How Rangers’ Extreme Road Schedule Shows What May Lie Ahead in 2026

The Texas Rangers just finished a run that only two other teams have done this century. How it impacted them and how it could impact the Rangers.

Texas Rangers second baseman Justin Foscue. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Texas Rangers are back home, and they haven’t been able to say that much this season.

The Rangers are 44-43 after 87 games and much of that came on the road. The Rangers had three three-city road trips during the first three months of the season. That led to Texas playing 50 road games in its first 87 games of the season. That is a rarity in Major League Baseball since 2000.

Per Jared Sandler of Rangers Sports Network, the Rangers were just the third team to play 50 road games in their first 87 games and the first to do so since the 2017 Chicago White Sox. The other team to do it was the 2000 Baltimore Orioles.

It was a lopsided schedule to be sure. The Rangers barely made it through with a .500 record. So how did the other two teams do? And does that tell us anything about what lies ahead for the Rangers.

The 2000 Baltimore Orioles

After 87 games the Orioles were 38-49 and were in fourth place in the AL East. Baltimore was 8.5 games back of the lead in the division. It only got worse from there.

On July 18, the Orioles lost to the Marlins, 7-0, and fell 10 games behind in the division. From there, the Orioles were never within single digits of the division lead. Baltimore finished the season with a record of 74-88, in fourth place in the division and 13.5 games back of the division lead.

It was the third straight year that Baltimore missed the playoffs. The Orioles wouldn’t make the playoffs again until 2012 when they were managed by former Rangers manager Buck Showalter.

The 2017 Chicago White Sox

After 87 games the White Sox were 38-49 and were nine games back of the lead in the AL Central Division. They hung in there with a single-division division deficit until July 21 when they lost to the Kansas City Royals, 7-6. From there the White Sox were behind by 10 or more games for the rest of the season.

Chicago was one of the worst teams in baseball that season, as the White Sox finished 67-95 and were 35 games out of the lead in the AL Central.

The White Sox were at the tail end of an 11-year playoff drought. Chicago returned to the playoffs in 2020 as a wild card team and won the AL Central in 2021. The franchise has not been to the postseason since.

The 2026 Texas Rangers

Texas Rangers catcher Elias Diaz. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The White Sox and the Orioles had the same number of victories (38) at this point in the season, so the Rangers are six games ahead of the pair after 87 games. Texas has benefited from a weirdly mediocre AL West and AL overall where not team has really separated itself from the pack. That's what made this recent road stretch so important for Texas. It finally vaulted them back into a division lead that hadn't held since April.

In a vacuum, these Rangers are better than those Orioles and those White Sox. The question is whether having such a largesse of home games down the stretch is a good thing? After all the Rangers have been inconsistent offensively at home. But with so many home games ahead, Texas’ road to the postseason will be paved at Globe Life Field and will be determined by how much they can differentiate themselves from the Orioles and the White Sox of the past.