ARLINGTON – A Rangers official posed a question Monday: Have all the columns about the ineffectiveness of the offense been exhausted?
Of topics, the Rangers’ offense has been a prolific producer. Of actual runs: Not so much.
It’s been established the Rangers offense struggles against lefties. Also: on the road. Add top-tier pitching, too. Much of that can be explained by pure physical deficiencies or something as easy as playing away from home. What may be most damning about an offense that has become accustomed to profanity is this: The team doesn’t seem to get better as the game progresses.
What it suggests: Either a lack of feel or as president of baseball operations Chris Young once described it earlier this year a lack of “connectivity.”
Rangers
Consider the natural flow of the game. Some teams are hot starters, other are not. But according to league averages, teams see about a 4% increase in run production from the first three innings to the middle three. Pitchers have shown most or all of their repertoire the first time through the order. They may start to fatigue. The advantage moves towards the hitter. Then, when facing high-leverage relievers late in games, it drops off again.
Not the Rangers. They start out OK enough, ranking 12th in the majors in run scored through the first three innings. Then, when other offenses are figuring things out, they go flat. They have a dropoff of 6% in scoring in innings 4-6 and their 119 total runs from the seventh through the ninth are last in baseball.
That sure appeared to be crystal clear over the weekend, when the Rangers scored in the first inning of all three games against Philadelphia, then scored a total of one run after that.
Related:Texas Rangers’ offense fails to build on quick start again as Phillies complete sweep
It’s almost like they either don’t – or can’t – make adjustments.
“I know it’s there because I’ve seen it,” co-hitting instructor Bret Boone said Monday. “But why do we go in these extreme lows? Is it a lack of focus? No, these guys want to win. They want to do well. We do all get caught up in our individual numbers. I’d be lying to you if I always thought, ‘Oh, I’m not worried my number. Let’s just win.’ No, let’s just win. But I want my numbers too. You want to contribute.
“The thing that really just grates on me is when we have a runner on third and less than two outs. Let’s get this runner in. I love it when we move the runner. The energy is unbelievable. And I can’t tell you the difference between scoring one run in an inning and two. It’s a world of difference. I can’t say they they’re not capable of making adjustments, but you have a fair point that we’ve gone through streaks during the season – and big streaks – where we tend to take the middle innings off, and now all of a sudden, it’s 2-2 in the eighth and we’re facing high leverage guys.”
Maybe the best way to measure guys ability to make adjustments from at-bat to at-bat is in on-base percentage. Getting on base moves the line and continues to build stress on the pitcher.
The Rangers OBP stays essentially flat innings 1-3 (.312) to innings 4-6 (.311), then drops precipitously in the late innings (.269). Among the biggest dropoffs from the first three to the middle three are Josh Smith (.402 to .308), Josh Jung (.360 to .224), Kyle Higashioka (.361 to .196) and Adolis García (.301 to .264).
Both Smith and Jung, each in their first three seasons, acknowledged that pitchers are gaining an advantage on them.
“Maybe they are making a better adjustment off of me based on my first at-bat and I’m not properly adjusting to them,” Smith said. “I don’t think I change a lot from at-bat to at-bat. It could just be coincidence.”
It could. It could also be yet another telling sign that this offense simply doesn’t work as intended.
Even manager Bruce Bochy, who does everything he can to find reasons to support his offense, had a hard time trying to dismiss it.
“We talk about it, how important it is every inning,” Bochy said. “I wish I had a good answer for you. It shouldn’t happen.”
Yet it has.
Stars release 2025-26 promotional schedule featuring Mikko Rantanen bobblehead nightWhat happened to the power-speed combination from Rangers’ Wyatt Langford?
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.