Rangers Falling Woefully Short of Preseason Expectations With One Glaring Weakness

Coming into the 2025 MLB regular season, the Texas Rangers were highly regarded by analysts and fans alike.

They received a lot of praise for the work they did in the offseason, acquiring first baseman Jake Burger from the Miami Marlins and signing Joc Pederson in free agency to add some more power to the lineup.

That duo, on top of having Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Wyatt Langford, Adolis Garcia, Jonah Heim, Evan Carter and Josh Jung already in the mix led many people to believe the Rangers had compiled the best lineup 1-through-9 in baseball.

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Where people had their concerns was on the mound.

The Rangers were putting a lot of faith into some of their veteran starting pitchers, such as Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle, remaining healthy for the season despite iffy track records of durability.

Their bullpen was also overhauled, but lacked anyone with experience as a closer.

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Despite some questions with the pitching staff, Texas still had healthy preseason odds of making the postseason at 51.5%, as shared by The Athletic (subscription required) in this week’s MLB power rankings.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, they have fallen woefully short of those expectations and their odds have plummeted to 18.1% through games on July 7 with a 44-47 record.

Somewhat surprisingly, their downfall has occurred because of their lineup’s inability to consistently score runs.

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It has been the pitching staff keeping them afloat all season, remaining in reach of the American League wild card race.

“The Rangers are the mirror image of the Diamondbacks: Texas’ pitching has been excellent, but their offense has been horrid. The Rangers entered Monday’s games with the best ERA in baseball, a mark supported by the combined excellence of starters Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle. But Mahle is hurt, and the lineup just cannot find a rhythm,” wrote Andy McCullough of The Athletic.

Their run differential of +24 hints that there has been some bad luck in their losing record, as they have played to the level of a 48-win team through this point.

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That would put them a half-game behind the Seattle Mariners for the final wild card spot in the AL; instead, they are 4.5 games back with the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox ahead of them in the standings.

If Texas could figure things out offensively, they would be a dangerous team given the starting pitching they possess.

But, more than midway through the campaign, it is hard to give the lineup the benefit of the doubt any longer, as the Rangers are what their record says they are; a team on the outside looking in of the playoff race that could benefit from selling some players ahead of the deadline.

For more Rangers news, head over to Rangers On SI.