Murphy, Moreland Showing Good Signs

Let's take a look at what got the Texas Rangers' offense in this mess that we've seen a lot of this season.

Sure, losing Josh Hamilton's and Mike Napoli's production over the winter certainly didn't help matters as it was assumed the Rangers' lineup would have a new look to it this year, but several of those key figures that were being counted on have dropped the ball offensively.

Elvis Andrus got off an awful start that extended through the all-star break. But since the break, Andrus is one fire and is starting to show off his gap power once again. That leaves two other players who have been an overall disappointment this year — Mitch Moreland and David Murphy.

Moreland has shown spurts, and was on fire for nearly a month before hitting the DL in early June. Since his return, he's been unable to find that stroke again. Murphy has been downright awful all season.

Now, both are starting to show some positive signs of life, and it's coming at the right time after the Rangers' offense hit near-record lows with 26 straight scoreless innings and Nelson Cruz is facing the possibility of a 50-game suspension for his alleged involvement in the Biogenesis stuff, the same Cruz who leads the Rangers in home runs and RBIs this season.

Since June 15, Murphy is hitting .260, which doesn't sound like anything special, but when he was hitting .208 on June 13, that's pretty spectacular. He was a triple shy of the cycle on Thursday night and has four home runs in that month-and-a-half span.

Moreland has struggled mightily since returning from the DL on June 21. At that point, he was hitting .288. Now, he's down to .243. That's a quick descent, folks. But Moreland has started swinging the bat again and is 3-for-7 in his last three games with four runs and a homer.

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If these two guys can get back to respectable output, the Rangers won't be in as much of an offensive funk as people might think.

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