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The Texas Rangers are struggling to find a groove early on

By Alvin Garcia

Apr 11, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (30) hits an rbi double during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe (30) hits an rbi double during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Texas Rangers went big this offseason. Before the lockout, Texas grabbed two superstars in Marcus Semien (third in MVP voting last year) and Corey Seager (2020 World Series MVP).

Their start to the season has been a rocky one. The Rangers are in the last place of the division with a 2-8 record. As a team, their slash line is .235/.310/.357 with a .667 OPS. They are striking out a lot, with an 18.6% strikeout percentage, ranked the fourth highest in the American League.

Texas Rangers need to shake off early season struggles

Jonah Heim has gotten into a hot start. But he has only had 17 plate appearances, hitting two home runs (one of them a grand slam against Ohtani), eight RBIs, two walks, and only one strikeout. Heim is batting .400/.471/.800 with a 1.271 OPS. Heim has been acting as a backup catcher this year since the Rangers acquired Mitch Garver from the Twins. Garver is doing ok right now compared with the rest of the team.

But, Nathaniel Lowe is their leading man with a batting line of .359/.405/.410 and a .815 OPS with six RBIs in 42 plate appearances. Lowe is leading in almost all stat numbers for the team. However, he has not homered as of yet.

Speaking of home runs, Adolis Garcia leads the charge with two, tied with Jonah Heim and Brad Miller. But he is slashing a horrible .162/.324 /.241 with a .603 OPS in 43 plate appearances. Garcia has the highest strikeout rate also, with eleven so far.

Again, let’s remember that the Rangers went on a franchise-record spending spree of $580.7 million this offseason—one of those acquisitions, Marcus Semien, is in a horrible slump. He is batting .143/.196/.214 with a .410 OPS in 46 plate appearances. OUCH!

The other big contract, Corey Seager, is doing well with a slash line of .289/.341/.395 and a .736 OPS in 41 plate appearances. But he is striking a lot, with seven already.

In addition, the Rangers may need to improve their on-base percentage, currently ranking 17th in the league. They need to work on their bats, trying to create opportunities to score. Finally, Texas needs to take more walks; they have only walked 36 times (ranked 9th in the AL). The strikeouts will go down if the walks improve, ranking fifth in the league for more strikeouts per game with an approximate 7.20 strikeouts.

Their pitching staff is not doing great also, with a combined 6.24 ERA, the worst in the American League, and a 1.534 WHIP. The starting core is not lasting many innings, and the bullpen is getting hammered. So far, the Rangers’ pitching staff has allowed 21 home runs (worst in the AL), 100 hits (again, worst in the AL), 65 runs (ranked 15th of 15 teams in the AL), and 35 walks with a W-L% of .200.

It is early in the campaign. Anyone can argue that the Texas Rangers had faced good teams in the Blue Jays, Angels, and the Mariners. But, you can also say that it will take a little time in chemistry.

Next. Seager has familiar locker in Texas. dark

We are talking of a division of the powerhouse Astros, an Angels team with Trout and Ohtani, a rebuilt Marines, and a given up Athletics that don’t have anything to lose. They may be no time to figure it out. But, when Texas gets hot, the Astros can be running with the division.

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