It has been an absolutely wild season for the entire American League West. From the Texas Rangers dealing with multiple injuries and slumps with its star players, to the Seattle Mariners seeing their catcher have a historic season at the plate.
Due to covering the race for both the AL West crown and final wildcard spot, there will not even be a mention of the Athletics having the two best rookies in the entire AL.
Starting with the current leader of the AL West, the Houston Astros have shocked many in baseball this season. With the losses of both Alex Bregman to Boston and Kyle Tucker to Chicago, many thought the juggernaut of south Texas had finally fallen.
Against the odds, the Astros took the West from both the Rangers, who started the season hot, and the Mariners.
Houston is, as usual, being led by longtime franchise favorite Jose Altuve, who they moved out to left field before the start of the season. His current batting average (BA) sits at .263, which is relatively low for his career, but he is leading the team in home runs with 25. Altuve is also second in Runs Batted In (RBIs), knocking in 70 runs so far this season.
Younger players such as shortstop Jermery Peña and Cam Smith have been absolutely vital to the Astros success so far.
Peña has a BA of .300 with an OPS of .822, hitting 15 home runs with 54 RBIs. His contribution is not just at the plate either, as his WAR currently sits at an impressive 4.8.
The Astros have also had excellent pitching on the mound, most notably, their All-Star Hunter Brown. Brown’s ERA in 28 starts is only 2.25 and the heat coming from the 6-foot-2-inch, 27-year-old has struck out 190 batters.
Traveling north to Seattle, the story of the Mariners is the story of the historic season from catcher Cal Raleigh. It has been a historic season that really came out of nowhere.
The past two seasons he finished with more than 30 home runs, but he has well surpassed that number this year.
The switch-hitting catcher is currently sitting at an insane 53 home runs, which has set new records for both home runs by a catcher and switch hitter in a season. Along with the 53 bombs, Raleigh has also accounted for 113 RBIs.
Despite the MVP level numbers being put up by Raleigh, there are many fans and experts that believe he should not get the award due to his low batting average, being only .241.
Even with that debate going on, Raleigh is doing his best to lead this Mariners team into the playoffs, either as a division winner or a wildcard. They currently sit tied with the Astros at 80–68.
The team challenging both the Astros and the Mariners, seemingly coming from the dead, are the Rangers.
The Texas Rangers are, without a doubt, the hottest team in baseball at the moment, winning 15 of their last 19 games and coming off a series sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, one of the top teams in the MLB.
The most shocking thing about this run is that none of their major stars have been involved in this.
Second baseman Marcus Semien has been out since Aug. 20 after fouling a ball off his foot that left it broken and with a torn ligament.
Rangers slugger Adolis García has been dealing with a right quad strain for the past few weeks, and the best player on the team, shortstop Corey Seager, has been out since Aug. 28 after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.
The biggest loss, though, was ace pitcher Nathan Eovaldi who was ruled out for the season in late August due to a right rotator cuff injury.
It was a disappointing end to his Cy Young caliber season, finishing the season with a 1.73 ERA in 130 innings pitched with a record of 11–3.
Yet, despite all of these injuries to key players, the Rangers seem to just keep going without losing any speed. The reason for this is a group of young players that Rangers fans have taken to calling the “Little Rascals.”
The “Rascals” are led by 29-year-old breakout star Michael Helman, who has been on fire at the plate since being called up from the minors on Aug. 22. His batting numbers of .292/.346/.646 are some of the best in the league.
He announced his presence in full during the opening game of the Rangers series against the Brewers when he hit the first grand slam for the Rangers all season, and then knocked in the fifth run of the Rangers 5–0 win on Sept. 8.
Helman is getting additional support from 24-year-old Cody Freeman, who has been a godsend for the Rangers’ defense and rookie Alejandro Osuna whose speed has caused nothing but trouble for opposing pitchers.
This rocket boost from the youth has combined well with the remaining veterans on the team who have seemed to take their game to another level.
The leader of this veteran group is Jake Burger, a first baseman who was acquired from the Miami Marlins before the season to replace Nathaniel Lowe.
Burger has been solid all season, but since the beginning of August he has been on an absolute tear.
Burger has been slashing an insane line of .345/.387/.655 with five home runs and 14 RBIs, contributing greatly to the team’s run.
Additional support is coming from veteran Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, who has been pitching one of the best seasons of his career and was named the Rangers sole All-Star. In 28 starts, deGrom has a record of 12–7 with a great ERA of 2.82.
The Rangers now sit just two games back from not just the wildcard, but also the top of the AL West. Their red-hot run carried them through the Brewers and Mets, and the showdown for the West could very well be their final series against the Astros from Sept. 15–17.