Texas Rangers’ Brandon Nimmo reacts during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Tuesday, May 26, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
ARLINGTON – Maybe Brandon Nimmo delivered the long sought-after magic pill to rescue the Rangers’ offense.
It was just a delayed-release capsule.
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After the Rangers responded to being no-hit a night earlier with their biggest first inning in nearly 15 years in an eventual 10-7 win over Houston, the one thing people in the clubhouse kept pointing to as a turning point was Nimmo’s presence and his presentation.
During the hitters pre-series meeting on Monday, Nimmo challenged his offensive teammates to take a good look at themselves, identify their strengths and use it to their advantage. He didn’t castigate them, but rather counseled them in a way the Rangers’ haven’t seen maybe since Michael Young last suited up.
And this is how it played out:
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A day after delivering his talk in the team meeting, Nimmo sat down with struggling Evan Carter to watch video and talk hitting; he visited with Jake Burger 1-on-1 to alleviate any anxiety after three straight strikeouts with the bases-loaded over the weekend; and to life Michael Helman’s head a bit after two errors in the same inning Monday.
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Then, Nimmo lined a one-out single to right in his first at-bat to kick-start the offense that would eventually lead to eight first-inning runs. The first two scored on a Burger’s single with the bases loaded and the second two on Carter’s triple to right that got surprisingly got past Christian Walker. By the time the inning was over, the Rangers had hit for the cycle with Ezequiel Duran adding a two-run double and Joc Pederson hitting a three-run homer. They hadn’t scored eight in the first inning since 2012 when offense was most definitely not a problem.
“We’ve talked a lot about messaging in the last 24 hours,” manager Skip Schumaker said afterwards. “And I always say that it means more coming from the player – player to player. There really wasn’t much that I had to do, because the players spoke up and Brandon was the lead.
“It’s not surprising that he was the lead. He always talks in the hitter’s meeting. He’s got something to offer. And this was a good one. Because when it comes from him, it’s real; it’s not fake. He wants everybody to do well, himself included. He’s one of the better teammates I’ve ever been around, and I’ve been around some good ones.”
After the no-hitter Monday, he’d stood at his locker, patiently, speaking for a team that clearly felt a bit embarrassed and gave his typical thoughtful insights on the loss.
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On Tuesday, he stood in the same spot, explaining his belief in the team and what drove him to take a more aggressive approach.
“It’s no secret we haven’t been the best offense and I think we’re capable of more,” he said. “And I’ve said it before that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. It’s something that had to be imparted on me when I was younger. You have to find yourself and know who you are and what type of hitter you are and what you bring to the table. There are only a few unicorns in this league and if you aren’t one of them, you’ve got to know what you are elite at, what your attributes are and how you can help contribute to this team and stay here. It’s about using your attributes to your advantage.”
Of particular note was his conversation with Carter, the player the Rangers believed Nimmo could have the most impact upon. They are both wiry, disciplined left-handed hitters. Carter has gone through an awful couple of months and took a .163 average into Wednesday’s game. He’d gone just 8 for 75 (.107) over the previous 30 days.
On Tuesday, he lashed a center-cut fastball past Walker to turn the first inning from a rally into a genuinely big inning. In his second at-bat, he caught a changeup middle-away and drove it into the right field seats, which oddly, was the Rangers’ only hit between the first and eighth innings. But it came after Houston had scored three times in the top of the third on the first of two Yordan Alvarez monster homers. And in the eighth, Carter lined a single to extend a rally into what turned into an important tack-on run.
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“He kind of said some things that really stuck with a lot of people,” Carter said. “He’s extremely passionate and, on top of that, he’s really talented, so you know when he says some things, it makes you get fired up.
“He said it takes a team effort and a team plan, not just individual efforts and individual plans. And it may not work that day, but over the long haul, it will.”
It was, by baseball definition, deep and thought-provoking.
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And maybe that’s why it took a day to seemingly get real results.
It was a pill the Rangers needed to swallow to get better. Perhaps it just was a delayed release, which is fine. As long as the medicine is also long-acting.