Texas Rangers Considered Among Best in American League as Offense Scuffles

The Texas Rangers are among the worst hitting teams in baseball, sporting numbers that suggest they would be off to a terrible start.

Well, there Rangers are leading the American League West and considered among the top clubs in all of baseball. That’s at least the opinion over at MLB.com, which has Texas checking in at No. 10 in the latest MLB Power Rankings.

The Rangers pitching staff — both starters and relievers — have carried the load so far. The trio of deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle all turned in strong starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who check in at No. 1 in the Power Rankings.

deGrom had an especially good night in the series opener with the Dodgers. For the first time this season he looked like the two-time Cy Young of old. He gave up just one run — on a solo leadoff home run to Tommy Edman. But from there he retired 20 of the next 23 hitters and went seven innings. He struck out seven and walked just one. It was a brillant outing as he gets ready to pitch in Sacramento later this week.

The Rangers appearance in the top 10 is one thing. Their ranking in the American League is even more impressive. The top five ranked teams are all from the National League, with the San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies are trailing the Dodgers. The only AL outfits ahead of the Rangers are the New York Yankees (6) and Detroit Tigers (8).

That the Rangers were in all three games against the defending World Series champions, winning the middle game on Adolis Garcia’s walk-off homer, despite scoring a total of four runs over the weekend is a testament to their arms. Texas starters had a 1.64 ERA on the just-finished homestand, giving up just seven earned runs in 38.1 innings, as the team went 4-2 overall.

The Rangers did drop their first series at Globe Life Field this season, with the Dodgers posting shutout wins both Friday and Sunday, but there is plenty of reason for optimism.

The franchise, in its best years, has proven to be an offensive juggernaut, with just enough pitching and defense to get by. The World Series championship year of 2023 was one of the rare occasions where everything clicked.

If the bats ever start clicking, this could be another special season in Arlington.