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Maybe its the Buffalo Bills and Jim Kelly's spirit haunting the Texas Rangers after their next door neighbor (Cowboys) beat the Bills 2 years in a row.
You know, it would be extremely amusing if Pujols got injured. I think too many people are putting way too much stock into one player because its exciting. However, I think the larger acquisition was CJ Wilson.
I can see the Rangers winning the division with the Angels getting the wild card.
It doesn't matter because they will all be 2nd place to my team
I'm a St.Louis Cardinals fan, but now living in the Dallas area. The A.L. West winner will be a hands on favorite to go to the World Series in my opinion. These are 2 very good teams and I will not go on a limb and predict the winner of this division...it's just too close. Now that the Cardinals have a new coach in Matheny and Pujols is gone, it will be an interesting season for the champions.
I believe Texas is still the much better team. The Rangers are still division, American League, and World Series favorites in my opinion with practically the same lineup from last year except for Wilson. And Wilson really couldn't come through when it mattered the most, with an All-Star Game loss and a loss in every round of the playoffs. But I think the Angels can claim one of the two Wild Cards.
Since there are 149 games left, it surely isn't time to panic, but to keep things into perspective:
To reach last years record, the Angels will have to go 82-67
To reach 90 wins, the Angels will have to go 86-63
Its becoming clear to me that CJ Wilson and Pujols, while great in on themselves, did not apparently address the glaring weaknesses of the team: bullpen and outfielding.
Too early to make predictions though, so keep that in mind.
So fat the Rangers have been pounding the petunias out of everyone. Their five game advantage over the second place team is the largest of the division leads. Their 11-2 mark is the best in all baseball. Their + 46 runs leads MLB (Cards are +34, Braves + 26.) They are scoring an average of 6.1 runs per game, the best in all baseball, they lead the AL with a team 2.38 ERA (Oakland is second at 2.99.)
So the Rangers aren't just leading, they have been dominating. A favorite announcer cliche is that the great teams are the ones who know how to win the close games. That of course is nonsense, the actual mark of a great team is how frequently they stomp the opposition so that they do not need to win a close game. The Rangers have been stomping. The Angels might start playing better and making it a tighter race, but there is nothing to indicate that the Rangers will start playing worse. This is a really good team.
there is nothing to indicate that the Rangers will start playing worse.
Well...to nitpick...'cause that's what I do...
The Rangers lead the majors in BABIP at .334. Their BABIP last year was .304 and the Tigers' .318 led the majors. That will come back down to earth.
Similarly, the Rangers' 2.55 ERA outpaces their ERA estimators (FIP 3.00, xFIP 3.60, tERA 3.86 and SIERA 3.46) by a decent amount. Also their BABIP against is an unreasonably low .269.
Expect the Rangers to start scoring less and giving up more
The Rangers lead the majors in BABIP at .334. Their BABIP last year was .304 and the Tigers' .318 led the majors. That will come back down to earth.
Similarly, the Rangers' 2.55 ERA outpaces their ERA estimators (FIP 3.00, xFIP 3.60, tERA 3.86 and SIERA 3.46) by a decent amount. Also their BABIP against is an unreasonably low .269.
Expect the Rangers to start scoring less and giving up more
.
An 11-2 record is .846 ball which would work out to 137 wins, so yeah, maybe there might be room for a bit of regression before the year is out.
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