Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (5) throws to first base in the fourth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

Grading Out Rangers Impressive Defense that Set Major League Record

Originally posted on Texas Rangers on SI
By Matt Postins | Last updated Oct 21, 2025 8:00 PM ET

The Texas Rangers have taken quite a bit of heat for their offensive issues in 2025. But the team deserves praise for its defense, too.

No matter where you look, the Rangers are at the top of leaderboards when it comes to defensive runs saved, a metric that indicates how many runs a player saved or cost his team in the field compared to others at his position.

For instance, at Fielding Bible, the Rangers led the Majors in the category. In fact, the Chicago Cubs were the only team within 10 DRS of the Rangers. Three Rangers players finished with the same number of DRS and were among the Top 13 players in baseball in the category, regardless of the position.

As much as the Rangers offense struggled in 2025, the defense excelled consistently.

Grading Out Texas Rangers 2025 Defense

Sometimes it takes only a few words to tell the story. The Rangers led baseball with 89 defensive runs saved per Fangraphs and set a single-season Major League record with a .991 fielding percentage as a team. The .99112 broke the previous record, which was .91104 set by the 2013 Baltimore Orioles.

The Rangers have five Gold Glove finalists and only two teams had more. So, it’s easy to see where the defensive runs saved stacked up per Fangraphs.

Outfielder Adolis Garcia had 16 DRS. Shortstop Corey Seager also had 16 DRS, which was a career-best for him. Second baseman Marcus Semien had seven DRS and only committed two errors in 493 chances. Pitcher Jacob deGrom had four DRS and did not commit an error in 31 chances. Outfielder Wyatt Langford had 16 DRS — 12 at his normal left field position and four more at center field.

Combined, that’s 59 DRS. But much of the team was in the positive in the category. Ezequiel Duran had a unique year. He had four DRS at first base, one at second base and one at right field. Josh Smith had a similar experience. He had two DRS at first base, one DRS at second base but was in the minus at other positions. Duran was also in the minus in left field.

It wasn’t perfection across the board. Third baseman John Jung, who is considered a solid defender, had a minus-3 DRS. Catcher Jonah Heim, who won an AL Gold Glove two years ago, regressed to a minus-7 DRS. That basically overwhelmed the 4 DRS for his partner behind the plate, Kyle Higashioka.

But collectively, this group fielded in a way in which most expected the team to rake offensively. It helped keep them in in games and, with a better offense, would have likely meant a playoff berth.

Final Grade: A

This article first appeared on Texas Rangers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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