{"id":2242,"date":"2025-03-24T10:10:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T16:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/?p=2242"},"modified":"2025-03-24T10:10:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T16:10:22","slug":"2242","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2025\/03\/24\/2242\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

Unanswered Questions for the Texas Rangers<\/h1>\n

You\u2019d think that after a four-month offseason and six weeks in the desert that things would be relatively settled and clear cut with four days left until the Texas Rangers host the Boston Red Sox on opening day Thursday at Globe Life Field.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think.<\/p>\n

Baseball \u2014 and all it\u2019s glorious twists and turns \u2014 doesn\u2019t always tend to operate with that logic. The Rangers, who\u2019ve still got a handful of questions left to answer before the games begin to matter, can attest. Here\u2019s a look at what\u2019s still left to be finalized before the regular season starts.<\/p>\n

The Closer Conundrum<\/h2>\n

The Rangers began camp with talks of a bullpen sans roles. They ended it without much of a change in narrative.<\/p>\n

The Rangers will open the season without a relief pitcher with substantial closing experience on the roster and haven\u2019t named someone to the role. Their high-leverage candidates \u2014 right-handers Chris Martin and Luke Jackson and left-hander Robert Garcia \u2014 combined to allow just one run in 16 1\/3 innings of Cactus League play.<\/p>\n

For now, it seems, Martin and his 14 career saves might have an inside track to the job. The ambiguity isn\u2019t an entirely new phenomena. Reminder: Jos\u00e9 Leclerc opened each of the last two seasons at closer and was displaced within a month\u2019s time each time.<\/p>\n

Center Field Belongs to _______<\/h2>\n

Evan Carter? Leody Taveras? Kevin Pillar? The Rangers\u2019 decision makers haven\u2019t entirely tipped their hand one way or another and Carter \u2014 whose prospect pedigree and postseason performance carry weight \u2014 hasn\u2019t done enough to separate himself.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s done the opposite, truthfully, with a .158\/.220\/.211 slash line in 14 games and an ugly 0 for 10 line vs. left-handed pitching. Taveras (the incumbent center fielder with baggage of his own) has hit just .196 but has put better swings on the ball.<\/p>\n

The answer lies somewhere within the three and it could look different on opening day (in which the Rangers will face one of baseball\u2019s best left-handers in Garrett Crochet) than it does midseason.<\/p>\n

Starting Rotation<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s start with the obvious ones: Nathan Eovaldi will start opening day, Jacob deGrom is expected to pitch at the back end of the rotation and Tyler Mahle will throw somewhere in between the two of them.<\/p>\n

That leaves two open spots for as many as four candidates so long as Cody Bradford (elbow soreness) and Jon Gray (fractured wrist) are sidelined for multiple months. Those in contention are right-hander Jack Leiter, right-hander Kumar Rocker, right-hander Adrian Houser and the recently signed left-hander Patrick Corbin.<\/p>\n

Leiter, 24, and Rocker, 25, are the organization\u2019s No. 3 and No. 2 prospects, respectively, according to The Dallas Morning News\u2019 rankings. Their \u201cstuff\u201d and potential is undoubtedly the best of the four.<\/p>\n

Batting Order<\/h2>\n

Atop the batting order, we mean. Second baseman Marcus Semien, at leadoff, and shortstop Corey Seager, in the two-hole, are the easy ones.<\/p>\n

Second-year outfielder Wyatt Langford hit third in eight of the 10 games that he played this spring and batted leadoff and second in the two that he didn\u2019t. First baseman Jake Burger hit third in each of the two games that Langford didn\u2019t, but on the whole, saw the majority of his time at fifth, sixth and seventh in the lineup.<\/p>\n

The Rangers used few lineups in the Cactus League that included each of their expected regulars because of injuries and the nature of spring training. This one, on March 18 vs. the Cleveland Guardians, might\u2019ve been the closest to what Texas could field against a right-handed pitcher: Semien, Seager, Langford, Pederson, Garcia, Jung, Carter, Burger and Heim in that order.<\/p>\n

2025 MLB season predictions: Will the Texas Rangers bounce back from a disappointing 2024?<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

Plus, our experts predict World Series winners, home run leaders, the trade deadline and more.<\/p>\n

\"Texas
\nCan the 2025 Texas Rangers outslug the 2023 World Series champs? Bruce Bochy thinks so<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

The Rangers led the American League in close to every offensive statistic two years ago. Could this season be a return to form?<\/p>\n

\"Texas
\nTexas Rangers opening day central: Ultimate fan guide as potential bounce back 2025 begins<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

Texas kicks off its 2025 campaign Thursday at Globe Life Field against the Boston Red Sox.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

The Texas Rangers still have several unanswered questions as they approach the start of the 2025 season. From the closer role to the starting rotation, center field, and batting order, there are many factors that will impact the team’s success. As the season begins, fans will be eager to see how these questions are answered and how the team performs on the field.<\/p>\n

FAQs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unanswered Questions for the Texas Rangers You\u2019d think that after a four-month offseason and six weeks in the desert that things would be relatively settled and clear cut with four days left until the Texas Rangers host the Boston Red Sox on opening day Thursday at Globe Life Field. You\u2019d think. Baseball \u2014 and all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/OMJ5TXEXLZD3VF3BUPCVU4A64E.jpg?auth=6a5d76334fcbbdfb8169fad2744e7d55b7366554a0d61b36e1f2e67bb2c8ebf0&height=630&width=1200&smart=true&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2244,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions\/2244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}