Can the Rangers make the postseason without ace Max Scherzer?

Scherzer Rangers

The Texas Rangers received a significant blow on Wednesday, when it was reported that their starting pitcher, Max Scherzer of St. Louis, Missouri will miss the rest of the regular season with a strained muscle in his shoulder. The injury came in the Rangers’s 6-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. At the time of the injury, Scherzer was throwing great, as he had thrown 5 1/3 shutout innings of work.

Can the Rangers make the postseason without Max Scherzer?

The short answer is simply, definitely. The Rangers have one of the most explosive offences in Major League Baseball. It includes Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Mitch Garver, Jonah Helm, Nathaniel Lowe, and Adolis Garcia. In all, the Rangers have scored 803 runs, the most runs in the American League. The only two teams that have scored more runs than the Rangers in all of baseball are the Atlanta Braves (848 runs) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (820 runs).

Scherzer is third Rangers starting pitcher out with an injury

Scherzer joins Jacob deGrom and Jake Odorizzi as Rangers starting pitchers on the shelf. deGrom had Tommy John Surgery, and won’t pitch until August of 2024, and Odorizzi is out for the season with a shoulder injury.

Return of Nathan Eovaldi is positive

Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi has been out seven weeks with a right forearm strain. There were some very positive signs as he got the start on Saturday in a 3-2  Rangers win over the Oakland Athletics. Eovaldi was on a 50-pitch limit, and as a result only threw two and a third innings, but was very effective. For the season, Eovaldi has a record of 11 wins, four losses, 115 strikeouts, and an earned run average of 2.90.

Simply better than the Blue Jays

Anyway you look at it, Texas is definitely better than Toronto, and that is all they need to be in order to be postseason bound. They have simply clobbered the Blue Jays this week in Toronto, outscoring them 26-7 in the process. As a result, they lead the Blue Jays by a game and a half for a playoff spot.

 

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