Texas Rangers Midseason Grades Highlight Terrific Pitching, Terrible Offense

The Texas Rangers enter the official second half of the season with a 40-41 record and a mountain to climb in the American League West Division.

Texas is now eight games back of the surging Houston Astros, who just swept the Philadelphia Phillies and are now 48-33.

The Rangers might have a hard time catching the Astros. But Texas won its 2023 World Series as an AL wild card team and entering Friday’s series with the Seattle Mariners the Rangers are just two games out of the final wild card spot.

Here are the grades for the Rangers after the first 81 games of the season.

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Offense

The Rangers were expected to be one of the best offensive teams in baseball and they have been anything but.

While Texas has picked it up in June, the Rangers still have the fourth worst batting average in baseball (a slash of .228/.293/.366) ahead of only the Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox.

Many of Texas’ stars are underperforming their career averages. None of their five qualifying hitters is batting over .300 and four of them are batting under .250.

Super utility man Josh Smith has been the Rangers’ best overall hitter, and second-year outfielder Wyatt Langford has been their biggest source of power. That says it all.

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Grade: D

Starting Pitching

By season’s end this rotation might be the best in franchise history. At various points this season the rotation has had the best ERA in baseball.

Jacob deGrom carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in Game No. 81 and is pitching like his old self. Nathan Eovaldi has been remarkably consistent. Jack Leiter is an emerging talent, and Kumar Rocker is finally starting to show real flashes. Late signee Patrick Corbin has eaten innings as hoped.

Before his shoulder injury, Tyler Mahle might have been the best starter in the rotation. Jacob Latz has emerged as a potential starting option out of the bullpen.

Unlike the offense, nearly everything the Rangers have done in the rotation has worked.

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Grade: A

Bullpen

Texas largely remade its bullpen in the offseason and, for the most part, the moves have worked. The bullpen has the fifth-best ERA in baseball (3.39), strikes out more than eight hitters per nine innings and walks three hitters per nine innings. It also gives up fewer than one home run per nine innings.

Seven different Rangers have at least one save. Luke Jackson had the closer job in April and Robert Garcia now has the job.

The only real question with the bullpen is load management, especially with the bullpen’s older components like Chris Martin. Texas doesn’t have many options on the farm.

Grade: B

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Injuries

The Rangers have lost one starting pitcher for the season (Cody Bradford) and have two others that have been on the 60-day injured list since the start of the season (Jon Gray and Josh Sborz). Both could return in the next month.

Eovaldi and Mahle are on the 15-day IL, but Eovaldi could be activated on Friday.

The hitters have avoided the 60-day IL, but Corey Seager has dealt with a balky hamstring for significant portions of the season. Texas has lost designated hitter Joc Pederson for two months, but he was batting under .200 at the time of the injury.

Injuries haven’t set Texas back significantly

Grade: B

Overall Grade

The offensive grade obviously drags down the whole grade. By season’s end this could end up being the greatest missed opportunity in franchise history. Texas has never had a starting rotation like this — and has never had this much offensive talent underperform.

Grade: B-

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