The Texas Rangers will look to continue to surprise in the second part of the season

Without Jacob DeGrom, the Rangers had enough starting pitching, great hitting and very good defense to hold off their major division rivals, the champion Houston Astros.

Six of its players have been selected to participate in the All-Star Game, including five starters; The largest number in its history.

But Texas has faltered in recent weeks and the Astros are closing in, with 71 regular season games to spare.

So, to stay at the top and look forward to their first trip to the playoffs since 2016, Rangers understand that there is still a lot of work to be done and areas to improve, without ruling out the arrival of reinforcements before the direct trade deadline between the league’s teams.

1.- Help is urgently needed in the bullpen

The Rangers relief has by far been the Achilles’ heel of this star-studded team in almost every position.

He was responsible for 19 of 33 losses for Texas, which lost just 39 games all season. They have the fourth-worst ERA (4.48) in the American League and the second-fewest innings pitched in the major leagues.

2.- Pitching consistent starting

The Rangers will make up the second half starters with John Gray, Andrew Heeney and Martin Perez against the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field.

Gray allowed nine hits in his last appearance against the Boston Red Sox. Heany allowed seven earned runs and three home runs in his last outing against the Washington Nationals, and Perez closed out the first part of the season with six runs allowed in just 1 1/3 innings against the Astros.

They have to get back to the performance they gave in the first two and a half months of the season, because if they keep slipping, even their All-Stars won’t be of much use…

3.- Reinforcements to win

Rangers general manager Chris Young warned that they will try to boost the team beyond reliever Aroldis Chapman, who they entered into a deal with the Kansas City Royals two weeks ago.

And if the most obvious position to provide assists is as a relief pitcher, there’s depth they can also add in the starting rotation and even in hitting in the coming days because the Rangers know they can’t afford to waste the great first half of the season that they’ve had and which once again fell in love with their fans, who have done better. Entrance to the new ball park, Globe Life Field, since its opening.

Starting pitchers such as Marcus Stroman and Lance Lane, who was part of the Texans in the past, have been named in various reports and speculations. Even superstar Shohei Ohtani has also been linked to the Rangers, if traded from the Los Angeles Angels, according to ESPN’s Buster Onley.

The only visible weakness in the Texas batting order is the hitter. Ahtani meets there and pitchers starting.

For Texas fans, it’s worth dreaming about…