked to the bone with the Rangers' depth issues early in the season, and now that the Texas summer is making its appearance, it's clearly wearing on him.
But this is an awful time to start struggling from the Rangers' perspective. The Rangers obviously like Frasor a lot, but he's almost a certainty to be traded before the July 31 trade deadline to a contender because he's a free agent at the end of the season.
The Rangers would be able to get a decent return on Frasor, who's been very good in his season and a half in Texas before the calendar turned to July and has a great strikeout per nine innings ratio — the biggest judge of a late-game reliever.
So, it's basically a foregone conclusion he'll be dealt, the only question now is for what? These struggles aren't helping the Rangers from that perspective.
