Rangers Hope Struggling Slugger Bounces Back After Awful Season

The Texas Rangers paid a lot of money for a full-time DH last offseason, and they hope he can pay off the second year of the deal.

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Some bets work out and some bets don’t. The bet the Texas Rangers took on Joc Pederson last season did not work. So, 2026 is now a do-over.

The Rangers might have been hoping that Pederson wouldn’t exercise his 2026 contract option. But, with $18.5 million on the line and an awful season behind him, he would have had little market in free agency. For Pederson, exercising the option was the right call. For the Rangers, they’re hoping he can stay healthy and get back to hitting more consistently.

MLB.com highlighted nine players that signed free agent deals last offseason that are looking for rebounds. Pederson, for clear reasons, made the list.

Reasons for Hope for Joc Pederson

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Pederson went on the 10-day injured list since May 25 with a fractured right hand. He was hit by a pitch on May 24 against the Chicago White Sox, and even though he took his base and scored the run, he left the contest afterward.

Before the fracture, Pederson was among the Rangers that were struggling at the plate, but his struggles were quite pronounced. In 46 games he slashed .131/.269/.238 with two home runs and six RBI. Earlier the season he set a franchise record for futility at the plate, going 0-for-41. That record was broken later in the season.  

When he returned from the injury on July 27, the bat turned around a bit. For the rest of the season, he slashed .224/.300/.406 with seven home runs and 20 RBI. That boosted his season slash to .181/.285/.328 with nine home runs and 26 RBI.

Texas signed Pederson last offseason based on his body of work the previous three seasons — 2022-23 with the San Francisco Giants and 2024 with the Arizona Diamondbacks. During that stretch the two-time World Series champion slashed .262/.365/.485 with 61 home runs and 185 RBI. Strikingly, his average OPS for those three seasons — .850 — was more than 200 points better than his .614 OPS last season. He had a career-best .908 OPS in 2024 with the D-backs.

The Rangers didn’t have a choice in keeping Pederson and there likely wasn’t much of a trade market for him. The hope for both sides is that Pederson can give Texas the numbers it was hoping for a season ago. If so, it will go a long way toward helping the Rangers’ entire offense rebound in 2026.