Sunday Night Baseball: Rangers vs. Tigers
The rubber match in Rangers vs. Tigers is the Sunday Night Baseball game on Peacock to wrap up another week on the diamond. It is frustrating to have to have all sorts of streaming services to be able to watch games across all sports, but Peacock has some solid programming that will be worth your while, even if you are just using a free trial to catch tonight’s game in Detroit.
It will be Jack Leiter and Tyler Holton to start things off for their respective teams and five has been the magic number so far on offense, as the Rangers won 5-4 on Friday night and the Tigers responded with a 5-1 win on Saturday. With a pretty stiff wind whipping across the ballpark, the total is 8 and the home team is favored.
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See player prop projections for Rangers vs. Tigers from OptaAI.
How to Watch Rangers vs. Tigers
Where: Peacock
When: Sunday May 3, 7:10 p.m. ET
Rangers vs. Tigers MLB Odds
Detroit Tigers -126 // Texas Rangers +104
Total: 8 (-115/-105)
Rangers vs. Tigers Game Preview
Like so many other American League teams, “mediocre” has been the best word to describe this season to date for the Rangers and Tigers. Texas comes in with a 16-17 record and Detroit is 17-17. But, because nobody really stands out in either the AL Central or the AL West, the Tigers are a game back of the Guardians and the Rangers are a game back of the Athletics.
While the Tigers go with a Johnny Wholestaff approach, the Rangers will go the traditional route and roll with Leiter for the seventh time this season. He’s worked 31.1 innings over those six starts with a 5.17 ERA, 5.40 xERA, and a 4.87 FIP. He’s struck out over a batter per inning, but his command has not been up to par, allowing a .329 BABIP, six homers, a 45.1% Hard Hit%, and a 14.3% Barrel%. Home runs don’t count towards BABIP, as they are not technically balls in play that can be fielded, so opposing offenses are really doing some damage.
After allowing three runs on nine hits over his first 11 innings, Leiter has allowed 16 runs over his last three starts in just 20.1 innings of work. The Rangers desperately need him to turn things around, as MacKenzie Gore is also having his struggles, especially with working deep into games, and Nathan Eovaldi is off to a slow start.
The Tigers offense started slowly, but they’re up to seventh in wOBA and are tied for 12th in runs scored. This is a solid lineup that ranks as one of 13 teams with a double-digit BB%, while also having the league’s ninth-lowest K%. They’re also fourth in Barrel% as a unit, trailing the Dodgers, Reds, and Yankees. Over the last 14 days, Detroit is third in wOBA at .360, behind only the Cubs and Yankees. This is also the sixth-ranked offense against righties by wOBA and .336.
With Casey Mize now out of the rotation, the Tigers are just looking to piecemeal things together until Justin Verlander comes back. For today, that includes just about everybody in the bullpen. Holton will start things, as he hasn’t worked since Tuesday when he threw 20 pitches. The left-hander was a major weapon the last three seasons with ERAs of 2.11, 2.19, and 3.66, but this season is off to a poor start with a 5.54 ERA, 6.29 xERA, and a 5.84 FIP over 13 innings of work. Holton’s claims to fame have been pristine control and weak contact in the past. This season, he has a 12.9% BB% and a 45.5% Hard Hit%, far and away career-worsts.
Holton hasn’t faced more than seven batters in an appearance this season, so we’ll see how far he can go before the Tigers turn it over to somebody else. Brant Hurter has three appearances of 2+ innings thus far with a 1.84 ERA and a 3.68 xERA with a 3.49 FIP, so he could be an option. Keider Montero’s 6.2 innings of one-run ball yesterday have given AJ Hinch all sorts of options in the pen, as everybody except Drew Anderson is available.
The Rangers rank 14th in wOBA against RHP, and they’re likely to see one at some point, but with Holton starting and Hurter being prominently featured, it should be noted that the Rangers have the worst offense in the league against lefties with a .264 wOBA and a 63 wRC+. They’ve struck out in nearly 29% of their plate appearances in that split.
Rangers vs. Tigers Prediction
The Tigers have gone with this all hands on deck approach a lot over the years, so it’s nothing new. They are dealing with a lot of injuries, including leverage reliever Will Vest, but they should be able to jump ahead on Leiter and allow the southpaws to do their thing early in the game to have a lead heading into the middle innings. The Rangers, though, have one of the league’s best bullpens with a 2.63 ERA. So, with the lines basically equal, I’ll roll with the Tigers 1st 5 and avoid any late-inning shenanigans.
Pick: Tigers 1st 5 (-125)
