Elite Again? How Will Texas Rangers Defense Compare To Rest Of MLB? 2024 Projections
The Texas Rangers won the World Series last season in part on the strength of their defense.
The Rangers had 57 errors in 2023, the second-fewest in baseball. The only team with fewer was the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Rangers’ opponent in the World Series.
In 2022, the Rangers had 96 errors, one of the worst totals in baseball.
Manager Bruce Bochy helped change the mindset of the team, and MLB.com expects that to carry over to 2024, with most of the players who helped fuel that improvement returning.
The site recently projected which teams will play the best defense in 2024, and the Rangers fared well. They based their predictions on ZiPS projections, FanGraphs depth charts, and adjustments for positional difficulty.
They project the Rangers to tie with the Colorado Rockies for the fourth-best defense in baseball with a +27 defensive runs.
The Cleveland Guardians were rated No. 1 (+47), with the Chicago Cubs second (+35) and Diamondbacks third (+28).
The Rangers had three 2023 Gold Glove winners — first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, catcher Jonah Heim and right fielder Adolis García. All three were first-time winners.
Lowe improved from a minus-11 outs above average in 2022 to four outs above average in 2023. Heim led all American League catchers in fielding runs above average and was second-best in baseball in caught-stealing percentage. García had 11 outfield assists and has been among the league leaders in outfield assists each of the past three seasons.
Second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager were Gold Glove finalists. Josh Jung led all third basemen with a .988 fielding percentage and likely dropped out of Gold Glove consideration because of a late-season injury.
MLB.com called Heim an “elite backstop” and noted Semiem’s status as one of the game’s top second basemen. Leody Taveras also drew mention for his defensive work after finishing tied with the second-best fielding percentage among center fielders at .997.
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