The Texas Rangers got hot at the right time. Even though they lost the AL West title on the very last day of the regular season, the team powered past the Tampa Bay Rays to earn a spot in the AL Division Series. On Tuesday night, the Rangers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-1 to complete the sweep and clinch their spot in the AL Championship Series for the first time since 2011.
As they await the winner between the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins series, could the Rangers get some reinforcements soon?
After their Game 3 win, Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal that sweeping the Orioles increased his odds of pitching in the ALCS. That's because now, he can throw a simulated game on Wednesday.
Max Scherzer believes he'll be available to pitch in ALCS
The three-time Cy Young Award winner also spoke with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, saying that everything felt "'normal' normal" that night and called it the "best-case scenario."
Scherzer suffered a teres major muscle strain back on Sept. 13. With that, he was ruled out for the remainder of the regular season, and he was left off the ALWCS and ALDS roster. It's worth noting that Scherzer threw a live batting practice session on Friday before their series against the Orioles.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy is hopeful that Scherzer will be good to go for the ALCS, and also cited the wait that the team has, with Game 1 taking place on Sunday, Oct. 15.
"Hopefully, that is the case," said Bochy, h/t CBS Sports. "We've got a little time here. See where we're at with Max. We've missed him. He's been throwing well. I thought he threw well to hitters not too long ago, but didn't want to risk putting him in this series. Give him time to build up. We'll continue to do that and see where we're at."
With this news, Scherzer is obviously pushing to get on the roster to help not only bring the Rangers their first World Series title, but also win his second ring.
In his eight games pitched with Texas, Scherzer recorded a 3.20 ERA, a 0.956 WHIP, a 4-2 win-loss record, 53 strikes, and 15 walks.
Scherzer is doing everything in his power to get back in time to pitch while the Rangers are in the postseason. His status will be worth monitoring in the coming days.