In a weekly staple, we'll discuss who's in a groove and who's in a rut for the Texas Rangers.
Who's On?
Adrian Beltre — After stumbling out to a slow, injury-plagued start this season, it looks like Beltre is getting back to being Adrian Beltre of old, who has hit at least 30 homers in each of his three seasons with the Rangers — a streak that could end this year. Over the past six games, Beltre is hitting .391 and homered on Tuesday night when he went 3-for-4.
Leonys Martin — Martin has been a great hitter at home this year, and no so good on the road. Now that the Rangers are back home after a successful 11-game road trip, they're hoping he can continue that trend. Over the last six games, he's hitting .333 with four doubles, a triple and a homer and leads the team with a .762 slugging percentage over that span.
Catchers — In the past six games — four Robinson Chirinos starts and two Chris Gimenez starts — Rangers catchers are 7-for-20 with three doubles and a homer from Chirinos on Tuesday night. That Geovany Soto injury hasn't hurt the Rangers much at all.
Who's Off?
Top of order — Let this sink in if you're wondering about the Rangers' offensive struggles over the last week. The top two hitters in the order, Shin-Soo Choo and Elvis Andrus, are both mired in slumps that are breaching the territory of being concerning. The two have a combined 38 at-bats over the past week and exactly six hits (three apiece) as each is hitting .158 over that time. They've combined to score one run.
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Alex Rios — After appearing in the above category for much of the season, Rios has hit a slump, which happens from time to time to even the best players in baseball. Rios is hitting just .182 with no extra-base hits in his last six games.
8th inning relief — The Rangers blew yet another game in the eighth inning on Tuesday. It was thanks in large part to two guys who were heavily counted on entering the season and have failed to live up to expectations. In the last week, Alexi Ogando is sporting a 16.20 ERA and Neal Cotts has a 13.50 ERA. No bueno.
