Can New Torpedo Bats Save Texas Rangers' Sputtering Offense?

The Texas Rangers' offense has been awful, but there may be a solution on the horizon.

Apr 1, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Leody Taveras (3) bats against the Cincinnati Reds in the third inning at Great American Ball Park. / Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

After their first week of games, the Texas Rangers stand alone at the top of the AL West.

They're 5-2 to start the season, tying the Toronto Blue Jays for the best record in the American League entering play on Friday.

While some respected MLB analysts recently picked the Rangers to win their division, few would have thought they'd be winning games with an elite pitching staff and underwhelming offense. Several pundits liked Texas' lineup coming into the year but had concerns about the pitching staff, specifically the health of Jacob deGrom, Jon Gray and others.

Instead, the Rangers pitchers have been outstanding, ranking third in the AL in ERA (2.90) and second in FIP (3.01).

Texas just pitched back-to-back 1-0 shutouts for the first time in franchise history, and the trio of deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter have allowed just three runs in their five starts combined.

The Rangers are dealing, but they aren't hitting.

Their bats have been suspiciously quiet, scoring just 18 runs through their first seven contests (2.6 runs per game).

Texas' offensive struggles seem to have carried over from last year, when the club ranked 18th in scoring and tied for 21st in wRC+ (95).

Only three Rangers -- Jonah Heim, Wyatt Langford and Adolis Garcia -- have shown any signs of life at the plate. They have six of the team's seven home runs and have driven in eight of its 18 runs.

New additions Jake Burger (.484 OPS) and Joc Pederson (.483 OPS) have yet to get going, while Marcus Semien (.294 OPS), Corey Seager (.440 OPS) and Leody Taveras (.358 OPS) are all scuffling, as well.

Early-season ruts aren't uncommon for hitters.

The pitchers are ahead of them after spring training, the weather is colder and they're still getting their timing back. However, it's concerning to see an entire team slump like this.

Fortunately, there may be an easy solution: torpedo bats.

The new bat design has worked wonders for the New York Yankees, helping them get off to a record-setting start.

Perhaps it could give Texas a similar boost.

According to a report this week from Evan P. Grant of The Dallas Morning News (subscription required), Pederson has already committed to using torpedo bats, while Burger and Josh Smith plan to test them out before using them in a game.

If they have success with the new bats and break out of their cold spells, perhaps more of their teammates will follow suit.

Torpedo bats aren't for everyone and aren't guaranteed to improve a batter's production. Some players who are experimenting with them have struggled in the early going and may soon abandon them.

However, it doesn't hurt to try.

It's still too early to panic, but the Rangers need to do something to give themselves a spark, as they've yet to score more than four runs in a game.

In their three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park -- one of the most hitter-friendly stadiums in the Major Leagues -- they scored only five runs.

That should be cause for alarm, especially coming off last year's disappointing output.

Texas' pitchers have been great, but they can't win 1-0 games all season.

Sooner or later, the offense needs to start scoring some runs for them.

That could be difficult this weekend with the Tampa Bay Rays coming to town since the Rays lead MLB in FIP (1.61) and rank third in ERA (2.00). So, the Rangers' hitting funk may continue for a few more days.

The sooner they get their hands on those torpedo bats, the better.

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