There is purpose in every step Jeff Banister takes.

So a stroll through the outfield before the game isn't just exercise for Banister. A trip to the clubhouse cafeteria isn't just about a plate of lasagna. A walk to the dugout cooler isn't just about thirst. On every one of them, he's looking at his players, taking their mental pulse, observing their body language.

At times like this -- times when his team has lost 14 of 18 games and very nearly what was once a stranglehold on the AL West --those observations are exceptionally important.

Here is what he sees:

"I see intensity," Banister said Wednesday after a day in which the Rangers put Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo on the disabled list and were swept by the Los Angeles Angels. "But I don't see panic. There is still confidence. They are calm. I don't think they are searching. They are still focused on the game being played in front of them."

The mood in the Rangers' clubhouse does seem to have changed, if only slightly. Fewer players seem to be hanging around their lockers before games and are instead working on individual baseball projects or getting medical treatment. There are no impromptu road pingpong games with improvised pingpong tables.

Things seem a little more businesslike. Not stiff. Not tense. Nobody is going after anybody for playing Thong Song (anybody remember Chad Curtis?) on the stereo. But there is more of an air of work to be done.

"It's fine," Ian Desmond said of the clubhouse mood. "We are treading water until things smooth out again. Stuff like this is a blessing. We are identifying our weaknesses and addressing them. I don't care about our record at the All-Star break or right after it; I care about where it is at the end of the season.

"It hasn't been fun to watch, but it's harder to live it. But that's what you have to do. You have to grind things out. We will get our problems resolved. And when we do, we are going to be better for it. We are not quitting."

Perhaps the biggest area for potential division would be the pitchers and hitters pointing fingers at one another. Thing is, there is plenty of blame to go around. The rotation has an 8.25 ERA in July; the offense is hitting .179 with runners in scoring position since the All-Star break.

But when first baseman Mitch Moreland was essentially invited to wade into a pitchers-vs.-hitters conversation, he wouldn't bite.

"There are two sides to the game. We can only try to do what we can do offensively," he said of the hitters. "We will right the ship. We've got experience. We know what our capabilities are. It's only a matter of time."

Said Banister: "It's been a challenge for us, but we haven't quit."

Banister is watching every day to make sure that remains the case.