The Texas Rangers may have already dug their grave.
On Monday, the Rangers lost 5-4 to the Red Sox on a bases-loaded walk-off single. With the result, Texas has lost two in a row and is 3-7 in its last 10 games.
Last year’s World Series champions, the Rangers (55-64) are 8.5 games behind the Astros (63-55) for first in the AL West. They’re even further back in the AL wild-card race, sitting 10 games behind the Royals (65-54), which holds the league’s third at-large playoff berth.
Per Baseball Reference, Texas entered the day as an extreme longshot to make the postseason, and those odds will hover close to zero as the losses pile up. It began Monday with a 0.5 percent chance to make the playoffs. At this time last year, the Rangers’ playoff odds were at 98.3 percent.Â
Unless they surge over their final 43 games, the Rangers will become the first defending World Series champion to miss the playoffs since the Nationals (2020).
The team’s batting has been the main culprit behind its downfall this year. The Rangers are 19th in batting average (.239) and runs per game (4.25) a season after ranking second (.263 batting average) and third (5.44 runs per game) in those categories, respectively.
On Monday, Texas hitters mustered six hits in 35 at-bats, leaving seven runners on base and batting 2-of-10 with runners in scoring position.
The Rangers are also banged up at starting pitcher. Nathan Eovaldi left the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader with the Yankees after three innings (right side tightness) and Max Scherzer was placed on the 15-day injured list on Aug. 2.
Jacob deGrom hasn’t pitched this season, and while he looked strong during a rehab session early on Monday, that might not matter unless the Rangers find a solution to their woes at the plate.
Time isn’t on their side.Â