Cubs Series Ends Rangers’ Insanely Difficult Schedule to Start Season

The Texas Rangers can take some solace that the most difficult part of its schedule appears to be done.

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In baseball, Memorial Day is one of those lines of demarcation for the season. It’s a chance for teams to assess where they are and where they’re going.

Excuse the Texas Rangers if they considered that day to be Sunday, their final game of their three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, which Texas won, 3-0. From here, the road ahead should get considerably easy.

It’s not about how the Rangers are playing. Entering Monday’s action against Arizona, the Rangers (19-21) are 6-9 in their last 15 games.

The numbers don’t lie. The MLB schedule makers gave the Rangers a highly difficult road to get to this point. Now, it’s gravy? Well, maybe.

Rangers’ “Easier” Road Ahead

2nd straight shutout ✔️
20 inning scoreless streak ✔️
Series win ✔️ #AllForTX pic.twitter.com/fOmJIepRfd

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) May 10, 2026

A quick read of the Rangers’ game notes for Sunday’s contest was revelatory. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the combined winning percentage of the opponents in the Rangers’ first 40 games was .536. It was the highest composite opponent winning percentage for any team in baseball.

The reward? The Rangers have 122 games remaining and Elias figured up the composite winning percentage for Texas’ remaining opponents. That was .471, which is the lowest in baseball.

That could change over time. But, right now, Texas appears to have a considerably easier path forward.

A look ahead shows that the Rangers won’t face a team with a winning percentage of .500 or better, which is the St. Louis Cardinals. That road series stats on June 1. In between Sunday and the Cardinals series, the Rangers have 19 games against teams with records under-.500. That includes the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Houston Astros (seven games), the Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Angels and the Kansas City Royals.

It should be noted that Arizona and Kansas City are only a couple of games under .500. The Angels are the only last-place team on the list.

After the series with Arizona, the Rangers have a nine-game road trip that begins in Houston on Friday, followed by three-game series with the Rockies and the Angels. Following that, Texas spends the rest of the month at home with a four-game series against the Astros that starts on Memorial Day, followed by a three-game series with Kansas City.

By then, the Rangers may have a really good read on their immediate future and whether that softer schedule offers them a chance to improve their standing in the AL West.