Rangers Heading Toward Crossroad in Midst of Another Woefully Underwhelming Season
The Texas Rangers were a popular pick during the preseason when everyone was making predictions about how things would shake out in the American League.
In many peopleās opinion, they were the favorites in the AL West. It was easy to see why they were thought of so highly. Adding Joc Pederson and Jake Burger to an already talented lineup gave them arguably the deepest 1-through-9 in baseball. This was a team that looked like it would score runs in bunches, with the biggest question mark being on the mound.
Injuries decimated the Rangers pitching staff in 2024 and the injury bug was back in spring training this year, biting Cory Bradford and Jon Gray. That pushed rookies Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter into prominent roles in the rotation. Pressure was also on Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle to stay healthy to anchor the unit.
It was never a question of talent for that veteran trio. But staying available had been an issue, especially for deGrom and Mahle, in recent years. If they could avoid the injured list, Texas was in great shape.
Fast forward to current day and the Rangers arenāt in a position anyone thought they would be. The concerns about one unit carrying the other have come to fruition, but not in the fashion that was predicted. It has been the pitching staff carrying the team to any success, while the offense has fallen woefully short of expectations.
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āThis is a veteran team, one that should be really good. That they aren’t is perplexing, and it sets up something of a crossroads for general manager Chris Young this offseason,ā wrote Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report.
Pederson has been the biggest free agent bust in the sport. He has a .150/.276/.283 slash line in 204 plate appearances with only five home runs. The team is certainly having some buyerās remorse after signing him to a two-year, $37 million contract this past offseason.
Burger has been better with a .242/.275/.416 slash line with 12 home runs and 15 doubles. But he was optioned to Triple-A for a reset with how much he was struggling at points. Injuries have also forced him to miss some time.
Two key veterans, second baseman Marcus Semien and right fielder Adolis Garcia, are making an impact defensively. But they have been woeful at the plate with .670 and .655 OPS numbers. Overcoming one of them struggling may have been possible, but both? That has proven a tall task.
Stellar pitching performances have been wasted throughout the campaign by a lineup that was never able to consistently get on track. Under .500 with a 63-65 record and five games behind the Seattle Mariners for the final wild card spot, it is hard to envision this team being capable of making a run with its offensive inconsistencies.
