Rangers offense reaches rock bottom in no-hit loss to Astros

Starter Tatsuya Imai was responsible for an alarming 8.31 ERA through his first five starts this season, allowing 16 earned runs in 17.1 innings. Control has been a major issue for the former Japan Pacific League star, who issued 14 walks during his early struggles and added two more against the first two Rangers batters on Monday. Overall, Imai gave up four walks, but an inept Texas offense kept them from causing harm.

Imai escaped the first-inning jam when designated hitter Brandon Nimmo grounded into a double play. And after walking Nimmo to lead off the bottom of the fourth, Imai got third baseman Ezequiel Duran to hit a ground ball to second for a 4-6-3 double play.

That's been a troubling trend through the first third of the 2026 season. Per Baseball Reference, Texas entered Monday having ground into 41 double plays, the third most in the AL. Overall, only 12.3 percent of Rangers base-runners have crossed home plate, the AL's lowest rate, indicative of the team's poor situational hitting.

The struggles at the plate are particularly frustrating considering last year, when the offense sank a sensational pitching season. In 2025, the Rangers ranked first in team ERA (3.47) only to finish 81-81 thanks to an offense that averaged 4.22 runs per game and hit .234.

Instead of making substantial changes during the offseason, president of basketball operations, Chris Young, retained most of the core. Nimmo, acquired via trade from the New York Mets in November 2025, and catcher Danny Jensen, who signed a two-year, $14.5M free-agent contract, were the biggest additions. Nimmo has put up a respectable .258/.351/.429 slash line, while Jensen has struggled, slashing .173/.272/.318 after Monday. 

The no-hitter — the first since the Chicago Cubs held the Pittsburgh Pirates without a hit on Sep. 4, 2024 — raises fresh doubts about that approach, particularly with the team's depth continuing to be tested. Second baseman Josh Smith and shortstop Corey Seager are on the injured list, while third baseman Josh Jung, one of the team's brightest offensive stars, missed his second consecutive game after suffering a shoulder injury in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Following the game, centerfielder Evan Carter, who is hitting .163 this season, talked about being no-hit, and his comments also raised concern about the team's strategy at the plate.

"I think it's one of those things that obviously, you know, we had a plan going in there. We want to execute that plan," Carter said. "The way the game started, if you would have told me this was how it's going to end, I would have strongly disagreed."

For a team with playoff aspirations, getting no-hit by the worst pitching staff in baseball is unacceptable. It's going to take a lot to fix this mess. If only the Rangers spent the offseason doing so.