ARLINGTON, Texas — Coming off a 5-1 final homestand of 2023 that featured a series sweep against the Seattle Mariners that catapulted them back into first place in the American League West, the Texas Rangers will finish up their regular season on the West Coast.
But before they face off against Seattle again in the regular season’s finale series, they will have to go through Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels with their magic number to clinch the division currently set at 5.
Any combination of a win or a loss by the team directly below them in the AL West will reduce that number. If it reaches zero, the Rangers will earn their first division championship since the 2016 season and likely a first round bye in the American League playoffs along with it. There’s still plenty of work to be done before they pop the champagne, however.
Los Angeles down the stretch
The Angels and Rangers last faced off in mid-August, but the team that Texas will take on to kick off their final road trip is a shell of what the Angels were supposed to be to start the year. On top of the injuries and issues plagued by the team’s on-field product, there have been off-field issues as well.
Los Angeles will welcome Texas without MVP frontrunner Shohei Ohtani, for example. The last time the Rangers faced the Angels, Ohtani was already ruled out of pitching with a shoulder issue that would later be revealed to be more serious than expected. But even then, the two-way phenomenon was in the lineup as designated hitter where his transformation into one of the league’s best hitters will likely garner him a second MVP award.
After holding onto Ohtani at the trade deadline ahead of his impending free agency this winter, the Angels saw their faint playoff hopes dwindle and the injury represented as big a blow as could be imagined.
With the Angels losing their gamble and now having nothing else to play for, the decision was made for Ohtani to undergo a procedure to reinforce his UCL, ending his season on both sides of the ball. Ohtani will be ready to hit next year for whichever team he chooses to play for and will re-enter the pitching scene, his actual position, in 2025.
Texas didn’t have to contend with Mike Trout the last time these two teams faced off and they won’t have to this time around either. Trout returned to the lineup on August 22 after missing nearly two months of action following a hamate bone fracture, but then immediately returned to the injured list with continued wrist complications. The 32-year old former MVP has been shut down for the rest of the season and will focus on rehabbing instead of risking further damage in a meaningless final week for the Halos.
The Angels will also be without Anthony Rendon, and while the third baseman had been having an awful year offensively and defensively, the circumstances surrounding his injury and the handling of it have been well scrutinized.
Rendon’s initial injury happened on July 4 as he fouled a ball off his shin and left the game. The club announced it as a deep bone bruise. Rendon would later come out in an interview and state that he actually had a broken tibia. Manager Phil Nevin would later announce that Rendon would not return for the rest of the season.
While the three big names are out for the Angels for the year, the club has some things to look to from its younger performers. Rookie Zach Neto has been outstanding for the club, especially defensively. Nolan Schanuel – who was selected 11th overall in the first-year player draft in July – has reached base in 22 straight games to start his career. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe, despite missing four months with a torn labrum, has made an impact in the clubhouse and with the pitching staff.
The Angels, however, as they seemingly have done for so many years, have found ways to underperform while managing to keep two generational players out of the playoffs. Despite pinning their hopes of finally getting Trout and Ohtani to the postseason, they’ve tumbled to a 25-40 record in the second half and just 6-16 in September.
The matchups
- Game 156: 8:38 PM CST - RHP Jon Gray (8-8, 4.22 ERA) vs. LHP Patrick Sandoval (7-13, 4.19 ERA)
- Game 157: 8:38 PM CST - TBD vs. LHP Reid Detmers (3-10, 4.64 ERA)
- Game 158: 8:38 PM CST - RHP Dane Dunning (11-6, 3.88 ERA) vs. RHP Griffin Canning (7-7, 4.39 ERA)
Jon Gray could use a good outing. The righty who at one point was performing as Texas’ second best starter, hasn’t had a quality outing in his last six starts. In that time, Gray has put up a 7.99 ERA, has given up 33 hits and walked 13 while allowing seven homers. Most recently, Gray gave up four runs against the Red Sox, lasting just 2 ⅓ innings on Wednesday. Gray put the Rangers in an early hole, one they were able to slug their way out of, while Martin Perez came on in relief to earn the win.
Opposing him in the opener will be Patrick Sandoval. The lefty has had a terrible September too, but the Angels’ defense has plagued his line. Two starts ago, Sandoval went five innings and gave up eight runs, but just one of those were earned. In his most recent start, Sandoval went five innings again and just gave up two runs to the Tampa Bay Rays, coming away with no decision after three straight losses.
The Rangers had been able to use their final day off last Thursday to shuffle their rotation around, but the team will have to pull a starter from their bullpen for the second game of this series. This would have been Max Scherzer’s spot, but Cody Bradford may be called upon to make a spot start for Texas.
The Angels, meanwhile, will turn to lefty Reid Detmers on Tuesday night. Detmers has faced Texas three times this season; the first time, the Rangers tagged him for three runs in four innings but he’s had Texas’ number since then. Back in June, Detmers held Texas to just one run on three hits over six innings. In his start back in August against the Rangers, Detmers no-hit the Rangers into the 7th inning in the game that kicked off Texas’ slide in late August that eventually knocked them out of first place until they reclaimed that position over the weekend.
In his last time out last Wednesday, Detmers allowed just one unearned run against the Rays, though Tampa Bay made him work as he lasted just four innings in the only game in the series that the Angels would eventually win.
The finale will have Dane Dunning return to the hill for his last outing of the 2023 regular season. Dunning was pitching fantastically against the Mariners in the opening game of the series over the weekend, until he hit a wall in the 6th, ultimately being tagged with 4 runs on his ledger.
The righty has made two starts against the Angels this season, each a loss for Texas though his outing back in May featured zero runs allowed over five innings. For the Angels, Griffin Canning will finish out his series on Wednesday. Canning got hit for four runs in 3 â…” innings against Texas back in August in a game that the Rangers won 12-0. Most recently, Canning allowed two runs in five innings against the Rays, walking three while striking out seven in a loss on Thursday.
With Texas now squarely in the driver’s seat in the American League West, they truly control what happens in the regular season’s final week. If they win the series against the Angels, they head into the season’s final series against the Mariners just needing to stave off Seattle to keep first place. The most important thing is that Texas can’t let off the gas with the AL West finish line in sight.
Do you think the Rangers will further stake their claim to the AL West against the Angels? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.