Rangers Roundup: 0-for-17
The Rangers have lost six series in a row. We've hit the doldrums, folks.
The Rangers won 6–1 against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, marking a potential turning point for their season.
After a less-than-stellar week that featured two series losses to division rivals, the front office put its foot down. Jake Burger was sent down to Triple-A. Donnie Ecker, the team’s offensive coordinator and leader of the lineup, was let go. Leody Taveras was placed on outright waivers. Bret Boone was hired as the new hitting coach. Change was here, and if the early returns on Tuesday were to be believed, then everything was back on the right track.
Then Wednesday and Thursday’s games happened.
A 6–4 defeat on Wednesday was not the end of the world, but it was one that the Rangers probably felt they could’ve had, as they led 3–2 after five and a half innings. The bullpen then collapsed, and a questionable decision by manager Bruce Bochy to not intentionally walk Alex Bregman came back to bite them. Oh well. Stuff like that happens in a long baseball season.
Thursday, however, was a completely different story. Jack Leiter was not at his best, but he pitched into the sixth inning and allowed just three runs. Getting an outing like that from a rookie pitcher is everything the Rangers could’ve asked for, and it was up to the offense to pick him up and deliver a win. If only.
When Leiter exited the game, Texas was down 3–0. Boston went on to score two more runs, but it wouldn’t have mattered how many more they put on the scoreboard because the Rangers failed to bring anyone home. It was a 5–0 loss and another series defeat—the team’s sixth in a row.
The most glaring statistic that explains the two losses in Boston is this: on Wednesday and Thursday, the Rangers went a combined 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position.
There need not be any further explanation as to why those defeats occurred.
Through 38 games, the Rangers are slashing .239/.292/.361 (.653 OPS) with runners in scoring position. That batting average of .239 ranks 19th in the league, but the on-base percentage of .292 ranks 27th. The .361 slugging percentage also ranks in the bottom half of the league at 23rd. Rough.
This offense is built to put ducks on the pond and then drive them in with big hits. As the numbers I just mentioned illustrate perfectly, that isn’t happening right now for whatever reason. Here’s another glaring statistic: with runners on base—not just in scoring position, but simply on base—the Rangers have hit eight home runs. Just eight. Only the San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals, who are 23–13 and 23–16, respectively, have hit fewer. Baseball is weird, folks.
Bret Boone and this coaching staff have their work cut out for them to get this offense out of the funk it currently finds itself in. The sheer lack of production from the lineup has brought a team that started 8–2 to now being a dismal 18–20.
What’s strange is that the offensive numbers are getting better, particularly at the individual level for those who were massively struggling in the early part of the campaign. Joc Pederson, for example, appears to have turned it around. He’s hitting the ball hard around the yard—he picked up four hits over this series, all hit 100+ MPH—and he walked three times on Thursday. Corey Seager’s early struggles are long gone, as he’s consistently squaring up baseballs and putting the team in prime run-scoring opportunities. Josh Smith has also been fantastic, and Wyatt Langford is still blossoming into a terrific young player. And hey, Evan Carter is back in the big leagues, and he looks healthy!
Unfortunately, four-to-five players aren’t enough to make an offense, and for most of the season the Rangers have had far fewer than that number of productive contributors to the run-scoring operation. Perhaps there will come a time when everybody is firing on all cylinders. Boone was brought on board to try and help figure out how to crack that code. Whether he’s actually able to do that is another question entirely.
0-for-17 is simply not good enough. No sir, indeed.
These Rangers Roundups have become increasingly more depressing as the season has progressed. Hopefully, that turns around soon, but in the meantime, I thought it’d be nice to try to inject some happiness and joy into everyone’s Rangers fandom by looking back on greener pastures.
So, for as long as the Rangers find themselves in the dumps, let’s look back at what was going on with the team in 2023—the year the franchise became a champion for the first time.
On May 8, 2023, the Rangers were 20–13 and were facing the Seattle Mariners in the first of three games up in the Pacific Northwest. As I’ve chronicled here this season, the Rangers do not play well in Seattle. Fortunately for the 2023 iteration of the team, that didn’t appear to be the case on May 8.
Jon Gray pitched a fantastic game, going seven innings and allowing just one run on four hits. He struck out eight and walked none. The only tally that scored on him was a solo home run he surrendered in the bottom of the first to Ty France.
From the first inning until the seventh, no team could get anyone home. Logan Gilbert was on the hill for the Mariners, and he was, as usual, amazing. But on that night, there was something special brewing in whatever potion he drank before the game because through six innings, he was perfect. 18 up, 18 down.
Until the seventh inning.
Marcus Semien led off the inning with a single to left field to break up Gilbert’s bid at history. Robbie Grossman (remember him?) struck out looking (typical), bringing Nathaniel Lowe (I miss him) to the plate. Lowe laced a single to center field at 106.3 MPH, putting two on with one out for Adolis García. While the 2025 version of García swings erratically at pitches outside the zone, the 2023 iteration—at least in the early going—was much more balanced and patient. He drew a walk to load the bases for Josh Jung.
Jung did what Rangers hitters in 2025 have rarely done: supply the team with a productive out. He lifted a fly ball to right field, which was deep enough to score Semien from third and tie the game.
Jonah Heim followed with something even better: a single to center field to bring Lowe home. The Rangers had a 2–1 lead, and they wouldn’t relinquish it.
Gray completed the seventh inning and then passed the baton to Jonathan Hernández (whoa, that’s a throwback name), who subsequently hit two batters before being lifted for Brock Burke (man, that 2023 Rangers bullpen was not good) with two outs. Fortunately, Burke struck out Jarred Kelenic to end the threat.
In the bottom of the ninth, Will Smith came in to try to shut it down and earn his sixth save of the season.
Side note: I still can’t believe that Will Smith was the team’s closer for the first half of that season. How in the world did the Rangers win a World Series with that bullpen? Oh well, doesn’t matter now!
Smith was dominant, striking out the side in order—all swinging—to give Texas its 21st win of the season.
Those were some good times. That team was just special, and it didn’t matter who they threw out there—especially early in the season. They were just going to win no matter what. Maybe it was that Bruce Bochy magic showing out in full force. Hopefully, that comes back soon.