I'm not going to make a screenshot for every table, but if you're using a mobile client and you press this link, it should make the tables readable.

8/22 - 08/28

The Rangers lost two of three to a very good Kansas City team to begin the week, then they went to Seattle to play an even better team and they took to of three. Last night they began a four game weekend series against the Astros who aren't any better they they are, but they dropped the first game. So winning three and losing four really isn't so bad.

The stupid Angels still lead the AL West, much to my dismay. The following table is current through Thursday night at 11pm. Not all West coast games had been completed.

Now that Texas is without a doubt not in the playoff race and is, in fact, one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball, let us look at the reverse standings. This is obviously pretty important. The worse the Rangers are, the better draft position they'll have. Also they will be allowed to spend more on draft picks and foreign players.

Note that I'm writing as much of this report as I can on Thursday night so the above table hasn't been updated. The sidebar is current, however.

Transactions/Catcher Apocalypse:

Games:

Even if it doesn't seem like it, for the last several weeks the Rangers have been much more competitive. Last week they were dead even on the run differential. This week they were only outscored by one run. Like last week, it's the pitching and defense leading the way. In spite of being buoyed by a 12 run outburst the other night, the Rangers still only averaged 3.6 runs per game this week. The offense was mostly anemic, scoring barely over two runs a game the rest of the time.

Team Hitting and Pitching:

The hitting was about the same as it was last week: bad. It's a familiar refrain. The pitching was okay. Their peripheral numbers weren't very good but they didn't allow many runs.

In a simple weekly split like this, you can easily see how much of a difference having a healthy Darvish and Holland would make. The Rangers didn't have a day off. They played 7 games and pitched 61 innings. If Darvish and Holland were around, they'd obviously start at least one game each. You have to figure they'd absorb at least 13 of those 61 innings. If you're lucky they both get two starts each and pitch 26 or more of the team's 61 innings. It's not just that Darvish and Holland give you somewhere between 13 and 26 innings; it's that they're also taking away that many innings from sub-par pitchers. It makes a huge difference. Bring on 2015 already.

Individual Hitting (10 PA Min):

Well, the Rangers had four players who had good weeks. Daniel Robertson was the best of them. I'm not much of a believer in that guy but if he can take walks he's not too bad. Leonys Martin had his third strong week in a row. Chirinos is now getting most of the time at catcher with Soto having been traded, and he put together a really good week. Adrian Beltre cooled off a little from last week but was still good nonetheless.

Arencibia went from merely bad last week to utterly horrible this week. Odor continues to struggle. Mike Carp is useless. Rios should probably be on the DL. Andrus had several good weeks offensively but has now been shitty two weeks in a row. Adduci can't hit MLB pitching.

Starting Rotation:

Remember when Miles Mikolas pitched? That was awesome. Nobody else was. Baker was good enough in his spot start. Lewis had the complete game against the Mariners and his numbers would be good if not for some pretty epic home run issues. Tepesch took two steps backward in two starts this week as he was hammered by the Royals and was not at all good yesterday against the Astros.

Bullpen:

Ramon Mendez finally got nicked up a little, but the rest of the bullpen was outstanding yet again. It was particularly good to see Feliz bounce back. Neal Cotts may or may not be a Ranger in 2015, but the rest of these guys probably will be and it's looking good. Add in Ross and Scheppers and the pen should be a strength with depth.

Conclusions:

Team sucks. There are some positive things to think about regarding the pitching, but the pitching still isn't great overall and the offense is beyond horrible. Week after week it's the same thing.