Texas Rangers catcher Elias Díaz (from left), shortstop Ezequiel Duran, pitcher Luis Curvelo and second baseman Justin Foscue celebrate after a victory over the Cleveland Guardians in a baseball game at Globe Life Field on Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON — The barometer of swell performance can be defined in any number of ways. The Rangers can at least point to two — they might’ve figured out how to hit at Globe Life Field (gasp!) and figured out how to rough up left-handed pitchers (another gasp!) — to suggest that tides have shifted in desired directions.
Now they’ve got to prove that it was more than just a one-weekend fling.
Until then though, here are five things we learned about the Rangers last week.
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It’s time for the weekly perspective check
The last time we spoke, after a three-game sweep vs. the Kansas City Royals, there was cautious optimism that the Rangers had gotten themselves into a groove. This week, after a third consecutive series win, two of which came against teams currently in a playoff position, there’s a tad more certainty that the Rangers are on their first real heater of the season.
Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung celebrates with right fielder Brandon Nimmo after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field on Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Their 7-2 record since last weekend has been their best nine-game stretch this year. They’re only a game-and-a-half behind the first-place Seattle Mariners in the American League West and, if the postseason began today, they’d be in as the league’s third Wild Card team. They only had shortstop Corey Seager (who hit a home run in Friday’s win vs. the Cleveland Guardians) for two of those games and left fielder Wyatt Langford (who hit a home run in Sunday’s win vs. the Guardians) in three of them. They’ve averaged 5.2 runs in their last nine games despite that, and in Sunday’s blowout win, they hit more home runs at Globe Life Field than they have in any other game this season.
It’s the kind of stretch that can theoretically create real momentum.
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“I hope so,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “I mean, when you get Seager and Wyatt back, that definitely is momentum in my opinion.”
Got a problem? Ezequiel Duran has — or, rather, is — the solution
The Rangers found T-shirts in their respective lockers before Sunday’s game vs. the Guardians. It had three photos of Duran cropped together in the center, and above them, in the design of a chain, it read “The Solution.”
“He gave himself that nickname,” Schumaker said. “He was trying to convince me that he was the solution early on in the year and it kind of carried over to everyone calling him The Solution.”
A few Rangers players are wearing t-shirts with Ezequiel Duran’s face on them.
They read: “The Solution.” It was a nickname given to him in winter ball after he played all over the field.
“He actually has been the solution in many, many ways,” Skip Schumaker said. pic.twitter.com/A4zr0Iawnf
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) June 7, 2026
So, technically, Duran did not give himself that moniker. Duran played for the Aguilas Cibaenas in the Dominican Winter League before this season, and after he switched from shortstop to third base to the outfield in one single game, teammate Angel Genao made a decree.
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“You are the solution,” Genao told him. “You can play anywhere.”
Duran, who’s played five different positions this season, forgot about it until he took practice reps at catcher and informed his teammates of the nickname. It led to a shirt, which Duran and several teammates wore proudly Sunday morning, and an accurate assessment at that. The 26-year-old has slashed .293/.347/.457 this season as both a utility player and long-term fill-in at second base or shortstop. He’s on the AL All-Star ballot at second base and leads all players listed with 1.6 WAR, but he’s also generated 0.9 WAR at shortstop, 0.1 WAR at right field and 0.1 WAR at left field and stepped into significant offensive and defensive roles with Seager, Langford and second baseman Josh Smith sidelined for extended periods of time.
“He has been the solution to different places on the field, different spots in the lineup, righties, lefties,” Schumaker said. “He actually has been the solution in many, many ways.”
And, for the record, Schumaker is a fan of Duran’s confidence.
“I love it,” Schumaker said. “That’s what you want.”
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How Jacob deGrom and the Rangers solved their first-inning issues
Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Degrom delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field on Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
On the topic of solutions, it appears that the Rangers, and their rotation, have quelled one issue that’s dragged them down this season.
The Rangers posted a league-worst 7.13 ERA in the first inning of games through May 25 and had allowed a league-high 17 home runs through that date. That, paired with an offense and inconsistent offense, often doomed games from the start. Even the staff’s co-aces weren’t immune to the affliction as deGrom and right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi had combined to allow a dozen of those early home runs.
But, in nearly two weeks of games since then, the Rangers have outscored opponents 20-5 in the first inning of games and posted a far more manageable 4.09 ERA in those frames. The offense’s ability to score early allows the rotation to pitch more freely. The rotation’s ability to post early shutdown innings allows the offense to capitalize on their momentum. It’s a successful cycle, and in Sunday’s win, in which second baseman Justin Foscue hit a two-run home run in the first inning and deGrom posted six scoreless frames, the proof of success is evident.
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“If you look at what they’re hitting, I wouldn’t say you’re grooving the first pitch of the game, you’re not trying to, but I looked at the ones I’ve given up and they have been right down the middle,” said deGrom who, in his last three starts, has not allowed a first-inning run. “It’s trying to throw a perfect pitch to start the game knowing that these guys are swinging. It’s really bear down, almost throw it like it’s a two-strike pitch, make it a pitcher’s pitch and not ‘here it is over the plate’ where you can just try to sell out to a fastball and hit it over the fence.”
Did you realize that Josh Jung has been this consistent?
Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Globe Life Field on Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
There’s a number (or, maybe, numbers) of ways to quantify how well Jung has performed this season. There’s his .310 batting average which leads all AL third basemen. There’s his 1.7 WAR which leads the Rangers. There’s his 15.3% strikeout rate which is nearly a 10% improvement from last season.
There’s also the consistency aspect of it.
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Jung has recorded more multi-hit games (21) than zero-hit games (12) since April 1 and has hit .341 in that span. His batting average has not dropped below .290 since April 17 and he’s had four different streaks of at least five consecutive games with a hit. He’s pulled 42.6% of his batted balls but has still hit more than half of them up the middle or the opposite way. His .306 batting average with two strikes is only seven percentage points lower than his batting average in all counts. It’s given the Rangers a rock-steady performer while some in the lineup have remained up-and-down (like first baseman Jake Burger) and while others have missed significant time (like Seager, Langford and Smith).
“He’s just kind of a complete hitter right now,” Schumaker said. “He’s just doing whatever is kind of asked of him right now.”
Wyatt Langford left a mark (and a good memory)
Langford, in his third game since he was activated off of the injured list, lined his first big league home run in more than a month-and-a-half into the left field seats at 111.3 mph. If you don’t believe that’s a hard-hit ball, then, well, ask the fan whose chest wore the brunt of the impact.
The 24 year old’s home run ricocheted off of a fan and back into the gap between the stands and the left field wall. He initially thought that the ball just bounced off of the seats until Schumaker pulled him aside in the dugout and said “hey, you should probably give that guy a ball or something, I think you got him pretty good.”
The fans are okay!
Sebastian and Kenny Yu were the two fans on the wrong side of Wyatt Langford’s home run – it was a 111mph laser off the bat.
Wyatt brought a baseball as a peace offering that says, “sorry for hitting you.” pic.twitter.com/5GmFq3z0Pj
— Laura Stickells (@LauraStickells) June 7, 2026
“I don’t know how that fan is,” Schumaker even mused after the game. “It got him pretty good.”
Langford tossed the fan an autographed baseball later in the game that read “Sorry for hitting you! Go Rangers!”
If Langford can remain healthy, and if he can continue to slug home runs, he won’t need to apologize to many more Rangers fans.
“Wyatt is dangerous, not only at the plate, but on the bases,” Schumaker said. “He plays an elite left field, he can play center field, and we’ve missed him. The other guys have done a great job of filling in but Wyatt Langford is a special player.”