The Rangers reached the halfway point of the season on a humid Thursday evening in Baltimore, finding themselves positioned as a lottery team.

Hey, it’s NBA Draft season. Let’s draw the fitting comparison.

That’s the tough truth the team confronts as they approach the trading deadline and assess their position in the standings. Following an 11-2 defeat by Baltimore, a team they previously swept in last year’s AL Division Series, only five MLB teams have worse winning percentages. 

Their struggles are such that we’ll refrain from naming them. If the season concluded now, the Rangers would be seeking good fortune in the MLB draft lottery.

“We are all disappointed in where we are at,” manager Bruce Bochy had said – and that was before the game. “We’ve got to swing the bats better. That will come around. We will get clicking.”

Two things: Is he still sure? And will there be enough time?

“It’s becoming late very quickly.

The Rangers’ Thursday loss wasn’t due to their offense. Jon Gray struggled with leaving too many fastballs up in the zone, and his slider lacked its usual bite, resulting in eight runs over five innings. Manager Bochy recognized the game was slipping away early and opted not to overtax his bullpen by letting Gray finish five innings.”

It must be somewhat worrying that Gray has allowed eight runs or more in two out of his last three starts. After the first instance, he believed the New York Mets had noticed something in his delivery. However, he did not provide any similar explanations on Thursday.

What went wrong Thursday?

“Everything,” he said. “Some of what I threw, I could hit homers on. The ball felt like it was slipping out of my hand on every pitch. I didn’t make the adjustment I needed. My slider turned into a cutter. I didn’t feel good about anything. It’s frustrating. But I’ll get to the bottom of it.”

With Gray, at least, clunkers have been more the outlier than the expectation. The offense has too often been the same old story. The Rangers have been promising to get to the bottom of that issue virtually all season. Only thing they are getting to the bottom of is the AL hitting charts. Yes, the Rangers had 12 hits on Thursday, including three in the first inning. The first foretold the story of the remainder of the game. They didn’t score in the inning; they went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. They had two extra-base hits for the night.