Texas Rangers Starting Rotation Emerging as Greatest Strength This Season

Is the starting rotation the greatest strength of the Texas Rangers this season?

Apr 5, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) throws during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

After a disappointing year in 2024, the Texas Rangers have bounced back nicely to begin the new season. 

Coming into the campaign, expectations were high for the Rangers to rebound. With the rest of the American League West having some issues, Texas appeared to be the team to beat going into the year. 

So far, that has been the case. 

Through 13 games, the Rangers have a 9-4 record and a little bit of a lead in the AL West. 

What has been encouraging for the team thus far is that injuries haven’t slowed them down just yet. Last season, injuries crippled Texas, with the roster not having the depth needed to overcome them. However, this campaign, they seemingly haven’t missed a beat. 

The Rangers have received strong performances from the starting rotation, bullpen, and the offense at times, but one unit is starting to separate themselves from the rest. 

Kennedi Landry of MLB.com recently spoke about the starting rotation being the greatest strength of the Rangers in the early part of the year. 

“For all the talk of the Rangers’ revamped lineup with the additions of Jake Burger and Joc Pederson, the offense hasn’t been the standout in the early going. Instead, the top of the rotation has turned heads.”

There was certainly a lot of talk surrounding the lineup for Texas coming into the year. The team was able to make two notable additions to help improve their slugging abilities, with Joc Pederson and Jake Burger coming in. 

However, despite the additions, the offense has been a bit lackluster overall for the team. Currently, they rank 18th in the league in runs scored, but they are tied for seventh in home runs. 

With the offense doing well, but not great, it has been the starting rotation that has really been impressive. 

Texas is ranked fifth in the league in starting pitcher ERA at 3.00, showcasing the talent that this unit possesses. What might be the most impressive for the team is that they have been down multiple starters due to injury. 

Even with some early struggles from Kumar Rocker, the rotation has received excellent performances so far from Tyler Mahle, Nathan Eovaldi, and Jacob deGrom. 

While the lineup from top to bottom is loaded, the same can be said about the starting rotation. 

With key members like Jon Gray, Jack Leiter, and Cody Bradford on the injured list, this unit isn’t even near 100 percent. 

It's hard to tell what the best aspect of the team is right now -- that is a very good problem to have for the Rangers. Even though injuries derailed the rotation in 2024, that hasn’t been the case so far in 2025.