Latest Rangers heartbreaker puts playoffs odds at season low

The latest Texas Rangers loss wasn’t just their seventh in eight games. It wasn’t just another blown game after an excellent performance from Jacob deGrom. It might have been the final nail in the coffin if one can take the Fangraphs Playoff odds at face value.

According to those metrics, the Rangers now have just an 11.7% of making the playoffs, either winning the AL West or making the Wild Card. That is the lowest chance of a playoff the team has seen all season.

FanGraphs slashes Texas Rangers playoff odds to 11.7% after latest meltdown

It shouldn’t be at all surprising that the Texas Rangers’ playoff chances are in the toilet. After all, the team has played some truly horrible baseball over the last two weeks. There was a time, leading up to the deadline, when they looked like they had finally figured things out and were going to make a real run.

Then something happened. Perhaps this is the real Rangers team. Despite having quite a bit of talent up and down the lineup, and a rotation that is among the best in baseball.

It says something that the two pitchers who were very, very good for most of the season and were picked up at the deadline to shore up the bullpen have been the latest to bottom out. Danny Coloumbe had sported a sub-2.00 ERA all season and picked Friday to have his worst outing of the year.

At this point, the Texas Rangers are not out of the playoff race, but things are looking dim. After looking like they might make a run for the AL West crown, they’re 7.5 games behind the Astros and 7 games behind second-place Seattle. While they’re only 4.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot, they now sit behind the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians and Kansas City Royals.