Texas Rangers: Seven standouts from the 2020 schedule
See what’s ahead for the Texas Rangers in a unique year. Their fun begins Friday, July 24th at 7:05 CST when they host the Rockies.
Major League Baseball 60-game schedules were released Monday afternoon. The Texas Rangers will open the season in their brand-new ballpark with a three-game set against the Colorado Rockies beginning July 24th.
In case you haven’t been following the radical scheduling adjustments, here is an overview:
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
- Each team’s schedule consists of 40 divisional games and 20 interleague games.
- Gameplay involves only a club’s division and the corresponding geographical division (AL West couples with the NL West, AL Central with the NL Central, and AL East with the NL East).
- Divisions remain the same in terms of ranking and playoff access.
- Fans are not allowed in stadiums to begin the year; however, the precaution will be re-evaluated in August.
With the baseball calendar finally concrete, I scanned the Texas Rangers 2020 schedule for standout aspects. Here are my findings:
1. A favorable first seven games
The Rangers open their campaign with very winnable games. They’ll host the Colorado Rockies for three and the Arizona Diamondbacks for two. Their road schedule begins in San Francisco with two contests with the Giants. They will have a day off between each series.
Colorado finished fourth in the NL West in 2019 with a 71-91 record. They inherit the same narrative as years’ past: one of the league’s best offenses held back by one of the league’s worst starting pitching staffs. If Lance Lynn, Mike Minor, and Corey Kluber are in form for the Rangers, the trio could jump their club to a 3-0 start.
A matchup vs. the D’Backs should be entertaining, as the two teams have similar talent and aspirations. Maybe the Rangers have a home-field advantage despite a non-existent crowd?
Lastly, the Giants aren’t scary, though they are known to grind out victories. As long as the Rangers play efficiently, they should come out with a couple wins at Oracle Park.
2. An inconsiderate September
Contrary to a friendly July, Texas will endure a gruesome September. Of their 26 September games, 15 will be against above .500 clubs from a year ago, and 16 will be on the road.
Only two of their 20 interleague games will take place in September, those occurring in Arizona vs. the Diamondbacks. That leaves 26 divisional bouts that will very likely make or break the Rangers’ season.
It’s also worth noting that the last week of August includes four matchups with the Oakland Athletics and three matchups with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Texas better take advantage of the first four weeks of their schedule, because the going gets tough from thereon out.
3. That’s a lot of travel, comparatively
The Texas Rangers drew the short end of the stick regarding travel. They and the Astros will spend considerably more time in the air than any other MLB club.
According to team insider Evan Grant, the Rangers will travel 14,706 miles throughout the season, which edges the Astros’ distance of 13,954 miles.
According to research from MLB advanced media, the Rangers will travel the most air miles in the league this year: 14,706. ... Houston has second most 13,954.
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) July 6, 2020
Of course, they are accustomed to West Coast swings, and it’s hard to imagine player exhaustion will reach anywhere near the levels of a typical 162-game schedule.
I found this illustration very revealing…
Breaking down every @mlb teams updated 2020 travel schedule... Pretty cool looking at the divisional separation of the schedule this way. pic.twitter.com/ht2Bg3qBnj
— Daren Willman (@darenw) July 6, 2020
4. KEEP OUT of Oakland
Texas will visit the Oakland Athletics only once. It will be a three-game series in the first week of August. That’s encouraging, as the Rangers play historically poorly in the A’s stadium, which is now called RingCentral Coliseum.
They went 3-7 at Oakland in 2019 and 2018, and 1-8 in 2017. The Rangers pinned a .500 record (5-5) there in 2016, a year in which they tallied 95 wins. It’s been since 2015 that they’ve accomplished a winning record in Oakland.
Venue aside, the Athletics are already tough enough to defeat. Many experts believe they will push the Astros for the division this season, and perhaps make a run at the World Series. Thus, the Rangers could use the favor of hosting the A’s seven out of ten times this go around.
5. Dodgers come to Globe Life Field
Each league’s regular-season champion from last season haunts Texas’ 2020 schedule. The Rangers will play ten games against the Astros, a team coming off 107 wins in 2019, and three games against the Dodgers, a team coming off 106 wins.
The Dodgers share the acknowledgment of World Series favorite with the Yankees. They flaunt one of the top offenses, defenses, and pitching staffs (even without David Price) in baseball.
More from Texas Rangers
- Texas Rangers: Josh Jung breaks thumb, Jonathan Ornelas to be called up
- Stock Up, Stock Down: MLB trade deadline winners and losers
- MLB Trade Deadline: AL West roundup with Rangers, Angels, Astros wishlist, A’s and Mariners for sale
- Stock Up, Stock Down: Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins, New York Yankees, Texas Rangers
- What we got right and wrong about 3 surprising and disappointing MLB teams
By no means are the Texas Rangers on par with the Dodgers, but at least they get to play them on their home turf.
6. Rivalry saved for the end
Back to the Astros. The Rangers face their in-state rival ten out of ten times in September. They’ll travel to Houston in the first and third weeks of the month, and then the Astros will make the trek to Globe Life Field in Arlington to set up both teams’ final season series from September 24th to the 27th.
In all likelihood, each meetup between the Rangers and Astros will carry major implications. Not only do they hate one another, but both teams could be battling for positioning in the West and the league.
Houston may be the better team on paper; however, such a claim doesn’t carry much weight over 60 games. There won’t be much separation between the Astros and Rangers come their first duel, and perhaps not their second or final duel either.
The schedule has the makings for some riveting Texas baseball.
7. A sprint to the finish
The Rangers will play 26 games in 27 days in September. They’ll play the Astros 10 times, the Angels seven times, the Athletics three times, and the Mariners four times. And, again, 16 of their final 26 games will be played away from home.
Next. Nats hit hard by Coronavirus protocols. dark
The 2020 season will be a sprint in itself, but the final month will be like the final 100 meters of a 400-meter dash. Let the race begin on July 24th!