Enough was finally enough for the Texas Rangers as they dismissed their hitting instructor and de-rostered their center fielder following a series loss to Seattle.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The weekend set to end the current homestand for the Texas Rangers made it strikingly obvious that the Seattle Mariners are one of the hottest teams in baseball.
A streak of good play combined with a nose dive from Texas saw Seattle claim the top spot in the American League West and then further solidify that position with the Rangers taking until Sunday to win their first game against the Mariners in six tries so far in 2025.
While Seattle was rolling, the Rangers were in desperate need to find a way out of their league-worst offensive slump, and while things looked like they finally clicked on Sunday, it became apparent that the Texas front office had seen enough.
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Game 33: SEA 13, TEX 1 (W: Woo, 4-1, L: Leiter, 2-1)
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Game 34: SEA 2, TEX 1 (W: Speier, 1-0, L: Martin, 0-4, SV: Munoz, 12)
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Game 35: SEA 1, TEX 8 (W: deGrom, 2-1, L: Evans, 1-1)
Until morale improves
Coming into the series, the Rangers rotation sported one of the best ERAs in baseball, but they met their match in the opener against a red-hot Seattle lineup. On Friday night, it was Jack Leiter who lost in the tug-of-war between an immovable object and an unstoppable force.
Leiter, taking the mound for the second time since returning from the injured list with a blister issue that derailed his strong start to the year, surrendered six runs on eight hits over 4 ⅓ innings, most coming via a grand slam off the bat of Cal Raleigh, his second of the night. From there, the floodgates opened.
Jake Latz, who came on in relief, allowed four runs in 1 ⅔ innings. The rout got so bad that Texas turned to catcher Tucker Barnhart, just recalled to take the place of the now-injured Kyle Higashioka, to pitch the last two innings, and he also gave up three runs.
The Rangers, on the other hand, scored one single run – a meaningless home run in the bottom of the ninth by Josh Smith, by which point, just their second hit of the game. The offensive dearth continued to rear its ugly head, even more prominent with a rough outing from the night’s starter.
Seager save us
Amidst all the offensive struggles, the Rangers made a move to option Jake Burger to Triple-A and bring up Blaine Crim. Crim, starting at first base, went 0-for-2 in his debut with two strikeouts.
On Saturday, the Rangers made another move that might have been made out of a slight sense of urgency – Corey Seager returned from the injured list.
Having spent the minimum time on the ten-day IL with a hamstring strain, Seager, one of the Rangers’ most consistent performers when healthy, returned to the active roster as the designated hitter in Saturday’s game.
On a day where the Rangers registered only five hits, Seager accounted for one of them and also scored the team’s only run. Seager’s return to the lineup is a shot in the arm for a nearly lifeless offense, but Saturday showed that it can’t be the only medicine.
As good as it gets
Sometimes, all it takes is one good game for a team to rebound – whether that’s as a pitching staff, or as an offense or as a whole. In the finale of the Mariners’ series, the Rangers got a continuation of a good pitching performance and saw a glimpse of the possibilities from their lineup.
Jacob deGrom, aiming for wins in consecutive starts for the first time since he was still with the New York Mets, jumped into history books by becoming the fastest pitcher to reach 1,700 strikeouts.
By striking out Jorge Polanco, deGrom reached his milestone early in the top of the second, but the Mariners would wear the righty down with long at-bats, causing him to exit after just five innings and 89 pitches. The outing was ultimately a battle for deGrom against a hot-hitting team, but he did what good aces do, and that is act as a stopper for a losing streak.
The offense helped, for their part, by issuing a death to the Mariners by 1000 papercuts. Their six-run barrage in the bottom of the third came without an extra base hit. The Rangers combined two walks with six singles to produce the six runs. Texas had 12 hits on the day with 11 being for one bag before Josh Smith hit an eighth inning triple to end the singles streak.
In need of a change
The Rangers tied for their second most hits in a game with 12 on Sunday, accounting for a rare good day at the plate. It was not good enough, however, to take offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker off the hook.
While the Rangers’ rotation has an American League best 3.09 ERA, they are also near-dead last in every offensive category. It is a stark contrast to the 2023 World Series team – a team that Ecker also guided offensively – that led the AL in nearly every offensive category.
Whatever the reason, Texas’ production since they won the World Series has dropped considerably, an event that started last season. With consistency a persistently elusive trait, 35 games into the season, the Rangers, who are operating in a window of contention, could not let another series of games go by where the offense appeared dead on arrival without at least attempting a change.
Concrete plans for the Rangers’ offensive coordinator position are unknown, though hitting coach Justin Viele remains. Regardless, it’s clear that Texas is looking for a new lead voice to help pull the lineup out of their World Series hangover.
Sunday’s win may have led to a happy flight on the way to Boston, but this homestand consisted of two more tough series losses, and the Rangers’ fifth consecutive series loss in a row. The two games that Texas won were started by deGrom with 23 runs scored in support, which is undoubtedly a good thing, but the rest of the pitching staff could use some run support as well as the Rangers scored just four runs total in the four losses.
Do you think the changes will bear fruit for the Rangers moving forward? Share your thoughts with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.