For years, the Texas Rangers have been the other team in Texas. The Houston Astros have been a dynasty, making the ALCS for six straight years and taking home two World Series titles; the Rangers haven't even won more than 80 games in any year over that stretch. This year, though, the Rangers are a surprise juggernaut, parlaying aggressive offseason moves into a 29-17 record (third best in American League) and an outrageous +108 run differential (second best in all of baseball). Even if the Rangers' torrid start is a big surprise to pundits and fans, the Rangers themselves are unmoved. In fact, Nathaniel Lowe, the Rangers' starting first baseman, expected it and insists that it will continue.
“I watched a certain host on [MLB Network] talk about how it's Houston's division and they're going to win the division by 15 games” Lowe said during a recent appearance on The Chris Rose Show podcast, “and I was like ‘gosh, that kind of pisses me off' but I don't want to say anything about it because we haven't even played a Spring Training practice yet, but this team's for real, like the starting staff is for real. There are guys in the bullpen that are competitors, that'll get big outs for us.
“There's 120 games left or whatever it is” Lowe added, “but the division is ours to lose. You can't sleep on the Rangers, man. If we're not in contention coming down the stretch, I would be very, very surprised and would say that something has gone horribly wrong.”
Nathaniel Lowe's confidence is hardly unearned. Accordingly, he's been a major part of their success, hitting .279/.354/.454 with five homers and 29 runs batted in, good for a 123 OPS+. While the season is only a third of the way through, the Rangers have been so good that it's quickly becoming impossible to doubt them.
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