ANAHEIM -- If it seems like the Rangers have been magnetically tethered to .500 over the past two seasons, that’s because ... they have been.
Texas entered Wednesday’s contest against the Angels at 60-60, marking an MLB-high 20th time the club has been at .500 this season. And just about any number of games back you measured, the pattern persisted:
After a 5-2 loss to the Angels on Wednesday, a win in the series finale would -- again -- bring Texas to .500.
“We’ve fought .500 for the last month and a half, but ... it’s not a mindset thing. It’s not like an ‘awareness of .500’ thing,” said right-hander Cal Quantrill, who struck out six over five solid innings. “I just think we’re having a hard time finding our groove and riding it. I feel like we play three or four really good baseball games in a row, and then have a stinker and it turns out to be .500 baseball.
“I think we know we’re better than that. I think we know that we can be a well above-.500 team, we just need to find some rhythm here and play our best ball, and see if we can’t line up the pitching and hitting in the same games and get on a roll.”
The Rangers’ best hope to snap out of that funk rests on the shoulders of their star hitters: Corey Seager, who’s been hurt, and Wyatt Langford, who’s mired in a career-worst slump.
Even in a loss, Seager showed some welcome signs of life.
The Rangers’ shortstop went 3-for-4 with a double and a solo home run, his first game with multiple extra-base hits since April 17. That was also the last time he connected for an extra-base hit off a 95-plus mph pitch -- until his first-inning double off a 95.6 mph fastball from Angels righty George Klassen.
The 2023 World Series MVP missed three weeks in May with lower back inflammation, was sidelined for two weeks in June with a concussion and returned to the IL again for nearly all of July with the same back injury. Suffice to say, it’s been a frustrating season for the Rangers’ highest-paid position player.
But in 11 games since returning from his latest absence on July 31, Seager owns a .293/.341/.488 slash line (.829 OPS). Wednesday was his second three-hit game in the past week. He was also inches from a three-run homer on Monday, but Angels right fielder Wade Meckler made an unreal catch at the wall to rob him.
“He’s been looking good. I know the stats, because of the robbed home run and everything lately, it could have been a big series so far with him,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “But he’s looking really good. He’s pulling the ball like he wants, and hitting it the other way, up the middle, staying on lefties. You were expecting it to click at some point, just because he’s so good, and hope he carries this into the next 40 games and just kind of rides this. And hopefully everyone jumps on his back, so to speak.
“... It’s kind of the Corey we all thought would be here. Just takes time after injury. It’s not easy to get the timing back and everything, and he’s been through a lot this year. Looks really, really good.”
While the 32-year-old may never replicate his 2023 AL MVP runner-up campaign -- a .327 average, 33 homers and a 1.013 OPS -- it would be foolish to write off a career .284 hitter with a Rookie of the Year Award, five All-Star selections and three Silver Slugger Awards on his resume.
The underlying numbers look good, too.
Seager’s Baseball Savant page displays plenty of red, a sign that his slash line (.202/.300/.395) could still self-correct. Seager ranks in the 92nd percentile in barrel rate (14.4), 84th percentile in average exit velocity (91.4 mph), 80th percentile in hard-hit rate (46.3) and 76th percentile in expected slugging percentage (.451). He’s still walking plenty, too, with his 12% walk rate landing in the 82nd percentile.
If Seager, and in turn, Langford, can return to form, Texas has 41 games to make a run in an underwhelming American League. With Houston’s win on Wednesday, the Rangers dropped to 1 1/2 games out of first in the AL West, and their lead for the third AL Wild Card spot slimmed to a half-game.
Texas’ next step? You guessed it: Win Thursday, and make it 21 times at .500.