MLB podcaster weighs in on Rangers' playoff chances amid tight AL Wild Card race: "Their offense can overcome pitching liabilities"
The Texas Rangers find themselves in one of the tightest Wild Card races in recent history. With only a handful of games remaining in the regular season, Texas finds themselves neck and neck with the Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays, and Houston Astros for two of the three American League Wild Card positions.
At this stage of the season, any of the teams mentioned above could reach the playoffs, however, former MLB player and current podcaster Trevor Plouffe has put his faith in the Texas Rangers. In a recent episode of Baseball Today, the nine-year pro player believes that Texas' powerful offense should be able to drive them into a postseason berth.
"Baseball Today with Chris Rose and Trevor Plouffe will be live @onamp at 11am ET!" - @ChrisRoseSports
In the episode, Plouffe explained that while Texas has some question marks surrounding their pitching rotation, their offense is powerful enough to be able to help them secure a playoff spot.
"I'm very confident in the Rangers. I'm not gonna get off the train now C-Rose. We've got Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver hitting tank jobs back to back last night. I think this offense can overcome whatever pitching liabilities that they have." - Trevor Plouffe
Although his co-host Chris Rose was shocked by Plouffe's backing of Texas, he is not crazy to think that the team's star-studded offense could steal them some games down the stretch. Currently, the Texas Rangers rank third in the MLB in team OPS (.794), second in hits (1403), third in RBIs (807), and sixth in home runs (215).
Thanks to All-Star such as Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim, and Josh Jung, Texas has been one of the most potent offenses in the MLB this season.
"Texas All-Stars #StraightUpTx" - @AllThingRangers
A closer look at the Texas Rangers pitching staff, which could lead to their downfall
Even though Texas has one of the most potent lineups in baseball, their pitching rotation leaves much to be desired. If everyone was healthy, Texas' strength very well could have been their pitching rotation, however, season-ending injuries to superstars Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer have made things a bit more confusing.
The team's pitching is not bad by any means, there are question marks surrounding the remaining players in the rotation. Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray, Dane Dunning, Jordan Montgomery, and Andrew Heaney have been solid but have also struggled with consistency. If Texas is going to reach the postseason, this rotation will need to be on top of their game or things can quickly spiral.