The Texas Rangers will get a major boost to their rotation as they begin the American League Championship Series. On Sunday, the Rangers announced they would activate starters Max Scherzer and Jon Gray ahead of the ALCS opener against the Houston Astros.
Rangers Activate Scherzer, Gray for ALCS
Texas’ rotation has looked mostly solid this postseason. However, the additions of Scherzer and Gray should help greatly in going up against the juggernaut Astros. Scherzer, the Rangers’ prized deadline acquisition, made eight starts for Texas before landing on the IL in mid-September with a strained teres major muscle. At the time, Scherzer was expected to miss both the remainder of the regular season and the postseason. But thanks to a speedy rehab, he is now healthy enough to join Texas’ rotation. Since joining the Rangers, Scherzer has a record of 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA, a 0.956 WHIP, and 53 strikeouts in 45 innings.
Gray stayed healthy all season until late September, when he hit the IL with forearm tightness. In his second season with Texas, the veteran righty went 9-8 with a 4.12 ERA and 142 strikeouts in 157 1/3 innings.
Texas’ pitching staff was a major question mark heading into October. On top of missing Scherzer and Gray, the team had already lost Jacob deGrom and Jake Odorizzi for the season. However, both Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi stepped up in a big way to carry the rotation. Those two will be starting Game One and Game Two, respectively. This will allow Scherzer and Gray a few more days to prep for the middle games when the series will shift to Arlington.
On paper at least, these additions will help the Rangers level the playing field against the Astros, especially getting Scherzer back. Having a three-time Cy Young Award winner in the rotation should provide a good counter to Houston’s formidable arms. This includes Justin Verlander, who has also won the Cy Young three times. With Gray back as well, the rotation now has four veteran arms ready to go for a potentially long series.
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