MLB Texas Rangers: 9 Things They Need to Hold off Angels in AL West

The Texas Rangers just completed July and just like last year they are first in the AL West. It was a month that saw them put together a 12-game win streak, a 20-run game against the Twins and Derek Holland tied Cliff Lee for the most complete game shutouts.

They also were big players at the trade deadline by landing two of the best relievers in the game in Koji Uehara and Mike Adams. These additions fortify an under-performing bullpen and vault the Rangers to possible favorites in the American League with their strong rotation and productive offense.

Unlike last year, the Rangers have competition. The Angels are just two games back of first place and own one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball headlined by Cy Young candidate Jered Weaver and Dan Haren.

This division race has all the makings of a summer classic as the Rangers race for another postseason appearance and the Angels try to reassert their recent dominance of the West. And with 10 games left to be played between the two, it should be one heck of a ride. Here are nine things that would help the Rangers prevail in the tight AL West race.

9. Beat the Angels

Makes sense right? There is no better way to maintain a lead against a team than to beat them and with 10 games left between the two, seven of which are on the road, the Rangers must win at least two of the three remaining series.

This might prove more difficult than it sounds as the Rangers currently own a losing record against the Angels this season at 4-5. In Los Angeles the Rangers saw their major league leading 12-game win streak come to an end in a series the Rangers lost two out of three.

 The one thing they do have going for them is that their starting rotation owns the best road ERA in the majors at 3.09.

If the Rangers can manage six wins, or even five, against the Angels it will go a long way to helping them retain their division crown by not allowing them to gain ground in the standings.

8. Capitalize on Weaker Teams

The rest of the Rangers schedule is brutal. From August 15 until September 7, the Rangers will play opponents with a combined record of 233-195. Seven games against the Boston Red Sox, seven against the Angels, six against the Rays and a three-game series in Chicago against the White Sox.

Throw in a series against the Tigers, two against the Indians and another against the halos and the Rangers have quite the up-hill battle ahead of them.

The little solace the Rangers schedule provides is 18 games against AL West cellar dwellers in the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics. With a combined 14-6 record against the two, the Rangers must continue their dominance of their AL West foes. This is no easy task however as these teams are loaded with pitching from Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda to Gio Gonzalez.

A stretch in late September could provide the difference in the AL West race as the Rangers play nine straight games against the A’s and Mariners before finishing the season in Anaheim. Given the Angels relatively weak remaining schedule, this race should come down right to the wire and these nine games could be huge for the Rangers to either make up ground or further a lead.

7. Play Good Defense

When the Texas Rangers pursued and acquired Adrian Beltre they thought they would be getting the best left side of the infield in the game. With Beltre being widely regarded as the best defensive third baseman in the game and young shortstop Elvis Andrus, you could see why they thought that.

While Beltre has played stellar defense, his Rangers teammates have not produced quite as spectacularly. The Rangers are ranked 29 in the majors in fielding percentage performing just slightly better than the Chicago cubs. Mental lapses by Elvis Andrus and others have led to opponents scoring more unearned runs this season through 100 games than the team allowed all of last season.

While Endy Chavez has played decent defense, the Rangers could benefit by a call-up of top prospect Leonys Martin who is an above average defensive center fielder with good speed and a plus arm.

The Rangers can’t expect to remain in first if they keep squandering games because of defense.

6. Decrease Alexi Ogando Workload

Alexi Ogando has far exceeded everyone’s expectations for the converted reliever. When Tommy Hunter went down prior to the season, Ogando was expected to fill in and hold down the fort until Hunter returned. A few months later Ogando is an All-Star starting pitching with an ERA under three and Hunter is now in Baltimore.

Ogando, though spectacular, is in uncharted territory. He has already accumulated 125 innings this season which is just 25 innings short of his combined innings pitched in his entire professional career. His innings have to be managed to make sure that he is fresh come October and producing leading up to it.

The additions of Mike Adams and Koji Uehara should help cut Ogando’s innings by having reliable arms in the seventh and eighth. If Ogando can go six innings instead of seven or eight, he should be much more effective down the stretch.

5. Consistent Hitting

The Rangers have one of the best offenses in the game. There is no denying that. That is why they did not need to add Carlos Beltran at the deadline although they were rumored to be in the bidding.

What has killed the Rangers this season has been inconsistent hitting. Though they are in the top three in just about every offensive category, a sputtering offense has been the cause of losses in which the Rangers starters threw a great game.

The Rangers have lost 11 games in which the pitchers gave up three runs or fewer. Nobody seems to have worse luck than C.J. Wilson who allowed just two hits, an unearned run and lost to the Angels. In June he went eight innings in New York allowing just two runs while striking out ten but got no decision as the offense could manage only two runs itself.

Aside from holding off the Angels, Wilson is a free agent after this year. Do you think he wants to come back to a team that spoils his excellent outings?

To win the AL West the Rangers simply can not lose anymore games like this.

4. They Need a Little Help

We already touched on how the Angels have a weak schedule the rest of the way. But how weak is it? They play just three teams with a winning record – The New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers.

The rest of the schedule is loaded with the Twins, Mariners, A's and Orioles among others. There's never been a better time for a Jered Weaver meltdown than right now. Something is going to have to shake them out of the groove they have been in since mid-June and maybe Carlos Guillen hot-dogging the homerun was just the thing.

 The Angels are going to have to lose a few games that they should have won in order for the Rangers to hold down the West. Now I'm not saying the Rangers aren't capable of winning the division without help, but with the treacherous schedule that lays ahead of them a little help never hurt.

3. Resurgent Bullpen and Consistency from Neftali Feliz

For an AL West title, the bullpen just simply has to be better. They have an ERA in the four's which is toward the bottom of the American League. The Rangers have used 17 different relievers this season which is just two short of the amount of relievers they used all of last season. This is before September call-ups.

Jon Daniels hope the answer to the bullpen woes are the new additions of Koji Uehara and Mike Adams who were acquired at the trade deadline. The Rangers now have two legitimate set-up guys to get the ball to Neftali Feliz, something they have not had since Alexi Ogando transitioned to the rotation.

Just getting the ball to Feliz might not be enough though. After winning the American League Rookie of the Year award, Feliz has just not been himself this season. Early in the year he struggled with injury issues then came back and could not muster the velocity he is known for. Then he found the velocity but could not control his off-speed pitches.

Feliz has got to find his swing-and-miss stuff that everyone knows he has in order for the Rangers to succeed.

2. Remain Healthy

Staying healthy has always been a concern with this team and in order to hold off the Angels, the Rangers will have to avoid injuries to key contributors. With so many big names with an extensive injury history, this could be the biggest key to winning the West.

When Josh Hamilton went down with a broken arm the Rangers were 9-1. When he came back on May 23, the Rangers were just 24-23. That's quite a difference. Who would have ever thought losing an MVP would hurt so much?

Hamilton along with Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, Mike Adams and Koji Uehara have had injury problems in the past and they all are expected to be huge contributors down the stretch. The Rangers can not afford any of these guys to go down. Lately, the Rangers have remained relatively healthy outside of Beltre's hamstring injury. Hopefully this is not the calm before the storm.

1. Starting Pitching Must Continue Dominance

With all the problems the Rangers have had it's a wonder how they are in first place. A great deal of credit is owed to the outstanding pitching. I can not remember a season in which a Rangers starting rotation has pitched this good and stayed healthy the entire season.

The only pitcher who has started who wasn't in original starting rotation is Dave Bush, and those starts were designed to give Alexi Ogando a little rest.

Ogando transitioned into the starting rotation and has not seemed phased at all with his 2.88 ERA and an All-Star selection. Matt Harrison, who also spent the majority of 2010 in the bullpen, is putting up similar numbers with a 2.94 ERA. When your No. 3 and 5 starters at the beginning of the season both have an ERA below 3.00, you know you have got something special.

C.J. Wilson has stepped up and filled the role of ace with the departure of Cliff Lee. Wilson was also an All-Star and currently owns a 3.30 ERA.

Colby Lewis and Derek Holland struggled early but have both seemed to find their groove at just the right time. Not many pitchers are hotter right now than Holland who has thrown three complete game shutouts in his last five starts.

Rangers pitchers must continue their dominance in order for them to hold off the Angels, who own a pretty good rotation themselves, in a very tight AL West race.