Rangers Boss Wants Offense Full of Grinders with New Plate Approach

The Texas Rangers want a lineup full of hitters that will wear pitchers down with an emphasis on creating more traffic on the basepaths.

New York Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young will be the first to tell you that he thought last year’s lineup looked great on paper.

The Rangers sought to address their inability to hit the fastball in 2024 and add more slugging to the lineup. Between holdover players not living up to expectations and slumps of new acquisitions like Joc Pederson, the Rangers were one of the worst offenses in baseball.

The decline has been clear:

In 2023, the Rangers slashed .263/.337/.452 with a .790 OPS, 233 home runs and 845 RBI.

In 2024, the Rangers slashed .238/.305/.380 with a .686 OPS, 176 home runs and 652 RBI.

In 2025, the Rangers slashed .234/.302/.381 with a .684 OPS, 175 home runs and 658 RBI.

Young knew things couldn’t remain the same. So, out went Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim and Adolis Garcia and in came Brandon Nimmo and Danny Jansen. Young and his staff know what they want out of next year’s offense.

“We feel like we're going to create a lineup that, one through nine, full of tough outs,” Young said. “We have a collective mindset and approach that we're going to grind the opposing pitcher and we're going to go up committed to a game plan and really be able to work the opposing pitcher and stay disciplined to that plan.”

That starts not with batting average, but with on-base percentage.

Gauging the Rangers’ OBP Change

Denis Poroy-Imagn Images

Not all the offense’s issues were connected to Heim, Garcia and Semien. But the Rangers were intentional with parting ways with all three players, in part, because of their on-base percentage.

Heim’s OBP was .271 last season, his second season under .300 and part of a career OBP of .282. Garcia’s OBP dropped for the third straight year, from .328 in 2023 to .284 in 2024 to .271 in 2025. Semien was the only one of the three with an OBP of better than .300 last season. But it was .305 and it was below .310 for the second straight season.

Nimmo had a better OBP than all three players last season at .324. He has a career OBP of .364 and has never had a season below .324. Jansen had a .346 OBP last season in 78 games and has a lifetime .311 OBP. They draw more walks, they create more traffic and they are good fits for what Young wants in 2026.

But for Young it isn’t just about getting new hitters that fit that profile. He needs his new hitting coach Justin Viele, who was part of last year’s staff, to get the holdover players to embrace the new approach. But the new acquisitions are a good start.

“We thought last year's team looked great on paper as well, and it didn't pan out,” Young said. “So, you know, the proof is in the pudding. We got to go get it done.”