In an interview last week with Rangers beat reporter Evan Grant, Rangers president Chris Young said, “We cannot continue to perform like this and expect to be a winning team.” In other words, things have to change.
And change it has.
Young has sprung into action over the past week or so, first demoting Jake Burger to AAA in favor of giving Blaine Crim his shot at the big leagues. But he was not done then, sending Leody Taveras to waivers and most notably, firing offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker in the matter of hours following a Rangers win on Sunday.
Starting with the change in the coaching staff.
Donnie Ecker did play a major role in the 2023 World Series title, but since then, this offense has been declining. Ranking in the bottom five in the MLB in runs, OPS, and batting average to start the year, having the record below .500 despite having the second-best starter ERA in baseball.
Ecker is known for his analytical approach to hitting, which worked like a charm in 2023, but is starting to lose its luster. The Texas Rangers have the worst offense in baseball in terms of chasing pitches out of the strike zone.
Now, is this solely Ecker's fault? The answer is no. The guys in the box have to be better, but the fact that CY decided to pull the trigger on this move tells me there is something in the approach that Ecker is preaching that is not resonating throughout the club.
This highly analytical approach could be causing too much “thinking” in the box, leading to taking the athleticism and natural ability out of the hitters, turning them into robots. This could be a reason for the lack of approach that we are seeing out of this offense lately, and a change of voice at the top could help.
New offensive coordinator, Bret Boone, needs to be better at mixing the new-school analytics with the “old-school” ways. I believe that was Ecker's downfall at the end of the day.
On the same day of the Ecker news, Leody Taveras was released to waivers as Evan Carter is set to take his place on the big league roster. Taveras hit .241 with just a .601 OPS in 79 at-bats.
As Chris Young referred to in his interview with Evan Grant, things have to change. The Rangers have given Leody a long leash since coming to the big league in 2020, and that leash finally ran out. Not only is he off to a rocky start at the plate, but he has only put up an OPS above .700 once since 2021, and his defense has played a major role in two losses already this season. That, combined with Evan Carter starting to figure things out down in AAA Round Rock, made the change fairly easy.
The guys who are playing well will be the guys on the field for the Texas Rangers. Hence, Jake Burger is moving to AAA in favor of Blaine Crim. The writing is on the wall for this offense, and changes have been made.
That being said, at the end of the day, the players have to perform. A coaching change, or a player here and there, won’t change this offense alone. Adolis Garcia, Joc Pederson, and Marcus Semien (who quietly has been hitting better since moving to the 5-hole) have got to figure it out to strengthen the middle of the order.
Young, along with Bruce Bochy and the entire Rangers organization, is running out of patience. Following up a World Series title with back-to-back years of missing the playoffs would be flat-out embarrassing for an organization that was set up to win for years to come after the ‘23 season. The front office understands this, and then fully has a president who is not afraid to make splash moves and would be embarrassed more than anyone if this year does not turn around.