Three reasons the Texas Rangers will be better — or worse — this season
As the Texas Rangers prepare for Opening Day on Thursday, what’s the outlook for a team that has only made the playoffs once in the past nine seasons?
The Rangers have made major changes after going 81-81 last season, getting rid of some of the remaining players from their 2023 World Series championship team, including catcher Jonah Heim, second baseman Marcus Semien and outfielder Adolis García.
The Rangers have a new manager in Skip Schumaker, and they also made major additions, including starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore and outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who they hope will help get them back into postseason contention.
The Rangers will get their season started on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies at 3:15 p.m. Thursday at Citizen Bank Park. Texas has a day off Friday, then plays the Phillies again at 3:05 p.m. Saturday and 12:35 p.m. Sunday. The Rangers’ home opener is at 3:05 p.m. April 3 against the Cincinnati Reds.
Here are three reasons the Rangers will make the postseason — and three reasons they won’t:
Three reasons Texas Rangers will make playoffs
1. Wyatt Langford’s ascendance
Langford’s first two MLB seasons have shown major promise, and after a strong spring training, it could be time for a star turn for the outfielder.
In 16 games, Langford hit .415 with five home runs with 15 RBIs while having more walks (seven) than strikeouts (five). If the Florida product is able to carry some of this play into the regular season, he could be attending his first All-Star Game, and some pundits are already calling him a dark horse MVP candidate.
2. Starting rotation’s strength
Last season, the Rangers led MLB in starting pitching ERA (3.41), and this season’s rotation could surpass that after adding Gore, a left-hander who made the first All-Star Game of his career and who the team feels hasn’t yet reached his ceiling.
Right-handers Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi return after both had stellar seasons that saw deGrom named AL Comeback Player of the Year and Eovaldi chasing the Cy Young Award till he was sidelined by injury.
Eovaldi gets the start Thursday against Philadelphia lefty Christopher Sanchez.
Vanderbilt products Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker round out the starting five, with Leiter hoping to build off a solid 2025 campaign and Rocker looking to establish himself as a starter.
The team is also still waiting on the return of Cody Bradford, who team president Chris Young said he hopes returns in May. Bradford went 6-3 with a 3.54 ERA in 2024 before missing all of 2025 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Bradford was put on the 15-day disabled list to start the season retroactive to March 22.
3. Strong spring training from bats
Spring training isn’t the ultimate prognosticator of success, but the Rangers’ improvement at the plate could be something that carries over into the regular season.
Last spring, the Rangers ranked 20th in batting average (.250) and 27th in on-base percentage (.319) ahead of a bad year at the plate, but this spring, they rank seventh (.269) and first (.372), which could be an indication that they will be more effective this season.
Hitting was a major concern last regular season for the Rangers, who got middling production in terms of home runs (18th) and RBIs (19th) and struggled to consistently get on base, ranking 26th in batting average and OBP.
With the Rangers’ talented pitching staff, if they can get consistent production out of their lineup, they could get back to the postseason.
Three reasons Texas Rangers won’t make the playoffs
1. Injury concerns for key players
While previously cited as reasons for confidence, deGrom and Eovaldi are also 37 and 36 years old, respectively, with injury histories. If either were to go down for an extended period of time, it would make the Rangers’ postseason chase considerably more difficult.
The injury concern isn’t just with the pitching staff. Young players Josh Jung and Evan Carter have been injury-plagued to start their careers, and the Rangers need both to return to their 2023 form, when Jung made his first All-Star Game and Carter took MLB by storm, batting .306 and becoming an integral piece of the championship team.
2. Two key hitters continue to struggle
The other issue for Carter is his struggle against left-handers. He has an .083 career batting average against lefties vs. .262 against right-handers.
In spring training those struggles continued, as Carter went 0-for-8 against left-handers, though he did earn three walks.
Designated hitter Joc Pederson is coming off a tough 2025 for the Rangers, hitting .181 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs while also missing time due to injury. He is looking to rebound, but similarly to Carter, he struggled in spring training, batting .175 with one home run, also his only RBI.
Schumacher applauded the work Pederson has been putting in, saying the results haven’t matched the effort, but the Rangers will need that to change in the regular season.
3. Bullpen questions
In 2025 the Rangers’ bullpen had the fifth-best ERA (3.62); however, none of their top three pitchers in terms of innings pitched (Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong and Jacob Webb) returns this season. The trio accounted for over 200 innings out of the bullpen, and the highest ERA of the group was Milner’s 3.84.
The Rangers did retain Robert Garcia, Jacob Latz and Chris Martin, their next three highest in terms of innings pitched, and added Tyler Alexander, Carter Baumler and Jakob Junis in an effort to retool the bullpen. If the new additions can’t replicate the production from 2025, it could cause problems.
The Rangers also will need to get better production out of their closer. Last season, the team went 37-for-66 in save opportunities, and their top returning option is Garcia, who went 4-8 with a 2.95 ERA last year and was 9-for-16 in save opportunities.
This story was originally published March 26, 2026 at 4:00 AM.
