A 24-24 might not normally be something to write home about, but let us take a couple of things into consideration. The Rangers were not exactly predicted to be contenders. Like most folks, I picked them to finish just ahead of the Oakland A's in the AL West. After a 7-14 April, the Rangers had an identical record to the perpetual also ran Baltimore Orioles. Based on this performance, I wrote, "The winner of the AL West will probably be determined by who can beat the Texas Rangers the most."
The Rangers rebuked this narrative by going 17-10 in May ending up with the third best record in the AL during the month trailing only the New York Yankees and the AL West leading Houston Astros who went 19-9 and 21-8, respectively. So how did they do it? Mostly offense. The Rangers scored 7 or more runs in 8 of their 17 victories in May. The Rangers have four players with more than 20 RBIs (Kole Calhoun, Brad Miller, Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia who leads the team with 31). Astonishingly, Marcus Semien has been struggling hitting .199 with 1 HR and 17 RBI after finishing third in AL MVP voting while a member of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021.
The Rangers aren't very deep in starting pitching. Martin Perez is leading the AL with a 1.42 ERA in his second stint with Texas but Dane Dunning, Jon Gray, Glenn Otto and Taylor Hearn have been mediocre thus far. However, the Rangers have a deep bullpen with closer Joe Barlow, veterans Matt Bush and Matt Moore along with Brock Burke and Dennis Santana. But the starting pitching after Perez will need to stand up if the Rangers are to sustain their recent success.
Although the Rangers are 7 games back of the Astros in the AL West, they are only two games back of the Los Angeles Angels for the third AL Wild Card spot having finished May with six straight losses. While the Oakland A's have fallen to the cellar as expected, the Seattle Mariners are arguably the biggest disappointment in MLB having come within an eyelash of reaching the post-season in 2021. The Mariners went 10-18 in May after treading water at 11-10 in April.
Things in the AL Central are relatively stagnant. The Minnesota Twins remain the only team with a winning record leading the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians by 5 and 6 games, respectively. The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals remain second division teams trailing the Twins by 10 and 12.5 games, respectively with the Royals now owning the worst record in MLB after a 9-20 May.
As mentioned earlier, the Yankees went 19-9 in May and lead the AL East by 5.5 games over the surging Toronto Blue Jays who have won six in a row and 8 of their last 10 games. The Jays now have the top AL Wild Card slot with the Tampa Bay Rays trailing them by a half game. From May 6th-15th, the Boston Red Sox were in last place in the AL East trailing even the woeful O's. But the Red Sox have rebounded going 10-6 since and are within striking distance of .500 although they remain 11.5 games back of the Yankees. Still, at least they can say, "We're not the Orioles."
The NL West is currently MLB's strongest division. The Los Angeles Dodgers went 20-9 in May they only have a 3 game lead over the San Diego Padres and a 5.5 game lead over the San Francisco Giants who own two of the three NL Wild Card berths. After going 5-24 in May 2021 en route to 110 losses, the Arizona Diamondbacks went 15-14 this May and are just under .500 (25-26). They are also not in last place. This currently belongs to the Colorado Rockies who had a lackluster 10-17 mark in May after finishing April 12-9. But at 22-26, a good June could put the Rockies back into the thick of things.
The Milwaukee Brewers remain atop of the NL Central with a three game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals who have the remaining NL Wild Card berth. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs continue to lose more often than they win currently standing 9.5 and 11 games back of the Brew Crew. respectively. The Cincinnati Reds remain in the cellar but after a 3-18 April actually enjoyed a winning record of 14-13 in May. Instead of replicating the 1962 New York Mets, the Reds now have a chance to pass the Bucs and Reds. They now no longer have the worst record in the NL.
That distinction belong to the Washington Nationals who are 16 games back of the New York Mets in the NL East. The Mets are the only team in the division with a winning record with the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves 10.5 games back with both the Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins 12.5 games off the pace. And it must be said that Jacob deGrom has yet to throw a single regular season pitch.
So where will be we come July 1st? Will the Rangers be contenders or pretenders? Can either the Chisox or Guardians get over .500 and compete with the Twins? Could the Blue Jays eclipse the Yankees by Canada Day? Will the Giants remain in the mix with the Dodgers and Padres or will Gabe Kapler's national anthem stance be a distraction to the team? Can the Reds get out of last place in the NL Central? Will the Mets have the best record in the NL despite the absence of deGrom? We'll have those answers one month from now.
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