Rangers Fans Should Be Worried About Their Start After Losing Road Trip

The Texas Rangers are sliding a little more below .500 and the concern level should be up after a 2-4 road trip.

Texas Rangers left fielder Ezequiel Duran. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers are pulling every lever possible to try and win games. But it’s not working and it’s something fans should start worrying about.

After Thursday's 9-2 loss to the New York Yankees, the Rangers head back home with a 2-4 record on the six-game road trip. The Rangers (17-20) have now lost each of their last four series — two at home and two on the road. Coming into Globe Life Field on Friday is the Chicago Cubs, who have won nine straight games and 15 straight games at Wrigley Field.

An optimistic Rangers fan would seed that as an advantage. But the Rangers’ offense has been worse at home than on the road and Texas 7-8 at home. Texas’ two series victories at home — a sweep of Seattle and two out of three against Pittsburgh — feel like aberrations and not trends.

Texas is further below .500 than it has been all season and only 1.5 games back of the AL West lead. But it feels worse. Here are three reasons why Rangers fans should be concerned.

Offense Looks Suspiciously Like 2025

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The offense, so far, doesn't look much better than a year ago. Last year the Rangers had .684 OPS, which was fifth-worst in the Majors. So far this year the team has an OPS of .689, which is fifth worst in the Majors.

Texas’ on-base percentage is slightly better (.302 last season to .317 this year). Rangers manager Skip Schumacher told 105.3 The Fan on Wednesday that the dam on the offense was about to break. But for that to happen the Rangers must hit better with runners in scoring position. Through 36 games Texas was slashing .240/.321/.378 in those instances, with the batting average No. 23 in MLB. The Rangers’ 90 strikeouts were fourth-worst in baseball.

Three batters are hitting .297 or better. There’s a chasm to the fourth-best hitter at .238. All of that must change. The question is whether this lineup can?

Growing Inconsistencies in Starting Pitching

.@JaredSandler, @daveraymond4, and Brad talk Eovaldi's success in mixing his pitches: pic.twitter.com/6inDbfV7Ug

— Rangers Sports Network (@RangersSNtv) May 7, 2026

The starting pitching has more holes than anticipated. Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi were expected to be veteran ballast. deGrom was excellent in April but was beat up by the Yankees in his first May start. Eovaldi has been incredibly inconsistent but has been terrific in his last two starts, both against the Yankees.

Kumar Rocker hasn’t been able to solve his road woes yet. MacKenzie Gore has allowed more walks than any pitcher on the team and it’s inflating his pitching count, to the point where he’s only pitched six innings in one start. Jack Leiter threw a perfect game for four innings against Detroit and ended up losing.

On paper, the rotation was a strength. It’s beginning to flag and it’s forcing the bullpen to take on more work than expected. Eventually, the formula will suffer.

The Schedule

Chicago Cubs right fielder Michael Conforto celebrates the Cubs win. | David Banks-Imagn Images

The Cubs are red-hot. After that, the Rangers host the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are barely under .500 like the Rangers. Then, Texas goes on a nine-game road trip that takes it to Houston, Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels. On paper, that looks inviting. But the Rangers consistently have trouble with Houston, Colorado has given good teams fits and the Angels have AL pitcher of the month Jose Soriano.

Yes, there is opportunity. But the Rangers have been squandering those chances. A winning road trip is essential. But the Rangers haven’t had a winning road trip since the end of March.  

The signs are hard to ignore as they return to Arlington. The problems Texas thought it had solved in the offseason and in the early weeks of the season remain. As the traditional Memorial Day checkpoint nears, the Rangers are dangerously close to slipping into a bad position it can’t play its way out of.