The Texas Rangers have spent the summer treading water, and Wednesday night they get a chance to make up ground against the one team in baseball worse equipped to stop them than almost anyone else. Nathan Eovaldi takes the mound against an Angels lineup that has been outscored by 91 runs this season, and if Texas wants to climb back to .500, this is the kind of matchup it needs to cash in on.
This is Game 3 of a four-game set between the Rangers and Angels, and the season series between these two has been anything but predictable. The Angels have actually won three of the five head-to-head meetings this year, including a lopsided 13-1 win, while the Rangers have taken the other two matchups, an 8-3 win and a 7-6 nail-biter. There's no clean pattern here, just two teams that have traded haymakers all season, and now they're back at it in Anaheim.
The records tell the story of where each club sits with a little over a month left in the regular season. The Angels are 45-73, allowing 4.9 runs per game against 4.1 scored, a run differential of minus-91 that ranks among the ugliest in baseball. The Rangers, at 59-59, aren't a great team either, but they're a break-even one — 4.1 runs scored, 4.4 allowed, a far more manageable minus-33 differential. That gap matters, and it shows up in recent form. Texas has won four of its last five, closing out a series against Baltimore with back-to-back wins after an opening loss, then sweeping a pair from San Francisco. The Angels, meanwhile, have alternated brutal losses with the occasional flash — a 3-12 shellacking and a 0-7 shutout against Miami, followed by a gritty 4-3 win, then a split against Baltimore. Los Angeles hasn't found any consistency, and until it does, nights like this one against a hot Rangers club are going to be rough.
The pitching matchup is about as lopsided as it gets. George Klassen takes the ball for the Angels carrying a 7.269 ERA, numbers that suggest he's been getting hit hard and often. Across from him is Eovaldi, sitting at a 4.206 ERA, not dominant by his own standards but miles ahead of what Los Angeles is trotting out. When the gap between starters is that wide, it tends to dictate the shape of the whole game, and Texas's lineup should be looking to be aggressive early against a pitcher who has struggled to keep hitters off the bases.
Both rosters are banged up, but the Angels' injury list is significant. Robert Stephenson, Yoán Moncada, Anthony Rendon, Jack Kochanowicz and Yusei Kikuchi are all on the 60-day injured list, hitting both the pitching staff and the left side of the infield. Sebastián Rivero and Sam Bachman are shorter-term absences. Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Adam Frazier are also unavailable, which strips the lineup of several players who'd otherwise be centerpieces. It leaves Zach Neto, Nolan Schanuel, Josh Lowe and Oswald Peraza to carry the offensive weight, with mixed results — Schanuel's been the most productive of the group, popping a 33.5-point game in his last three outings after a quieter five-point showing, while Neto and Peraza have gone cold, combining for single-digit point totals over their most recent stretches.
Texas has its own issues, particularly with pitching depth — Jack Leiter, Jose Corniell, Carter Baumler, Jalen Beeks and Robert Garcia are all out long-term — and the infield has taken hits with Josh Jung, Jake Burger, Corey Seager and Evan Carter all sidelined. But the lineup Texas can still trot out has more juice. Brandon Nimmo has been up and down but flashed a 34.5-point outburst in his last three games. Wyatt Langford has produced steadily, averaging 13.5 fantasy points on the year, and Joc Pederson remains capable of an explosive night, as his 30-point performance a few games back showed. Ezequiel Duran has been quietly consistent at shortstop.
With no projections available for this matchup, this one comes down to reading the roster damage and recent trends, and both point the same direction. The Angels are dealing with more long-term injuries at more critical positions, their bullpen and rotation are thinner, and their bats not named Schanuel have gone cold at the wrong time. Texas, even with its own wave of injuries, has the better everyday lineup and a starter who gives it a real chance to get into the middle innings with a lead.
Expect the Rangers' offense to jump on Klassen early and for Eovaldi to work efficiently enough to keep the Angels' lineup from ever building momentum. Texas wins this one comfortably, 7-3, and moves a step closer to squaring its record before the series wraps up. For JockBroker users building around this game, the volatility in both lineups — especially Los Angeles's — makes recent form and health status as important as any other factor in setting your roster.
