Texas Rangers’ Offensive Explosion Against Athletics Wasn’t Just About Hits

The Texas Rangers’ ice-cold bats came to life on Tuesday, but it had an impact on a secondary part of their offense that has also struggled.

Apr 29, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien singles in a run during the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-Imagn Images | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers are doing anything and everything to try and generate offense. On Tuesday night, it worked.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy put outfielder Wyatt Langford at leadoff for the first time in his career. He slotted his two catchers — Kyle Higashioka and Jonah Heim — back-to-back in the third and fourth spots. The traditional holders of some of that prime real estate, Marcus Semien and Adolis Garcia, batted further down in the order.

For the first time this season, the offense looked like the world-beater everyone predicted it would be. And it did so, in part, because it defied two numbers that have dogged the Rangers all season — walk rate and chase rate.

Entering the game, the Rangers 6% walk rate was second lowest in the Majors. Combine that with an MLB-worst 31.6% chase rate and it’s easy to dissect one problem Bochy pointed out during pre-game — no one is scared to pitch to this lineup right now.

“You’re not getting walks when you’re not swinging as well,” Bochy said. “They’re not pitching us as carefully, either. So, they’re coming after us and then they get ahead (in the count). A lot of times they’re getting us to expand our area and we’re trying to get better at that.”

On Tuesday, the Rangers flipped the script in beating the Athletics, 15-2. Texas had 18 hits and every starter had at least one hit. Langford and Garcia each had a three RBI double. As a team they drew nine walks, including back-to-back leadoff walks from Langford and Josh Smith.

The Rangers drew eight walks in the previous six games combined.

The Rangers didn’t chase. They were patient. Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien said Tuesday’s starter, Jacob Lopez, was spraying the strike zone. When he was finally pulled in the third inning, he only allowed three runs. Then, Texas feasted on the Athletics’ bullpen.

It was shades of 2023, the baton-passing offense that was one of the best in baseball. Perhaps the best part was that the Rangers did it all without a home run.

“That makes it even better,” Heim said, who went 2-for-5 and scored three runs. “I feel like that’s what’s been missing. I feel like the two-strike hits, the two-out hits, were key today.”

This may be a turning point. It may not. Texas averaged an MLB worst three runs per game entering Tuesday’s contest. Their team slash was an anemic .224/.275/.373. The Rangers had the fourth-worst batting average in the Majors.

Bochy has made lineup adjustments for a week, knowing he can’t preach patience as much as he did a couple of weeks ago. Most of them haven’t consistently worked yet.

“You’re hoping this is something you can build on, build some confidence, and hopefully get to where we’re getting consistent about this,” Bochy said.

But his point about the difficulty in drawing walks when a team isn’t hitting well is sound. Texas had drawn just 32 walks in their previous 18 games. That was Texas’ fewest in an 18-game span since 30 from Aug. 11-30 in 2021.

It’s no coincidence that when the walks came, so did the hits. It’s a formula the Rangers can build on as the season prepares to flip to May.