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Inside The Rangers

Rangers Notes: Evolving Offensive Problem Holding Texas Bats Back

The Texas Rangers have an evolving issue that seems to get better worse when it comes to getting runs home.  
Matt Postins|
Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo.
Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

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Texas Rangers

Monday wasn’t a good example. But the Texas Rangers do have a runners-in-scoring-position problem that is getting more glaring.

The Rangers lost to the New York Yankees, 4-2, on Monday. With Yankees left-hander Max Fried on the mound, runs were going to be hard to come by. But Texas went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.  

Entering the series the Rangers were a middling team in that regard. Texas was 17th in the Majors in batting average with runners in scoring position with a slash of .248/.333/.410. What’s interesting is that the Rangers are No. 24 in RBI with 77. They’re also fifth in strikeouts in that situation with 69.

The strikeouts are a clear issue and it’s dragging down the offensive progress the Rangers have made the first month this season.

Take Sunday’s game with the Athletics, a 2-1 loss. The Rangers were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Texas went 5-for-8 with a walk in the game, so it had plenty of changes to score. But, after that, the Rangers went 1-for-20 with three walks and eight strikeouts. See, there are those strikeouts again.

Texas had at least one baserunner in eight of the nine innings, the first time the Rangers did that in a game in which they scored one or fewer runs in nearly three years. At least that loss, to Atlanta on May 15, 2023, was a 12-0 loss. The Rangers didn’t have much of a chance.

But that dropped the Rangers to 4-5 in one-run games. In addition, Texas is 0-3 in two-run games. Last year, Texas was 21-28 in one-run games and 13-15 in two-run games. The Rangers were 81-81.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker addressed it on Sunday. He’s keeping the faith. But he also doesn’t have many answers.

“I wish I could tell you why,” Schumaker said to reporters, including MLB.com. “I don't really have that answer. We’ve had different guys up. It's not just the same guy up. But it's gonna happen at some point. We're too good of an offense, there's too many good players in our lineup for it not to come through. It's not like they haven't done it before. We've had a lot of traffic. I don't really have an answer for the reason why we haven't gotten that big hit.”

The Rangers need to find the answer. The sooner the better.

Former Rangers Farmhand Wins Boston Debut

The mass firing of the Boston Red Sox coaching staff, including manager Alex Cora, led to the ascension of a former Texas Rangers farmhand to interim manager — Chad Tracy.

He won his first game as manager on Sunday. The Frisco RoughRiders, the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate, congratulated him on the win.

Texas drafted him in the third round of the 2006 MLB draft. He played six seasons in the Rangers’ organization but never made it to the Majors. He also played in three other organizations before his playing career ended in 2014. For his career with affiliated pro teams he batted .265 with 127 home runs and 572 RBIs.

Alex Claudio Vibes

Texas Rangers pitcher Gavin Collyer throws a baseball
Texas Rangers pitcher Gavin Collyer. | Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images

There’s a name Rangers fans haven’t heard in a while. Back in 2014, Claudio was a rookie and he started his Major League career with six straight scoreless appearances. That stood as the best recent stretch to start a career until Gavin Collyer did it after his last appearance on Sunday. Claudio’s streak ended when he allowed a run in his seventh appearance. He finished that with a 2.92 ERA in 15 games.

Claudio went on to have a nice career. He pitched 10 seasons, going 16-10 with a 3.59 ERA in 356 games. He saved 11 games for the Rangers in 2017.

Collyer extended his streak to seven straight appearances with a scoreless inning against the Yankees on Monday. He has struck out four and walked three in 5.1 innings since he was promoted.

Here’s the Latest Rangers News and Stories (click the headline for the full article):

20-Year-Old Texas Rangers Slugging Prospect Dominating Carolina League

Rangers Talent Pipeline: Projecting Texas’ Next Rookie Reliever Promotion

Rangers Monday Fastball: Big Numbers for Josh Jung, Nathan Eovaldi, Bullpen

Rangers Notes: Josh Jung Remains RBI Machine as Texas Rallies to Victory

Rangers, Yankees Set Rotations for Key Showdown at Globe Life Field

What’s Led to Joc Pederson’s Rangers Turnaround and What Still Must Change

MacKenzie Gore Easing into Important Position in Rangers Rotation

Rangers Notes: Nathan Eovaldi’s Awful First-Inning Wasn’t a Career First

Rangers Now Perilously Thin at Key Position after Trade with Blue Jays

Evan Carter’s Recent Performance is Thrilling for Rangers’ Future Goals

Rangers Tweets of the Day                                                                     

Talkin’ Baseball did some time talking about the rise of Peyton Gray in the Rangers’ bullpen.

MLB Network’s Mark DeRosa did a deep dive into why Josh Jung has turned things around. Good stuff.

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Matthew Postins
MATT POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.

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