5 things the Texas Rangers would like to see happen in the final week of the season
By this time next week, the Texas Rangers will be saying their goodbyes.
Some of those goodbyes will be only temporary, until wintertime when players start working out together again or next spring when they are teammates again.
Some of them will be more permanent, with free agency looming and trades a possibility.
But a week’s worth of games remains before the offseason starts for the Rangers, who are on their way to a last-place finish in the American League West. The final week will serve as a last chance for the Rangers to evaluate players on the field and further their plans for 2021.
The coaching staff and front office want to see as much growth as possible from young players, a process that stretches all the way to the finish line. Some veterans need a springboard into the off-season, even if it doesn’t happen until the final week of the season.
Some of those things have happened. Some are happening now. Some might be better late than never.
Here’s a look at five things the Rangers would love to see before the Sept. 27 season finale.
Gallo hitting streak
This hasn’t been Joey Gallo’s year. Come to think of it, 2020 has stunk for everyone.
The Rangers were expecting Gallo to be the player he was before breaking his hamate bone, and he was for about a week.
But he slumped badly, with the pitcher friendliness of Globe Life Field getting into his head. But he has been better since a day off earlier this month in which his mechanics and mentality were tweaked.
Gallo entered Saturday with hits in 8 of 12 games and a .186 average. A good finish might look like two homers, getting him to 11, and a .200 average. If he goes 7 for 24, he would finish at .200 on the nose and have enough of a taste of success to not feel the need for a massive offseason overhaul.
Gibson, Lyles repeat
Kyle Gibson tossed the first shutout of his career Wednesday after implementing a series of mechanical changes, especially to his stretch delivery. Jordan Lyles followed with his best outing of the season after attacking from the outset.
They are both under contract for 2021. Gibson’s contract lasts through 2022. Even if the Rangers are rebuilding, they need stability in the rotation ahead of possibly two young starters.
Each has two starts remaining, and the Rangers need to see Gibson and Lyles pitch well to shoot them into the offseason. The outings don’t need to be shutouts or their best of the season, but they can’t be steps backward.
Calhoun homer vs. lefty
That’s it. Just think about what it could do for a player who has dealt with injuries all year, dating to spring training, when he was hit in the face by a 95-mph fastball by left-hander Julio Urias, a former Los Angeles Dodgers minor-league teammate.
Willie Calhoun has been tentative against some lefties, the more deceptive ones, and manager Chris Woodward was sensitive to that earlier in the season. If Calhoun is going to play every day in 2021, he has to overcome that.
He entered Saturday without a home run this season against any pitcher, but had a two-run single Friday night in a 6-2 loss.
Cody going five innings
Let’s not get too greedy here with a pitcher who is in the midst of his most significant action since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2018.
Kyle Cody was handed a rotation spot after Mike Minor was traded Aug. 31 to Oakland, and has pitched well in small spurts. He has yet to complete more than three innings in his three starts, but he reached 74 pitches Tuesday.
If he were to reach five innings, it would show that he can pitch efficiently (cut down on the walks) and that his elbow is ready for a normal offseason. It would put him on course for a rotation spot for next season in what will be a crowded field of competitors.
No doctors
All players who are likely to return to the Rangers next season need to avoid injury, even something deemed minor.
An injury can put a player behind in preparations for the next season, which puts him behind for spring training and the regular season. There’s also the risk of aggravating the injury and delaying things further.
This holds especially true for pitchers, since the Rangers have so many they need to see move forward next season. Among them is Joe Palumbo, who is still trying to solve how to manage ulcerative colitis but remains a pitcher the Rangers want in their rotation.
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 4:42 PM.
