Power Rankings High for Texas Rangers

After a one-week stall, the Texas Rangers are back on the rise.

The latest MLB Power Rankings from ESPN’s panel of baseball experts, the Rangers moved to No. 3 behind only the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s the highest spot for Texas this season, up from fourth the last two weeks.

Per ESPN:

Texas is on a roll, thanks, in part, to third baseman Josh Jung. He's finally making fans forget about what the team lost when Adrian Beltre retired. Jung had a .917 OPS month of May, including a big final week where he hit .450 with four extra base hits. He’s in the top 15% of all hitters in average exit velocity while also in the bottom 15% in strikeout percentage. He’s been particularly good against fastballs, hitting .317 on the season off of them.

The American League West leaders have been on steady climb in the rankings, with ESPN noting the Rangers “are for real.” That’s hard to argue with Texas holding the division lead for essentially the entire season and 2.5 games up on the Houston Astros going into Friday.

The Rangers withstood a hard charge from the Astros last month but held firmly at the top of the division as the calendar turned to June.

The rankings for rest of the AL West: Astros (7), Seattle Mariners (10), Los Angeles Angels (15) and Oakland Athletics (30).

The Rangers (35-20) returned home from a 6-3 road trip and open a three-game series Friday night against Seattle. Jon Gray (5-1, 2.81) starts for Texas, with Luis Castillo (4-2, 2.69) going for the Mariners. First pitch at Globe Life Field is set for 7:05 p.m.

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