Starting Rotation Keeps Texas Rangers Competitive While Offense Continues Struggling

The starting rotation has helped keep the Texas Rangers competitive so far this season.

Apr 26, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Tyler Mahle (51) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

After a nice start to the season, the Texas Rangers have fallen on some hard times of late and are just above the .500 mark with the first full month of the year coming to a close.

Things were looking great for the Rangers early on this campaign. Coming into the season, the team was relatively healthy with expectations of bouncing back from a poor year in 2024.

Injuries were the major storyline for the team last campaign, and once again the depth of the franchise is being challenged with some key players out.

Even though they are over .500, it feels like the record should be better for Texas. So far, their offense has been flat-out bad.

Currently, the Rangers rank No. 26 in the league in OPS, but rank dead last in runs scored. There is a lot of talent in the batting order, but the offensive concerns are worrisome with few members of the offense doing well.

Fortunately, despite the offense being one of the worst in the league, Texas has survived with its rotation leading the way.

Andy McCullough of The Athletic (subscription required) recently wrote about the starting rotation for the Rangers stepping up in the early part of the season with their offense struggling.

“While the Rangers wait for the offense to wake up, the starting pitching is keeping them afloat in the American League West. Nathan Eovaldi is filling up the zone with strikes. Jacob deGrom looks more human than superhero, but a human logging innings is more valuable than a superhero on the shelf.”

Even though the lineup has been a massive disappointment for Texas, their starting rotation has exceeded expectations.

While this unit had the potential to be very good, the results have been fantastic, even with some members hurt.

So far in 2025, they rank third in the league in ERA, with only the New York Mets and Detroit Tigers ahead of them.

Leading the way for the Rangers in the rotation has been a surprise in Tyler Mahle, who has been fantastic coming back from surgery. The right-hander has totaled a 1.14 ERA in 31.2 innings pitched and has been one of the biggest surprises this year.

Furthermore, Jacob deGrom has been able to stay healthy so far and pitch effectively. While he might not be in elite form just yet, he’s totaled a 3.33 ERA and has been very good.

In addition to deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi has done well, totaling a 2.21 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched.

The performance from the rotation has been key to keeping the team above water for now, but they will need the lineup to step up eventually if they want to be a real contender.

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