Rangers come to town as Guardians start homestand

The Texas Rangers, also known as the team that gifted Cleveland Emmanuel Clase, will be coming to town as the Guardians start a seven-game homestand.

Assuming there are some closer-worthy games over the next three days, Clase will get to face his former team for the first time this season. Ranger fans at Progressive Field may catch a Corey Kluber jersey or two in the crowd as they reminisce about the one inning they got from the former Cy Young Award winner before a shoulder injury ended his 2020 season.

Getting to Clase will require Cleveland to hit the ball, something they have done inconsistently this season as a young and very streaky team. They scored a total of 13 runs in three games against the Orioles. Make of that what you will.

The Rangers dedicated almost half a billion dollars to new players this offseason, headlined by a fully rebuilt infield of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. A few months into Seager’s monster 10-year, $325 contract and things aren’t looking great, but there’s hope. He has ridden some power to an above-average 107 wRC+, but he’s still hitting the ball hard and won’t be kept down forever. Seager currently ranks in the 89th percentile for xwOBA at .387, but has an actual wOBA of .313. That roughly translates to “he’s hitting the ball well and where it should go but has had rotten luck.

While not as young of a team as the Guardians, the Rangers will come into this game with likely five batters in their starting lineup with under two years of service time under their belts. Rookie third baseman Ezequiel Duran — acquired in the Joey Gallo trade with the Yankees — and rookie left fielder Steele Walker have a combined 11 major-league plate appearances.

Walker went unranked in most top prospect lists, but he profiles as the kind of guy the Guardians would probably love — a bat-to-ball hitter without a lot of power. Duran, on the other hand, was ranked as the Rangers’ No. 4 prospect with big-time power potential.

Long-time Rockies pitcher Jon Gray will start the series for the Rangers, bringing an ERA that hasn’t been helped by Texas’ lower elevation. He’s coming off his best start of the year against the Rays — 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 SO.

Team at a glance

• Record: 25-28 (10th in AL)
• Runs Scored: 226 (6th in AL)
• Run Differential: +9 (9th in AL)
• Last 10: 5-5
• Slash: .231/.292/.381
• wOBA: .297 (9th in AL)
• wRC+: 96 (10th in AL)
• ERA: 3.78 (8th in AL)
• SIERA: 3.86 (9th in AL)
• K-BB%: 13.1% (10th in AL)

Projected starters

Monday, June 6, 7:10 p.m. ET: RHP Jon Gray vs. RHP Cal Quantrill
Tuesday, June 7, 7:10 p.m. ET: LHP Taylor Hearn vs. LHP Konnor Pilkington
Wednesday, June 8, 7:10 p.m. ET: RHP Dane Dunning vs. RHP Shane Bieber

Roster

• 40-man roster
• Depth chart