Introduction to the Texas Rangers’ Season
When this season began, it seemed the one thing the Rangers would do is slug. It was an offseason priority. And it was heartily addressed. The slug hype machine was so loud during spring training that it seemed to drown out all the squeaks and pings the offense seemed to be emitting.
It was the No. 1 story going into the season: Would the Rangers pitching staff simply be able to stick around in games long enough for the offense to swoop in and save the day.
Um, plot twist.
The offense has remained the No. 1 storyline of the year. But it’s become more of a mystery than an action film. Where is it? Why does it make such infrequent appearances? Why are we still even talking about this? Because it’s been that ineffective.
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But it was hardly the only storyline on the Rangers as they sought to rebound from a losing 2024. Here’s a look at how the first half went where five key storylines to the season were concerned:
Key Storylines of the Season
The Rangers had several key storylines going into the season, including the need to improve their hitting, the management of Jacob deGrom, and the performance of players who had a down year in 2024.
The Need to Blitz Fastballs
If there has been one place where the Rangers have remained remarkably consistent from year to year, it’s hitting the four-seam fastball. Or, more precisely, not hitting it. Either way, it’s not a compliment. The Rangers set out to address a real deficiency in the offseason by adding Jake Burger in a trade and Joc Pederson in free agency as fastball hunters.
So, what’s changed? Almost nothing. As a team, the Rangers are still among the top third of the league in percentage of fastballs faced and still 25th in batting average. They hit .233 against the pitch last year; .234 against it in the first half. Slugging against the pitch has actually dropped from bad (.380 in 2024) to worse (.368 in 2025). They’ve combined for a .147 average against the pitch. They haven’t provided the lift the Rangers were seeking.
The Management of Jacob deGrom
How the Rangers would handle Jacob deGrom in his first full season back from elbow surgery was a mystery all spring as he met every challenge and looked better and better with each outing. Here’s how they handled him: They’ve basically let him just be, which, all things considered, seems like a pretty good idea.
No, his fastball doesn’t sit at 100 mph like it once did, but it’s still pretty good. Among the 93 pitchers who have thrown at least 750 fastballs this season, only Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes, the “it” pitcher of the moment, has a better average velocity than deGrom’s 97.4 mph. Though deGrom’s slider never seems to be up to his own standards, when it comes to location, he’s fourth in the majors in swings and misses on the pitch. And he’s even started throwing a changeup again. As a result, he’s third in the AL in ERA and seventh in WAR, according to Fangraphs. And perhaps most significantly, he leads the Rangers in both starts (19) and innings pitched.
It’s all gone so well that the question of managing his workload in the second half looms as a major issue. It’s hard to see the Rangers pushing him past 170 innings in the regular season, a level he hasn’t seen since 2019. If he makes every scheduled start the rest of the way, he’s got 11 or 12 outings left. The math works out to about five innings per start.
Don’t even ask about the playoffs. If they get there, they’ll probably have to push the goalposts a little further.
How Would Guys Bounce Back After a Down Year?
It depends on how you look at things. If you believe that 2024 was a down year after some 2023 fireworks, then, yeah, they didn’t bounce back great. If you believe that 2024 was more the career norm, well, then, yeah, not great either. There’s no way to paint as other than a dire situation that could dictate the club’s future beyond this year. It may lead the Rangers to making more permanent decisions on a number of position players.
Any discussion of this starts with Jonah Heim, who ranked last in the majors in OPS in 2024 among the 100 players with at least 400 plate appearances. This year: 99th of 102. His OPS at the end of last year was .602; it is .608 this season. He’s going to be in his last year of arbitration eligibility at the end of this year. Every sign suggests he’s played his way out of the Rangers plans.
He’s not the only one. The Rangers finally gave up on another of the “bounce back boys,” Leody Taveras, a month into the season. Have to think Adolis García, who would be in his last year of arbitration eligibility next year, is also on the brink of being left out of future plans.
The Faceless Men
Over the winter, the Rangers added a bunch of bullpen arms, but nobody with extensive closing experience and nobody with an overpowering arm. It left questions about how trustworthy the bullpen would be and who would close games.
The bullpen has been reliable. Perhaps too much so. In some ways they’ve become victims of their own good health. There hasn’t been any major time lost to injury, so the Rangers have worked their guys hard. They are one of three teams in the majors with at least six relievers to have worked 35 games at the All-Star break. The fatigue certainly seemed to show in July.
Nevertheless, the bullpen ranks second in the AL in relief ERA (3.37). They’ve done good work. But, as is the case with this team, there is so much that doesn’t make sense. Despite all of that, they have the second most losses (23) of any bullpen in the majors and their save percentage (60%) is 19th.
Bruce Bochy’s Future
Hard to imagine that Bochy is enjoying himself in the final year of his Rangers contract with no real answers about whether he wants to continue managing or not. He’s given no indications whether he’s leaning towards retiring or returning. And the Rangers certainly haven’t brought it up.
On the one hand, it seems hard to think he’d be excited about returning to an offense that has underachieved and shown less grasp of team-first at-bats than perhaps ever before. On the other, it’s hard to imagine that he’d like for his final chapter in baseball to be two underachieving Rangers clubs.
At the All-Star break, Bochy was 15 games below .500 for his legendary managing career. Pushing his record above .500 for his career spanning 4,500 games might make for a nice sendoff, but then again, to get there, the Rangers would have to have a really hot second-half run and that might be enough to energize a guy into deciding he’d like to keep doing this.
Conclusion
The Texas Rangers have had a perplexing first half of the season, with their offense being a major storyline. Despite adding players to address their deficiencies, they have not seen the expected improvement. The management of Jacob deGrom has been a success, but the team’s overall performance has been inconsistent. The faceless men in the bullpen have been reliable, but the team’s future is uncertain.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about the Texas Rangers:
Q: What is the current state of the Rangers’ offense?
A: The Rangers’ offense has been a major storyline this season, with the team struggling to score runs consistently. Despite adding players to address their deficiencies, they have not seen the expected improvement.
Q: How has Jacob deG
