Max Scherzer Out For the Season As Rangers Season Takes Another Body Blow
The Texas Rangers have been in the middle of an epic collapse for weeks, though they had seemed to right the ship over the last few games. Unfortunately, a season riddled with bad luck took another blow on Wednesday. The Rangers announced that big trade deadline acquisition Max Scherzer would miss the rest of the season after straining his teres major muscle. It's unlikely Scherzer will return even if the Rangers make a deep playoff run.
Right-hander Max Scherzer is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with a strained teres major -- a muscle that connects the scapula to the humerus. Scherzer is, Texas GM Chris Young told reporters, "unlikely" to pitch in the playoffs.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 13, 2023
Brutal news for the Rangers.
Since the Rangers acquired Scherzer from the New York Mets on July 30, the 39-year-old had pitched well. In eight starts, he was 4-2 with a a 3.20 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and 53 strikeouts against 15 walks in 45 innings. He had given Texas a big boost, and filled the hole vacated by Jacob deGrom when he was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery back in June.
Texas will now enter the stretch run relying heavily on Nathan Eovaldi, Dane Dunning, Jon Gray, Andrew Heaney and Martin Perez to eat a lot of innings. The Rangers' bullpen has been horrific, so manager Bruce Bochy will need his starters to go deep in games.
The Rangers were 72-48 on August 15 and led the American League West by 3.5 games over the Houston Astros. They were one of the best teams in Major League Baseball. Then they proceeded to lose 16 of their next 20 games. Texas has now won four in a row, but losing Scherzer is a major blow to a pitching staff that had been struggling.
While everything went right for Texas early in the season, it feels like that luck has flipped on its head. Now they're paying for all that good fortune in the first half.