Aug 5, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) and catcher Jonah Heim (28) and third baseman Josh Jung (6) and bench coach/offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker (14) celebrates left fielder Josh Smith (8) hitting the game winning home run against the Houston Astros during the tenth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers are getting tired of not hitting. They took the first step in attempting to fix that by firing offense coordinator Donnie Ecker.

Ecker has been with the club since 2021 and was the hitting coach during the 2023 World Series run.

“After lengthy discussions and deliberations, we feel now is the appropriate time to provide our hitters with a new voice as we pursue goals of winning the division and reaching the postseason,” Chris Young said in a press release according to the Rangers website. “We are extremely grateful to Donnie for all that he has accomplished here with the Rangers, including his role in the club’s 2023 World Series championship. We wish him the best.”

In the American League the Rangers are 12th in batting average, 14th in on base percentage, 13th in slugging and 14th in OPS.

They have also walked the second fewest times in the AL. They are 29th in runs scored in all of baseball.

After a disappointing 2024, the Rangers began the season 8-2 before losing 16 of their next 25 games. The offense has never been there.

“I think this lineup was designed, collectively, to get performance out of 13 to 15 significant contributors,” Young said on Friday to the media. “We can’t run from where we are. I’m not even sure last year we were at this level of underperformance collectively as a team.”

The Rangers haven’t announced yet who will take Ecker’s place as the hitting coach.

Leody Taveras

The Rangers also announced that they have placed World Series Champion center fielder Leody Taveras on outright waivers. Any team that claims Taveras off waivers would take on the entire remaining balance of his $4.75 million salary for 2025.

Leody is hitting .241/.259/.342 with one homer, eight RBIs and six steals in 29 games. The truth is the Rangers just got tired of waiting for his immense potential to translate to consistency everyday in the field and at the plate.

Chris Young is working diligently to try and improve a team that is massively underperforming. The pitching is there. The hitting isn’t.

With names like Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Joc Pederson, Adolis Garcia and Josh Jung this team should be raking.

The Rangers will make moves today, and I  believe it will include Evan Carter returning to the bigs. It will be interesting to see if the offense changes with Ecker out.