The way the Texas Rangers are hitting this season, it could take more than the loss of Jacob deGrom to knock them out of the No. 1 spot.
DeGrom will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing elbow ligament reconstruction, but the Rangers still lead the American West Division by 5.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros and 6 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels. They lead the Majors with 458 points scored – almost six per game – and the best point differential.
When healthy, Corey Seager has been excellent. He is batting .349 with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs in 46 games. Marcus Semien is batting .278 with 10 home runs as well, and the Rangers got notable contributions from two 24-year-olds: Ezequiel Duran is hitting .312, while Leody Taveras is batting .298.
Rangers got just six starts from the oft-injured deGrom, but the rotation isn’t in ruins without him. Nathan Eovaldi, Jon Gray and Dane Dunning all have earned run averages under 3.00.
Although they lost two of three games at Yankee Stadium the weekend, the series was very close and could have gone either way. The Rangers won 4-2 in 10 innings before suffering 1-0, 5-3 losses, with the Yankees scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth in the final game.
The American West has mostly belonged to the Astros for a few years, but the Houston team is in a downturn, having lost seven of its last 10 outings. The Angels caught the eye with their 25-1 crushing victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, but lost two of three games at Coors Field.
Another surprise, in the National this time: the Miami Marlins who find themselves 11 games above .500.
Although all attention was on Luis Arraez and his .399 average, rookie Eury Perez proved to be everything the Marlins needed on the mound.
Perez struck out nine in six innings in a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. The six-foot-eight right-hander is now 5-1 with a 1.34 ERA. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last 21 innings.
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll has a head start on Perez in the race for rookie par excellence, but the latter could play a big role in the Marlins’ playoff race.