{"id":700245,"date":"2026-05-16T06:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T06:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/700245\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T06:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T06:33:18","slug":"texas-rangers-offense-keeps-it-going-barely-avoids-being-no-hit-in-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/700245\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Rangers offense \u2018keeps it going.\u2019 Barely avoids being no-hit in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas Rangers<\/a> are a \u201cperfect\u201d 180-187 since winning their World Series.<\/p>\n

Perfect because the identity of the franchise for decades was offense, and since winning the World Series their bats are 180 degrees opposite of that persona.<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said enough games have been played here in 2026 to qualify as a good \u201cbody of evidence.\u201d The chalk outline of the Rangers\u2019 body is an offense that has not come to life since it scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning in Game 5 to win the 2023 World Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The consistency of this offense starting in 2024 is no longer troubling as it is confounding. On Friday night in Houston against an Astros team that is just barely above last place in the American League West<\/a>, the Rangers lost, 2-0.<\/p>\n

Rangers second baseman Justin Foscue was \u201cthe hero.\u201d His two-out eighth inning single second broke up Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti\u2019s attempt at a no hitter. It was the Rangers only hit of the night.<\/p>\n

Other highlights: It\u2019s the second time in the last four games the Rangers were shutout, and 10th time this season they have scored one or fewer runs.<\/p>\n

Even if the team didn\u2019t spend much in the offseason, and ranks 15th in MLB in payroll, it should be able to generate more runs than its current pace. If this offense can be average, the Rangers could contend for at least a playoff spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur lineup has not all clicked and gotten hot together,\u201d Schumaker said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had one or two guys hot, but not collectively felt good about where they\u2019re at. The lineup has potential.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is encouraging, and not entirely new.<\/p>\n

The Texas Rangers offense during and after the 2023 World Series<\/p>\n

A look at the Rangers\u2019 offense and its MLB rankings in 2023, \u201824, \u201825 and now here in \u201826 is a cruise liner sailing over the edge of the earth:<\/p>\n

2023: record: 90-72 Runs (rank): third OBP: third OPS: third HR: third (tie)<\/p>\n

2024: 78-84 Runs: 18th OBP: 20th OPS: 23rd HR: 18th<\/p>\n

2025: 81-81 Runs: 25th OBP: 26th OPS: 26th HR: 18th<\/p>\n

2026: 21-22 Runs: 27th OBP: 22nd OPS: 26th HR: 21 (t)<\/p>\n

A little more than one year ago to the day, the Rangers fired offensive coach Donnie Ecker<\/a> and replaced him with former Major League All-Star second baseman Bret Boone. Boone was let go after the season; Justin Viele is now joined by Alex Cintron and Eric Dorton as the other hitting coaches.<\/p>\n

Historically a big-league position coach can make a tangible difference with one or two players, but seldom does the person have the power to increase production on an entire lineup.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just Corey Seager<\/p>\n

Through 156 at bats, All-Star shortstop Corey Seager is batting .179. That\u2019s one-seven-nine.<\/p>\n

As baseball has evolved, the batting average has dropped in importance behind on-base percentage and on-base plus slugging percentage, but a .179 batting average is still an assault to the senses.<\/p>\n

Injuries limited Seager, 32, to 102 games<\/a> last season as his production has dropped since the World Series. This season, he leads the team in home runs, and is tied for second in RBIs.<\/p>\n

Seager is the easy guy to blame for the state of this offense; as the face of the team who is its highest-paid player, he justifiably shoulders a disproportionate share. If the Rangers are going to do more than dance around .500, Seager will have to do what he\u2019s paid to: produce.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo-time World Series MVP; they don\u2019t just hand those things out,\u201d Schumaker said this week before the series-finale against Arizona. \u201cHe\u2019s a big part of who we are and who we want to be towards the end of the season. He does not take days off. He\u2019s the hardest working superstar I\u2019ve ever been around. That tells me it\u2019s going to come eventually.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some big names who have had tough months to start the season, and that\u2019s OK. That just means he\u2019s going to have a really good five months.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only one hoping for a \u201creally good five months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betting on Seager is a safe decision, but the Rangers\u2019 offensive issues extend beyond one hitter. Designated hitter Joc Pederson is still not much of a threat. Outfielders Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford remain in the potential phase. The catcher position has contributed nothing.<\/p>\n

Infielder Josh Smith has been injured, and on Friday the team announced he\u2019s been diagnosed with viral meningitis,<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been up and down; we\u2019ve had some really good games where we don\u2019t chase (pitches),\u201d Schumaker said. \u201cAnd then we win those games. When we do chase, either the fastball at the top, or the slider off the plate, is when we have trouble. It\u2019s been a focus throughout the day each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game is the game, and it will tell you exactly what we need to continue to work on. The guys always feel like they are about to get hot, and that\u2019s what you want each day.\u201d<\/p>\n

The game thus far is telling them their offense remains the problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Texas Rangers are a \u201cperfect\u201d 180-187 since winning their World Series. Perfect because the identity of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2393],"tags":[5,2265,384,4,31,149,14902,1567,69,3240,3825,1039],"class_list":["post-700245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas-rangers","tag-baseball","tag-bret-boone","tag-corey-seager","tag-mlb","tag-offense","tag-rangers","tag-skip-schumaker","tag-texas","tag-texas-rangers","tag-texasrangers","tag-the-rangers","tag-world-series"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116582862290924685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}