The Texas Rangers have only won three of their last 10 games. Their co-ace Yu Darvish has been on the shelf for a decent amount of time and two other starters, Colby Lewis and Derek Holland, are right there with him. Prince Fielder, who has picked up his play of late, is still batting south of .225 and Josh Hamilton, who was supposed to be another bat in the middle of the lineup, has been out since early June and will not be returning.
So things must be going terribly in Arlington, right? Wrong. Despite the rough patch for the Rangers, the grass has never been greener.
The Rangers did so well in the month of June that they still are tied for the second most wins in baseball. Sitting at 54-36, they have two more wins than any other AL team (Cleveland) and six more than the next best AL West club (in-state rival Houston). Despite how down some fans and players may feel about the Rangers right now, step back and give it some perspective and you will see what a great first half it has been.
The Rangers, who have played more games than all but three MLB teams, will have plenty of time to rest over the All-Star break and get healthy again. They have shown, when healthy, they are as good as any. We have not even seen this team at full strength yet. They are on pace to win 97 games, which would be the best season in Rangers history, topping the mark of 96 set in 2011.
The Rangers are on pace to be better than ever before and they have played horrible for two weeks. Think about how much that really says about their quality of play when fully loaded? While the last few series have been tough for the club, do not forget what the first half of 2016 really was for Jeff Banister and company. Successful.
