How the Rangers can Win it All

For years now, fans of the Rangers have been hoping for the ultimate in baseball glory. We have been hoping to see the franchise hoist it’s first ever World Series trophy. In the forty-four years of their existence, the Texas Rangers have yet to complete that mission. In 2016 the Rangers seemed to have gone out of their way to try once again to reach the pinnacle of their sport. They acquired Cole Hamels last season. They picked up Carlos Beltran. They traded for Jonathan Lucroy. They signed recently released outfielder Carlos Gomez. They traded away some seriously good talent to make all that happen.

Even with all the talent the Rangers have added in the last 12 plus months, nothing is guaranteed. They are on pace to win 91-95 games. That is a good start, but what after the regular season ends and the post season begins? Now I don’t claim to be an expert, just a experienced fan of the sport I love so much. Here is what needs to happen for the Rangers to finally win it all.

1. All Aces. 

Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish cannot be off their game one bit. We have seen both men pitch beautiful games that were ruined by a flat or disappointing offense. If wither of them fall apart for just one game, especially in a five game series, the Rangers will be in trouble. When you have two aces at the top, they need to be those aces in October. Pitching wins. Period.

2. Lights out back end of the pen.

The reason the Rangers acquired Jeremy Jeffress was to sure up the back end of the pen. In a playoff series, where teams get more time off between games, the Rangers can’t afford to have an off night from the four main arms they count on. Keone Kela, Jake Diekman, Jeffress and Sam Dyson must do what is expected of them. A three game losing streak because of the equals a quick exit from the post season. They have been tested in the regular season and been very good, they need to do it under the brighter lights.

3. Hit with runners in scoring position.

One thing I hate to see during a game is a lot of LOB. The Rangers have had their struggles in 2016 with leaving runners stranded. The opportunity to score does not come nearly as often in the post season. The Rangers will be facing the best pitchers from the best teams at that point. They cannot afford to squander opportunities to plate runs. I have seen the better team lose many times because of this number being high. Simply put: if you don’t score, you don’t win. 

4. Small ball.

The Rangers have a plethora of power on the club. Lucroy, Mitch Moreland, Carlos Beltran, Adrian Beltre, Rougned Odor, the list goes on. But team cannot win by long ball alone. The Rangers made it to back to back Fall Classics by executing their fame plan. Get runners on, move the runners, score the runners. It is as simple as that. Solo home-runs are good, but a double steal followed by a wild pitch sure is fun to watch. Get runners in position as often as possible, and good things tend to happen. The Rangers have speed, and they need to take advantage of it.

5. Just have fun and play error free.

The best way to make an error is to sit there on the field and think about how you can’t afford to make an error. The horror of the Elvis Andrus inning in Toronto still haunts Rangers fans to this day. No one on that field looked like they were playing a game intended to be fun at that point. Elvis and Beltre need to do their thing. They need to celebrate like idiots when they score. They need to remember how they got there. Hard work and fun. Seriously, if you can’t have a good time playing baseball, maybe it is not the career for you. If the team is lose, they will be very hard to beat.

This team, just like any team in history, is not guarantee anything. They could still miss the post season. They could have injury of slump trouble. I happen to believe if the five things we discussed above happen, this team will be near impossible to defeat in a 5 or 7 game series. On paper they have the pitching. They have the defense. They have the bats and the speed. On paper they are one of the best in the MLB. On paper is nice, but it won’t win you a championship. That is won by what happens between the lines. If paper can translate to between the lines, than we may finally get to see out trophy hoisted in Arlington.