Rangers Lineup vs Pirates: Wyatt Langford Moves Up in Batting Order

The Texas Rangers begin a nine-game homestand on Tuesday when they face Carmen Mlodzinski and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Globe Life Field.

Game time for all three contests with the Pirates (13-9), through Thursday, is 7:05 p.m.

The AL West race remains tight. The Athletics (12-11) beat Seattle on Monday and have a half-game lead over the Rangers (11-11), who were off on Monday. The Los Angeles Angels (11-13) lost their third straight game, this time to Toronto, and are 1.5 games back of the A’s. Behind them is Seattle (10-14), which is 2.5 games back, and the Houston Astros (9-15), who are 3.5 games back after a win on Monday.

The Rangers needed that off day on Monday. Texas played a 10-game, 10-day road trip that took them to face the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Athletics and the Mariners. Texas went 4-6 on the trip, lost two pitchers to the injured list and still came out of it in the thick of the division race.

But, Texas must put to bed its inability to generate offense at home. In their first six games at home this season the Rangers batted .204 and scored eight runs. They managed to 3-3 during that homestand and sweep Seattle because its starting pitching and bullpen were elite. Can Texas do that for nine games at home? That’s unlikely. The bats will need to wake up.

Rangers Lineup vs. Pirates on April 21

Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager runs out onto the field. — Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

RF Brandon Nimmo (L)

LF Wyatt Langford

SS Corey Seager (L)

1B Jake Burger

DH Joc Pederson (L)

3B Josh Jung

CF Evan Carter (L)

C Danny Jansen

2B Josh Smith (L)

Mlodzinski is a right-hander. With an off day, the Rangers get a chance to deploy their most-used lineup in the opener. In fact, the Rangers expect to face three right-handers and will dodge NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes this series.

Langford moves up to the second spot in the order. During the road trip, the Rangers slid Seager into the No. 2 spot and Langford back to No. 3 and Langford’s bat responded nicely. But, Seager’s batting average has dipped to .200. He’s likely to hit his way out of the slump. But with Langford’s average back to .241 after the road trip, he’s back in his typical No. 2 spot.

All five left-handers are in the order, with Jansen sliding up to No. 8 before Smith, who is in the No. 9 hole.

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