Texas Rangers: 32 games in, still no offensive identity

The Texas Rangers are shuffling their lineup on a game-to-game basis. They lack identity. Therefore, they lack consistency. Slumps exist frequently in baseball. But an entire team slumping at once makes solutions hard to come by.

Consensus says the Texas Rangers offense will be okay once Adrian Beltre returns. While that could be true, it’s uncertain when Beltre will return, and the Rangers are in no position to play the waiting game. Texas is 13-18, ranking last in the American League West. They are already seven games behind the first place Houston Astros. The regular season is only one month expired, but playoff aspirations will become more and more distant if the Rangers continue their troublesome ways.

It starts with their offense. Currently, Texas is thanking the Kansas City Royals for providing a very thin safety net. The Rangers rank second to last in the American League in hits, team batting average and OBP. They rank ahead of only the Royals in each category. The Texas Rangers do, however, differ from Kansas City, along with every other team in baseball, in one specific way. The Rangers do not have an identity among their lineup.

Few teams toss out the same lineup on a daily basis, especially in today’s game. That being said, there is generally some consistency in the makeup of a lineup. Most teams at least have a consistent top of the order. The Rangers have strayed so far as to not even have a consistent third place or fourth place hitter.

In fact, they’ve recently rotated Elvis Andrus between the two spots. That’s right, Elvis Andrus, the shortstop whose career-high home run total in a season is eight. Andrus does deserve a lot of credit this year, as he is far and away off to his greatest power season, already knocking five homers. Still, he is far from your typical middle of the order bat.

Texas’ merry-go-round of third place hitters has included Nomar Mazara, Andrus and Carlos Gomez. Their mix of cleanup hitters has included Mike Napoli, Rougned Odor, Joey Gallo and Gomez. The team has found a defined leadoff hitter with the sudden emergence of Delino DeShields, yet there is much left to figure out past him.

Manager Jeff Banister has been spinning his wheels all season long due to the offensive struggles. He would certainly love to post a somewhat consistent lineup each game, but it’s practically impossible when nearly the entire team is slumping at once.

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The Texas Rangers have only two everyday players hitting above .250. Two of their considered “top” hitters are currently hitting below the Mendoza line – Napoli is hitting .167 and Odor .189. Ultimately, the team is stuck in the mud and they can’t find a way to escape it.

A solution has yet to be found. And who am I to propose solutions when the team’s own manager can’t seem to do so. It’s undoubtedly a terrible situation to be in. Putting together an effective Rangers lineup is like picking out the best apples from a batch when they are all bruised. The Texas Rangers have to put their faith into two iffy assumptions. One depends on Adrian Beltre returning to save the day, and the other being that the team will eventually hit their way out of this united slump.

Hopefully they both come to fruition. As phenomenal as Beltre is, he is just one man, a man who like all the others in the lineup will approach the plate roughly four times a game. One thing is for sure, the Rangers have a long list of veteran hitters who should soon find the discipline needed to put forth quality at-bats. Said discipline should coincide with better offensive performances.

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However it plays out, they better find an offensive spark soon. The Texas Rangers have concerns beyond their offense as well. Plus, the Houston Astros are showing no signs of slowing down.

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