The Texas Rangers offense has collapsed like a house of cards after starting out somewhat promising. The most consistent part of the attack was new leadoff man Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo was traded for second baseman Marcus Semien straight up a few months ago. Marcus is off to one of his usual “slow starts” as the Mets have been brutalized and embarrassed repeatedly this season. The most humorous moments for Rangers fans during the Mets stretch of misery was seeing Marcus Semien’s shock and disgust at his new middle infield partner Francisco Lindor’s mental errors. Semien and star shortstop Corey Seager might not have “hung out off the field,” but they were always defensively accountable.
The Rangers pitching has been pretty solid. Their woes have been mostly due to the offensive ineptitude. The Rangers look much as they did last season: unable to be competitive in any game that is not low-scoring. The defense has been a bit worse too. Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien were both top end defenders. Garcia is now on the Saint Louis Cardinals. The offense is the crux of the issue. One can go insane pedantically overanalyzing Rangers losses where they post between 0-3 runs. They did this all season long last year. The pitching is a little worse this year. The fielding is a little worse. But the offense IS STILL THE ISSUE!
The Good: Zeke Duran leads the team in OPS+ at 159. OPS+ is a useful stat where 100 is always average, higher is better. The stat is era and ballpark adjusted. Zeke Duran is hitting .304 with some pop. This is the form that helped the 2023 title team build their early season lead.
Josh Jung has been very solid at the plate. He is right behind Duran with a 158 OPS+. Jung has finally stopped pressing at the dish. He is walking more. He is playing good defense. His baserunning has been a massive detriment. He made massive baserunning blunders in back to back games. The sort of unforced mental errors bad teams cannot withstand.
Brandon Nimmo has been good as well. He has been sharp and consistent at the top of the lineup. He missed a few games and the offense was truly rudderless without him.
The Average: Corey Seager’s numbers are not awful, but he has been disappointing this season. He is batting .209. He is supposed to be the carry of the lineup. Opposing teams have been aggressive with their ABS ball/strike challenges when Seager is hitting. He has come up small in big moments repeatedly this season.
Danny Jansen has been a decent catcher this season. He is only hitting .203 though. He is not the problem, but he is not helping.
Wyatt Langford was consistently slotted behind Nimmo in the 2 hole. He started the season slow and somewhat unlucky. He tweaked his forearm a few weeks ago and has been recovering. The handful of games where Langford and Nimmo were both hurt were truly harrowing to watch. The jarring, insidious look into what this offense would look like without the pillars at the top was a major cause for concern. Even though Langford started out cold you knew he was going to get it going. He is also fast and plays great defense, thus offensive slumps are easier to tolerate. Seager being ice cold during this stretch made the team unwatchable.
Langford will return and eventually become very useful and impactful. Alejandro Osuna has gotten some looks in his stead. Osuna has been fine, but is not the sort of guy you want to give 600 ABs to.
Evan Carter has been hopeless against lefties. He has hit righties well though. He also plays incredible defense and is fast. Langford and Carter are the outfielders of the future for Texas. Carter learning how to hit lefties should be the top developmental priority for the Rangers.
Andrew McCutchen has been passable in his role as “guy that comes in for Carter to counter the lefty.” Cutch is over a decade removed from his peak rank and cannot be relied upon to carry an offense. Everyone knew that going into the season though. Cutch has done an amiable job in his role as 4th outfielder.
First baseman Jake Burger has shown off a total feast or famine playstyle. He either has multiple extra base hits or takes a brutal 0’fer with multiple strikeouts. He has been inconsistent and below average. This is better than how he was last season to start the year: awful.
The Bad: DH Joc Pederson has continued to disappoint Rangers fans in ways not seen since the days of Willie Calhoun and Chan Ho Park. Pederson is truly wretched. His performances are sickening. He is a one-dimensional joke of a player. The Rangers should have signed Joey Gallo to a vet minimum and let him do his bit instead of Pederson.
Second baseman Josh Smith has been insanely bad. His start was ice cold and listless. In that way, he was the seamless replacement for Marcus Semien. Smith is currently on the IL. He has been insanely bad in his last 500 ABs. He fell off hard at the end of last season.
Catcher Kyle Higashioka has not hit at all this season. He was pretty average last season, so seeing him crater to Jonah Heim levels is irritating.
Sam Haggerty has checked into 21 games this season. He has done less and little in these affairs. He is supposed to be one of those “flywheel” bench players that is inserted late for speed and defense. Think Kevin Pillar or Michael A Taylor. He has one steal this season. His OPS+ is 16. That is worse than “pitcher tier.”
The Rangers offense has been characterized by Seager and Burger at 3 and 4 failing to play up to their potential. They have killed rallies all season. Josh Smith will need to return to form for this team to function. Seager needs to get his average away from the Mendoza Line. The Pederson bit has to stop. They need to cut their losses and trade him to the Angels for Alek Manoah.
This team still looks good on paper and should be doing better than it is. Skipper Skip Schumaker needs to kick it into gear. He has been decent so far this season, but has not forged an identity. He could easily turn his team into a Ron Washington/Billy Martin style aggressive squad. They have the speed and defense to play BillyBall, an offensive strategy pioneered by Billy Martin that involves constantly pressuring the defense with steals and hit and runs. Skip is leaving runs on the table and underutilizing his assets. His bullpen use has been very good. His lineups have been solid. His live signal calling leaves a lot to be desired.
The Rangers have been underachieving and playing boring baseball for 361 games in a row. They boast big names and talent. They have the ability to win, to be great even. But the talent is left to rot and wither. To see this week after week for over two seasons is loathsome. They are losing in an especially boring and pathetic way. They have been playing like this since they won the title. The Rangers continue to be less than the sum of their parts.
