Now over one month into the season, the storylines surrounding this Texans Rangers team continue to build. And they, much like fans, are trying to figure things out.
The offense has been mostly abysmal thus far despite coming up for air a couple of times. The pitching has been incredible, being second in all of baseball in starting pitching ERA, with opposing hitters hitting .227. Even the bullpen, which was a massive question mark coming into the season in the top 10 in ERA and has the second most saves in the MLB.
Pleasant pitching surprises
Luke Jackson has been a pleasant answer to the closer role so far, getting the job done to the tune of 8 saves in the first month (t-3rd in the AL). With their setup men Chris Martin, Hoby Milner, Shawn Armstrong, and Robert Garcia, each starting 2025 strong.
2025 may just be the Jack Leiter coming-out party. Jack has a 2.03 ERA with a WHIP of less than 1.00. His fastball velocity is averaging 97.3 MPH (92nd percentile), and he is throwing his offspeed stuff better than we have seen in his pro career.
He is throwing his slider and changeup more frequently and cut back on his curveball usage. The whiff percentage on his slider is 10% higher than it was in 2024, and opponents' average and OPS are significantly lower on all three of his offspeed pitches.
The potential Leiter outbreak with Nathan Eovaldi and Tyler Mahle shoving to start the year has created ridiculous potential for this starting rotation. And I haven’t mentioned deGrom, who threw 6 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts in his last start. If things hold, this is one of the best rotations in baseball. Health and sustainability are the major factors.
The offense is starting to get really concerning
Rangers hitters are chasing at astounding 31.1% of the time and overall swing at 51% of pitches which is the highest in baseball. Before their 15 run outburst on Tuesday, the Texas offense only score 12 runs the previous 6 games.
Before their 15 runs on Tuesday, Rangers were one of only 5 teams that had not scored 100 runs -- putting them in the same company as the Pirates, Rockies, Royals, and Blue Jays, all of whom are under .500.
The silver lining is that Wyatt Langford has gotten off to a fantastic start and dating back to September 1 last season, only trails Aarun Judge and Shohei Ohtani in OPS with 1.039. And somehow, despite the worst starter imaginable for the bats, they are 16-14 through the first 30 games.
Maybe their first real offensive outburst gets them going, and new additions Pederson and Burger get things rolling while Semien gets closer to where he needs to be. Individually, the lineup has guys swinging it well in the opening month (Langford, Smith, and Seager especially), but they’ve gotta make it click as a whole.
The pitching has been incredible, but sustainability naturally comes into question due to the lack of run support. The offense has to find a way to get going in May in order to start looking more relevant in the American League.