Things appear to be on the upswing for the Rangers. They won five in a row before dropping the series final in St Louis. They’ve creeped back up to just two games under .500. And they appear to be getting Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford back very soon.

Depending on your degree of Ranges skepticism—which is expected given the trajectory of this team—that final note is either cause for celebration or a big whopping “who cares?”

For the first time this season, the Rangers offense has been clicking. Coincidentally, it all started the game after being no-hit. Now, threatening to upset this offensive uprising is the infusion of two underperforming bats. Usually, having the return of a bat as historically potent as Seager’s would welcome. But Seager is having a historically inept year at the plate. And Langford is having his usual not-near-to-living-up-to-his-potential season. 

To recap, before Seager went on the IL for a bad back, he was hitting just .179 with an OPS of .638 and striking out at an alarming rate. Langford, whose been on the IL since the end of April with an arm strain, was hitting just .238 with an equally unimpressive .636 OPS. 

Neither guy was producing anything. Now, they will be incorporated back into a lineup and be expected to flip the switch immediately. Maybe they can. This run Seager is on is totally uncharacteristic, and maybe a sore back was indeed the culprit. Langford has had just flashes of brilliance in his career. Maybe he’s due for another one of those.

Either way, the team with the fifth-worst offensive in the American League comes home—where their offense is almost non-existent—for a brief three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians, the team with the best ERA in the American League. 

Might be a good idea for Seager and Langford to sit out this Cleveland series and return when they head to Kansas City.

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