Rangers' Sputtering Offensive Start Timed Horribly in AL West Race

The Seattle Mariners are having one of their better offensive seasons of the past five years. While only 18th in average, they're ranked tenth in OPB, 12th in OPS, ninth in runs, sixth in home runs, and eighth in stolen bases.

While that might not be among the elite offenses in the MLB, it's good enough to complement the Mariners' top-tier starting pitching staff. They've been just good enough to keep them afloat, but should be back to full shape once Logan Gilbert and George Kirby come off the IL.

Once those two are back, Seattle should be able to win games with even more comfort. Not only is Julio Rodriguez having a bounce back season after a disappointing 2024, but Cal Raleigh has emerged as the best power-hitting catcher in baseball with 13 home runs and Dylan Moore is having a career year for contact batting .289.

But it's not just the Mariners. The Athletics are adjusting well to their new temporary home of West Sacramento and have emerged as one of the premier offenses in baseball. Young players like Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler, and Shea Langeliers are all having outstanding seasons at the same time, and it's leading to wins. Plenty of them.

At 22-20, the Athletics' lineup ranked third in average, 12th in OBP, seventh in OPS, and sixth in home runs. And while the pitching struggles have been relatively adjacent to what they were last year — maybe not quite as disastrous — manager Mark Kotsay finally has the offensive tools he needs to overcome poor starts.

These are outcomes that weren't baked into people's predictions for the Rangers to win the West. Even if Texas' bats were doing better, the conversation about them winning the division would look different. But the slow start couples with the surges of other teams makes any climb to a postseason return even more difficult than initially anticipated.