Entering play on Wednesday, the Texas Rangers had won four games in a row and sat just one game back of the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West.
Just when things seemed like they were finally turning around for the Rangers after the successful play on the field, the injury bug struck again at what seemed like just about the worst possible time.
Texas ace Max Scherzer left his start on Tuesday after 73 pitches with what an MRI later revealed was a major strain in his tricep.
When addressing the media on Wednesday, Rangers GM and President of Baseball Operations Chris Young revealed that Scherzer would not need surgery but would still be out for the rest of the regular season and is “unlikely” to pitch in the postseason.
The news came as a terrible development for a Rangers team that already lost Jacob deGrom to a season-ending elbow injury back in April and is currently down two all-stars in Josh Jung and Adolis Garcia.
Scherzer has been good since being traded from the New York Mets on July 30th in exchange for infield prospect Luisangel Acuna. In eight starts with the Rangers, Scherzer was 5-3 with a 3.20 ERA.
Max Scherzer will be in a Texas Rangers next season as he opted into his contract for the 2024 season upon being traded.
Candidates to replace Scherzer in the rotation include Martin Perez, Andrew Heaney, and Cody Bradford. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said yesterday that choice may not be made until Sunday, which is when Scherzer’s next start was scheduled to be.
Most of the time, when you lose pitching at this point in the season, it pretty much sinks a team, but for the Rangers, that’s different. Whoever fills into the rotation won’t be as good as Max Scherzer but will have big-league starting experience.
Overall, it’s not a great situation for the Rangers to be in, but it’s also not the worst.
Back in Spring Training, if you had told any Ranger fan this was the position that the team would be in, they would have taken it in a heartbeat.
Would you love to have Max Scherzer as your team is making a playoff push?
Absolutely, but the fact that the 2023 Texas Rangers are not only making a playoff push, but a push to win the division is something that should be celebrated.
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