BASEBALL: 'Limping' Rangers regain footing, chase series win vs. Marlins

The Texas Rangers have not had a winning season since a stunning run to the 2023 World Series title.

They will look to get within one game of .500 when they visit the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night in the middle contest of a three-game series.

One issue this year for Texas has been injuries, as three starters -- shortstop Corey Seager, center fielder Evan Carter and catcher Danny Jansen -- are on the injured list. Starting pitcher Jack Leiter also is on the IL.

However, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker is optimistic about the future.

"We're limping right now because of injuries," Schumaker said a few hours before Texas beat Miami 4-3 on Monday. "But we're only a couple of games back in the division (1 1/2 behind first-place Seattle). Seager is about to come back. So we're trending in the right direction."

Seager is a five-time All-Star, a three-time Silver Slugger, two-time World Series champ, former National League Rookie of the Year and the 2020 NLCS MVP. In other words, it's extremely important for the Rangers to get back Seager, who suffered concussion-like symptoms due to a collision with Kansas City Royals catcher Carter Jensen on June 11.

The Rangers entered this week ranked 28th of 30 teams in runs. Texas ranked 11th in ERA (3.94), and that's a departure from last season, when they led the majors in that category (3.47). Last year's staff was coached by Mike Maddux, who now is with the Los Angeles Angels.

As for payroll, the Rangers rank 14th in the majors at $187 million. The high-salary players on their roster include Seager (.657 OPS), right fielder Brandon Nimmo (.754 OPS), designated hitter Joc Pederson (.757 OPS), and pitchers Jacob deGrom (3.59 ERA) and Nathan Eovaldi (4.24 ERA).

Right-hander Cal Quantrill (3-0, 3.68 ERA) will start on Tuesday for Texas. Quantrill, who pitched for the Marlins last season, received a no-decision in 2024 in his lone career appearance vs. Miami. He yielded four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Quantrill allowed two runs on four hits in two innings of a no-decision against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. The Rangers lost 9-3.

Whether the Rangers are getting enough from their stars is open to debate, but there's no question that the Marlins -- whose $81.2 million payroll ranks next-to-last in baseball (Cleveland is at $79.7 million) -- are getting great bang for their buck.

Miami could have a pitching advantage on Tuesday with workhorse right-hander Sandy Alcantara on the mound.

However, Alcantara (7-4, 4.18 ERA) is getting fewer strikeouts than at any point in his nine-year MLB tenure. For his career, he is averaging 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings. This year, that rate is 6.7.

Still, the Marlins are 10-6 this year when using Alcantara, who is 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA this month. He has faced Texas only once in his career, going 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA.

Offensively, the Marlins are powered by shortstop Otto Lopez, who leads the majors in batting average (.336). But the Marlins are looking for more from first baseman Kyle Stowers (.735 OPS) and second baseman Xavier Edwards (.801 OPS).

Stowers, an All-Star last year, is hitting .231 this month, including a big RBI double on Monday. Edwards is batting .217, including a 2-for-3 effort on Monday.

Marlins manager Clayton McCullough commented on both players after Monday's game.

"Kyle is getting back to his plate discipline," McCullough said. "He's getting the ball in the air with more regularity.

"I think (Edwards) will go on a real run where he strings a bunch of hits together. He's such a good hitter. I would love for (Monday's two hits) to spark him."

-Field Level Media/Reuters