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'They Like To Be The Underdog': Texas Rangers Looking To Bounce Back After Tough Season

Keith Allison
/
Creative Commons
From left to right: Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor.

There are a lot of questions surrounding the Texas Rangers this season. Las Vegas betting experts think the team’s a long shot – only giving the Rangers 200-1 odds to win the World Series this year.

The Rangers face the Houston Astros on Opening Day Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Ballpark in Arlington. The chief rival of the Rangers are coming off an impressive World Series run, and after a rough season last year, the Rangers are looking to bounce back.

“This is not a team that does well as the ‘hunted’; they like to be the ‘hunter,’” Emily Jones, dugout reporter for the Rangers, said. “They like to be the underdog; they like to have a chip on their shoulder.”

Jones says the team knows that the expectations on the outside aren’t very high. One of those expectations is to keep up with the Astros in the American League West division. While it might seem like the Rangers have a steep hill to climb, the team won division titles in 2015-2016.

Jones has been covering the Rangers since 2007. She says the team has high hopes for three young players: Joey Gallo, Nomar Mazara and Rougned Odor. It’s the pitching staff that may not be quite up to par.

“This is probably the most question marks we’ve had coming into a season,” Jones said. “So maybe there’s that little bit of – not really uncertainty – but excitement to kind of see where chips fall.”

And in order for the team to be in the hunt, she says they’ll need some early wins to maybe build a little bit of confidence and keep themselves in it.”

So, if you’re feeling lucky, those 200-1 odds on the Rangers aren’t that bad.

Things to know about Opening Day

  • Cash parking lots at the ballpark open at 9 a.m.

  • Astros-Rangers first pitch starts at 2:40 p.m.

  • The Rangers are 24-22 in home openers, and it will be the fourth time they face a World Series winner in the first game of the season.

  • Texas country singer-songwriter Kyle Park will sing the National Anthem. Following the National Anthem, there will be a flyover of planes from the Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison.

  • Get there early: All fans will be required to undergo Major League Baseball-mandated metal detection screening before entering the ballpark.

Gus Contreras is a digital producer and reporter at KERA News. Gus produces the local All Things Considered segment and reports on a variety of topics from, sports to immigration. He was an intern and production assistant for All Things Considered in Washington D.C.