The Texas Rangers spent much of June in the same funk they spent the last two seasons in. The offense has been wretched and ineffective. The established “name” guys like Corey Seager have underperformed badly. Seager has spent much of his Rangers tenure injured. Prior to this season, he has been truly lethal when healthy. The 2023 title season was the shining example of what Seager can do when healthy. He led the Rangers to their first title and was runner-up for AL MVP. Last season he missed 60 games. He posted a staggering 6.1 WAR that season despite missing so much time. This season has been different though: Seager has looked ineffective even when healthy.
Seager’s latest injury happened on a dumb play where he was waved home into a meat grinder by third base coach Tony Beasley. Seager was out by a mile and forced into an awkward collision. The terrible judgement of Beasley sidelined the star slugger with a concussion. The play was egregiously misjudged by Beasley. He looked truly out of his element and overwhelmed in that moment, like his brief stint as Rangers skipper. Seager is on a ten year megadeal. He is expected to carry the offense and be the star. The fact that he led the team to their first title makes the framing of his contract much more rosy. But considering there are five years left on Seager’s contract should be on the mind of every Rangers fan. His contract will be difficult to trade as he enters the backend of his career. So much of the payroll is dedicated to him that it is difficult for the team to succeed without him. That is exactly what they have been doing in his absence, oddly enough. The Rangers have been trotting out lineups rife with youngsters and have gotten hot. The recent surge saw the team finally get above .500 and climb into 1st place. The run is reminiscent of late last season when a slew of injuries forced many of the same youngsters into daily action. The Rangers actually flirted with a wild card spot before Adolis Garcia was puzzlingly rushed back from injury to post more 0-4 performances. Momentum was snuffed out, the offense forced back into its stagnant and vexing state.
The 2026 Rangers have looked like the same boring, lifeless, underperforming joke squad as the year before. They win almost exclusively low scoring games, relying on their talented starters like Jacob deGrom to hold the opponent at bay before handing the ball to relief fireman Jacob Latz. Latz has become one of the best relievers in baseball. He is often used for more than one inning. He is the most valuable player on the Rangers at the moment. Not only is he a lockdown “closer,” but his history as a starter enables him to be used for multiple innings. The impact of Latz cannot be overstated.
The Rangers win many of their games in a tenuous, fragile manner. The offense often refuses to post more than four runs, shutting down for long stretches completely. The absurdly streaky nature of the offense was perfectly exemplified when they got NO HIT by the Astros worst starter and dregs of their bullpen. The Astros had a no hitter going and still chose to use their least important relievers to secure the no hitter. The Rangers still went down without a fight. Many of the Rangers’ losses are characterized by lifelessness. Similar to last season, any sustained success seems unlikely. The youngsters are showing life and scrappiness. It is a ringing indictment of the Rangers “star” players that their absence has sparked the offense to life in two separate seasons.
Wyatt Langford looked poised to be the outfielder of the future a couple years ago. He has speed, power, and elite defense. He started out cold this season and has been injured off and on. Langford was projected to start every day and be placed near the top of the lineup. The Rangers planned to use a core of Brandon Nimmo, Langford, and Corey Seager at the top of the lineup. Langford has been unable to sustain momentum due to injury. Similar to Josh Jung’s previous few seasons before this one, Langford seems to get hurt right when he is heating up. He then spends some time getting his groove back/pressing after the injury. After a while he finds his form… only to be felled by an injury again. This happened to Josh Jung over and over. Thankfully this season he has stayed healthy, parlaying his momentum into sustained success. Jung has been the most consistent part of the Rangers offense this season. He still strikes out too much, but his 134 OPS+ (100 is always average, higher is better) is a solid mark.
Evan Carter looked poised to be slated alongside Wyatt Langford in the Rangers outfield for years in 2023. Both players are fast and play elite defense. Both players mashed at the plate at the Major League level. The fall of Evan Carter has been saddening. The kid who was once deemed The Little Savior by teammates is hitting .178. He simply cannot hit lefties at all. His ability to hit righties has shockingly disappeared. Carter has spent some of this season down in the minors. His cratering regression can be attributed to bad coaching. The core of the 2023 offense was consumed by the “Disease of More” that often befalls championship teams. Every player wants an increased role, the team suffers. The Rangers offense did this across the board for every season since the title. Carter’s regression is as tragic as it is staggering. He obviously possesses the ability to hit righties. He might always be a flawed player in terms of hitting lefties, but how were his skills allowed to deteriorate to this extent? How could the coaches not stop the bleeding? Does anyone actually think Evan Carter saved the season in 2023, hit well in playoff pressure, and now magically cannot hit at all?
Brandon Nimmo was playing relatively well, posting a 120 OPS+. He injured his shoulder a few days ago and will miss some time. Those three players were supposed to account for the majority of the Rangers outfield plate appearances. Andrew McCutchen was the 4th outfielder. He is long gone. Zeke Duran, Joc Pederson, Alejandro Osuna, Cam Cauley, and Cody Freeman have gotten some outfield looks in their stead.
Jake Burger has been decent at first base. He has some pop but strikes out too much. Josh Smith has essentially been a non-factor all season. He has been sick or injured all year. Like Langford and Carter, he was a young piece with a lot of potential. Justin Foscue has played some in his place. Foscue has been one of the Rangers top infield prospects for years. The time is now or never for him. He has had success at the dish this season and deserves more looks. Alejandro Osuna has been merely passable in his utility role. Corey Seager’s .182 batting average makes Osuna’s tepid .247 much more palatable. Much of the Rangers success came from replacing underachieving, oft injured stars with replacement level minor league guys. The youngsters are holding the line, but this is not the recipe for sustained success. The Rangers reeling off a few wins in a row to climb above .500 is refreshing, but it’s not a big deal within the context of the season.
The Rangers play in a very weak AL West. The Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros are good, but not great. A couple games above .500 constitutes a division lead, which means less and little at the beginning of July. The Rangers stars need to start playing up to their level. Even if the kids are winning, they are not going to be started over a healthy Corey Seager upon his return. It simply won’t happen. So as nice as it is to see the Rangers finally escape the hellscape of 1-6 games below .500, they will need to figure out how to win with the players they sunk millions into.
The incredibly streaky Joc Pederson has gotten hot and clubbed a few homers. This is the entire reason the Rangers brought him to Texas. This is the first time in his entire tenure where he has looked like Joc Pederson on the Braves. Pederson’s pop has been quick to disappear in Rangers red, hopefully this surge is sustained. He leads the team in homers with 14. Burger also has 14 homers. For reference, Kyle Schwarber leads the league with 30.
Jack Leiter had surgery on his foot, which has been hurting him all season. This explains his sudden lack of development after a solid upwards trajectory for the past few seasons. The fact that Leiter was hurt and the injury was easily fixable is a much more palatable option than his development being stunted or a more severe injury. Jacob deGrom has been brilliant as usual. Nathan Eovaldi has been solid despite getting blown up in a couple starts. MacKenzie Gore has been inconsistent, prone to lapses in control that lead to nightmare innings. Kumar Rocker is still improving his control. He relies heavily on his slider and struggles with the top of the lineup and the third time through the lineup.
Jacob Latz has been the Rangers best pitcher. He leads the team in WAR as a fireman reliever. A fireman reliever is a top end reliever that comes into pitch the most high leverage innings, often appearing for more than one inning. Tyler Alexander and Jakob Junis have both also been great out of the bullpen. Junis was pulled from a game due to injury a couple days ago. Because the Rangers are winning many of these games with little margin for error, injuries like this are devastating. The crux of the bullpen is Latz. His electric stuff and ability to go multiple innings is masking the flaws of an underperforming team. Cole Winn started the season red hot and has been truly awful since. Perhaps he is struggling with injury. He has looked like two different pitchers, the line of demarcation being as ardent and undeniable as his 7.00 ERA.
The Rangers woke up long enough to get a couple games above .500. Their internal struggles must be solved before any division title is considered. The Astros or Mariners are going to win 90 games. The Rangers have to figure out what is going on with their cornerstone players, because Jacob Latz and the kids are not going to carry this team forever. They simply will not be allowed to. This team will live or die with Corey Seager, for better or worse.
