Young players have been riding ups and downs all season. Texas Rangers expected it.
The only thing that has been consistent about the Texas Rangers so far this season is their inconsistency.
In May alone, the Texas Rangers have: won 7 of 9 games to climb to .500, immediately lost 9 of 10 games, swept three games from a team that had just swept for four from them, been no-hit and lost two in which they trailed by scores of 11-1 and 9-1.
Those ups and downs, a byproduct of individual ups and downs, is life on a rebuilding team filled with players who have yet figured things out or figured out enough things to prevent long slides.
The Rangers were hoping for more of the good stuff Thursday night as they opened a four-game series at Seattle. Their player evaluations were to continue as left-hander Kolby Allard was scheduled to make his first start of the season.
Offensively, the hope was that the five-run eighth inning Wednesday and home run swings from Nate Lowe and Joey Gallo stick going forward.
The Rangers, meanwhile, were completely prepared for a bumpy ride in 2021.
“We knew, because of many of them lack the experience, that it was going to be a learning experience for a lot of them,” hitting coach Luis Ortiz said. “That’s the challenge of having young teams that are learning a lot of stuff in the big leagues.
“We’re going to take our struggles and learn from it. And that’s the key. Do we need to learn from it and adjust? We tell the guys that we’re going to make mistakes, but failure is if we don’t learn from those mistakes. That’s what it is like.”
Adolís Garcia, who entered Thursday tied for the MLB lead in home runs (16), has been the only consistent hitter, and Kyle Gibson, who hit the injured list Tuesday with a groin strain, has been the only consistently good starting pitcher.
Right-handed rookie Dane Dunning has been very good this season, except in the first inning. The Rangers already moved center fielder Leody Taveras to center field after he lost himself at the plate.
The bullpen continues to pitch well for the most part. The relievers who have struggled are rookies, and Rule 5 pick Brett de Geus had never pitched above A ball before this season.
Players are visiting ballparks for the first time in their careers. Hitters are seeing breaking balls from opposing pitchers that they never saw in the minor leagues. Pitchers are seeing hitters lay off good pitches just off the plate that minor-league hitters swing through or softly put in play.
Players are also grinding like they never have. The Rangers played games on 46 of 48 days from April 9 to May 23, an endurance test for the body and the mind. Manager Chris Woodward said he pushed some players through to the end so that they can learn what it takes to survive a grueling stretch and apply it to the next one.
“If it’s just mental fatigue, they need to push through that,” he said. “We want to build up that mental muscle in your brain.”
Two months isn’t enough time for players to build up enough of a memory bank to suddenly be consistently good. They are making deposits with every game, however.
By the end of the season the Rangers hope to see enough development to know if they will need another season of rebuilding or if they can start to sprinkle the roster with complementary veteran pieces via free agency or trade.
“It’s just going to take time,” Ortiz said. “We’ve got a lot of new guys that this is the most I’ve ever played in the big leagues, and like it or not, we want we want to do well but the reality is the reality.”
