Projecting the Texas Rangers Opening Day Starting Lineup

The stage is set for the Texas Rangers season opener against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The Rangers have made their flight up to the City of Brotherly Love. Texas has set its 26-man roster. The Rangers know which pitcher they'll be facing — left-hander Cristopher Sánchez.

All that's left is batting practice, the National Anthem and first pitch. And then the Rangers will officially begin the Skip Schumaker managerial era.

So now that everything is finalized, what might the opening day lineup look like? Here at Inside the Rangers we took a stab at that a few days ago when Sánchez was announced as the starting pitcher. But now that the Rangers’ official roster is known, it’s time to get serious.

Texas Rangers Projected Opening Day Batting Order

Texas Rangers left fielder Brandon Nimmo swings his bat at a baseball. — Texas Rangers left fielder Brandon Nimmo. | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Here is what the first four batters should look like:

RF Brandon Nimmo (L)

LF Wyatt Langford

SS Corey Seager (L)

1B Jake Burger

Schumaker has hinted at this for weeks. He likes this configuration of hitters at the top of the order. He's spoken frequently about alternating between left-handed and right-handed hitters. Nimmo’s vast experience as a leadoff hitter makes sense here.

The key is what to do around Seager. He’s been a two-hole hitter for much of his time in Texas. Here, Langford takes the second spot, Seager the third and Burger the fourth. It’s imperative that Langford and Burger hit well ahead of him and after him. It’s the best way to give the two-time World Series MVP the protection he needs to get good at-bats.

If Langford has the huge year that analysts believe he will, and if Burger is truly in shape and primed for a bounce-back, then pitchers truly will have to pick their poison at the top of the order.

The rest of the order could look like this:

3B Josh Jung

2B Josh Smith (L)

DH Andrew McCutchen

C Kyle Higashioka

CF Evan Carter (L)

The Rangers are hoping for a healthy, productive season from Jung. If he gets back to hitting the way he did in 2023, then he could be the five hole hitter all year long. Smith has traditionally not hit lefties well, but Schumaker has heaped praise on his at-bats against left handers this spring. This is not a platoon situation. Smith is expected to be the everyday guy, which means he's going to have to hit lefties.

McCutchen gets the start over Joc Peterson because of the left-handed match up. McCutchen hits left-handers well and Pederson, a left-handed hitter, does not. Higashioka gets the edge over Danny Jansen because of his experience with the pitching staff.

Carter, like Smith, is a player the Rangers don’t want to platoon. He's been awful against left-handed pitching historically, but like Smith, Schumaker has praised Carter’s approach at the plate. Now, he must get it done. Texas may be tempted to try Sam Haggerty here because he bats .317 against lefties. That would not do much for Carter’s confidence. But, if there’s a flip to be made, it’ll be here.