Texas Rangers Poor Approach at the Plate Leading to Disastrous Results

The Texas Rangers are swinging at virtually everything, leading to some brutal production.

Apr 23, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien (2) reacts after striking out against the Athletics in the fourth inning at Sutter Health Park. / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Texas Rangers' offense has been the most disappointing thing in baseball this season.

Coming into the campaign, there were some analysts who believed that the Rangers had the deepest lineup in baseball. 1-through-9 they could match up with any team in the game, possessing a group loaded with All-Star level talent.

Alas, things have not clicked with several key players struggling over the first six weeks of the year.

Their biggest offseason additions, first baseman Jake Burger via trade from the Miami Marlins and Joc Pederson in free agency, have both been busts thus far. They have OPS+ numbers of 61 and 27, respectively, with Burger already being sent down to Triple-A for a reset.

Second baseman Marcus Semien is losing his battle to Father Time. Center field remains a massive hole in the lineup.

With the entire team mired in a slump, runs have been incredibly hard to come by, putting immense pressure on the pitching staff to perform to the best of their ability.

More often than not, they have answered the call, but the team is 18-20 after being shut out for the fifth time in 38 games by the Boston Red Sox on Thursday afternoon.

The offense is mostly to blame for the team’s struggles, as a team-wide issue has arose in the early going.

What Has Gone Wrong for Rangers' Offense?

As shared by Eno Sarris of The Athletic (subscription required), Texas is not exhibiting any patience at the plate, leading to disastrous results.

They currently have a 34% chase rate, essentially doing the opposing pitcher’s work for them, consistently swinging at pitches outside of the zone.

The Rangers aren’t making their opponents work very hard, swinging way too often.

“No team is swinging more this year when compared to last year than the Rangers. That’s true no matter how you dice it. No team is swinging at more than half the pitches they are seeing this year other than the Rangers, and no team has increased their swing rate year over year as much as the Rangers, and no team has increased swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as much as the Rangers,” Sarris wrote.

Along with the chase rate, all of the team’s metrics and ratios are heading in the wrong direction. An increase in strikeout rate and a decrease in walk rate are correlated with swinging at bad pitches as consistently as Texas does.

Those are the ingredients for an epic disaster, which the Rangers have created thus far this season, ranking third to last in the MLB with 3.32 runs per game entering play on Thursday, an average that is going to drop with their game result.