Rangers Reaction: Yep, things just got a whole lot worse
At every southbound turn so far this season, and there have been a bunch of them, manager Jeff Banister has been able to find a glimmer of hope for the Texas Rangers.
That can't be an easy task. It's not going to get any easier for the next, oh, two to six weeks.
It could be the longer side if Adrian Beltre listens to team doctors this time. It could be the shorter side if he again proves to be the toughest player in baseball.
Yep, things got worse Tuesday night for the Rangers.
Here's some Rangers Reaction from a 3-2 loss to the Oakland A's.
1. As everyone watched Beltre's line drive to right-center one-hop the wall, his trek to first base wasn't initially noticed. It didn't take long, though, for everyone watching at Globe Life Park or on TV to say, "Oh, [insert expletive here]."
A sure double turned into a just-get-me-to-first single for Beltre, who strained his left hamstring running down the line and turned right for the dugout as soon as the ball returned to the infield and time was called.
He knew. He knows now. He doesn't need an MRI exam Wednesday to tell him.
This isn't good.
The kicker is that Beltre has felt great since spring training. He showed up feeling "scary good," the fear being what happened Tuesday. Some muscle in his 39-year-old legs could snap at any moment, and just over two months after he arrived for spring camp, one did.
His left hamstring got him last season at Tropicana Field in the Hurricane Harvey series against the Houston Astros. He returned less than two weeks later with a strain that was supposed to take six weeks to heal.
The Rangers were in a playoff race then and running out of games. Beltre wanted to be on the field and somehow willed himself there. Once the Rangers were eliminated, he was, too.
It's only April, but somewhere Jim Mora is saying "Playoffs?" At 8-17 and without their two best players — shortstop Elvis Andrus is as many as six weeks away from return from his broken right elbow — October baseball looks about as likely for the Rangers as President Donald Trump going cold turkey on Twitter.
The best course for Beltre making the playoffs is to wait this one out, return healthy and see whether there is any interest in him from a contender at the trade deadline.
Miracles do happen. Maybe he'll be in the lineup Wednesday. Maybe the Rangers will rally without him and be a contender by the time his leg is healthy.
Playoffs?
2. Cole Hamels pitched well over 6 1/3 innings for the Rangers, allowing two runs. They needed him to go deep into the game, and so far this season, the seventh inning is deep for a Rangers pitcher.
Along the way, he also retired Chad Pinder, something he had never done in seven at-bats until striking him out in the fifth. Hamels knew what he had just done, too, as he turned and pumped both fists as if to say, "About damn time."
"He's been on every time he's been up," Hamels said. "I'm surprised he wasn't in the No. 4 hole. You have to have fun with it."
That was part of an interesting start for Hamels, who hit three batters in the first three innings. He was at 58 pitches after three innings and 91 after five, yet pitched into the seventh despite the A's putting runners in all but one inning against him.
After six starts, Hamels is 1-4. He hasn't been as bad as his 4.41 ERA wouldn't indicate, thanks to that stinker against Toronto. His breaking pitches have been more effective this season, a change from the past, and his four-seem fastball had more juice behind it than a week ago at Tampa Bay.
He's still the best bet the Rangers have in their rotation. That might not be very comforting to many in the Rangers fan base.
It's feeling more and more like four years ago with each injury, though Rougned Odor could be back next week, Doug Fister is back Wednesday and Tony Barnette is likely a Friday return from the DL.
But, just as was the case in 2014, players are wondering what could be next. Joey Gallo might not want to walk under any ladders or come across any black cats, as he's the only member of the Opening Day infield still standing.
Beltre himself said last week that he had heard the uneasy joking about the 2014 season, one that saw him hit the DL for two weeks in early April. He said the Rangers aren't there yet, that the injuries of 2014 were far worse than anything the Rangers have encountered so far.
He's right. He and Andrus will be back this season, unlike when Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Mitch Moreland and Martin Perez, to name four, suffered season-ending injuries.
As was the case two weeks ago when Andrus was injured, the players in the clubhouse seemed stunned by the Beltre injury.
They know what he means to the team. They know they are nine games under .500 after 25 games.
"It's a big blow," Hamels said.
This story was originally published April 25, 2018 at 12:09 AM with the headline "Rangers Reaction: Yep, things just got a whole lot worse."