Woodward stresses 'winning mentality' entering 2nd half

ARLINGTON -- Rangers manager Chris Woodward has maintained that his club is capable of beating any team it faces in any situation. But as the first half comes to a close, one thing is clear: no matter what the Rangers are capable of, it just hasn’t come to fruition yet.

After Sunday’s 6-2 loss to Seattle at Globe Life Field, the Rangers enter the All-Star break on a four-game losing streak, all coming against the streaking Mariners. Texas moves to 41-49 on the season and 17 1/2 games back in the American League West.

It’s a far cry from the 35-55 record at last year’s All-Star break, but it’s not ideal for a team with raised expectations going into this season. It’ll be a much-needed break for guys like Adolis García and Kole Calhoun, who have slumped majorly in July, and especially the bullpen, which has been overtaxed to the extreme in recent weeks.

“We need a few days off to kind of collect our thoughts and let our bodies rest a little bit,” Woodward said. “I'm just looking to see the fight that we have [in the second half]. This group is a group that can be pushed. I have high expectations for us. I know we didn't finish off great. But hopefully a little rest, a little resurgence, a little bit of a second wind will have us come out guns blazing.”

Woodward emphasized the need for a “winning mentality” as the Rangers come out on the other side of the break, and a sweep at the hands of the Mariners only magnified the need for it.

“It’s such a quality group of men that I know that they have it in them,” Woodward said. “That's why I probably get more frustrated because I know they care. It’s about how we get that to translate on the field. I think everything that we do has got to be about whatever it takes to win. I just haven't seen that enough on a daily basis, and we're still trying to figure out how to do that.”

The Seattle series felt like a microcosm of the Rangers’ season with close losses, little errors and failure to execute in big moments multiple times throughout the four-game set. So the Mariners did the exact opposite and extended their winning streak to 14 games by way of the “little things” Woodward continues to emphasize: clean defense, gritty at-bats and havoc on the basepaths.

In line with the “winning mentality,” Woodward said he wants to continue to raise expectations, regardless of what the talk is externally.

“When you're playing even games every night, it comes down to one or two critical moments, and if they have a better winning mentality in that moment than we do, they beat us. That's what it came down to [against the Mariners]. I know our guys want to win. It's not that. But it comes down to a little bit of old school baseball. We’ve got to do fundamental stuff that we've been taught from day one. It's not easy. It's not easy to execute. You can’t execute it every time. But when it's a common theme, well ...”

Woodward shrugged, signaling his frustration with the lack of execution.

There is clearly an uphill climb for the Rangers in their final 72 games of the regular season. With any Wild Card hopes looking slimmer by the day, Texas still hopes to finish the season strong and go into ‘23 with the playoffs at the forefront.

“We're capable of more,” Woodward said. “We're capable of beating any team when it comes to close game time. I believe that we care too much and sometimes that hurts us. I think somebody at some point, there just has to be accountability in the locker room. I know they're having talks like that. We've had a lot of good dialogue lately. At some point, it’s got to translate onto the field.”