Inside The Rangers

Texas Rangers Can Still Play Better Despite Owning American League's Best Record

The Texas Rangers are off to a strong start, but their best baseball is still ahead of them.

Ryan Reynolds

Mar 27, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers designated hitter Corey Seager (5) bats in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field.
Mar 27, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers designated hitter Corey Seager (5) bats in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field. / Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
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The Texas Rangers are early division leaders behind their American League-best 9-4 record.

The Rangers suffered an injury-ravaged 2024 after winning the World Series the previous year, so this fast start is extra encouraging because it shows that Texas is still a premium team.

Proving that 2024 was an anomaly this early in the season is great news, but it's not the most exciting aspect of the Rangers' hot start.

The fact that Texas has the best record in the AL despite being in the bottom third of batting average and the bottom half in runs scored means that their ceiling is even higher than their first-place record shows.

To put their offense in perspective, they've scored 45 runs in 13 games, while the 7-5 New York Yankees have scored 82 runs over 12 contests.

Shortstop Corey Seager is an MVP-caliber player who's hitting .220 with his three RBI coming off three solo homers.

Wyatt Langford has hit four homers, but he's only driven in six runs before going on the injured list.

Right fielder Adolis Garcia and second baseman Marcus Semien are both hitting under .200 with a combined three homers and 10 RBI.

In other words, the Rangers entered the season with a top-10 caliber offense and their top four hitters are all significantly underperforming at the plate.

Beyond that group, winter acquisition Joc Pederson is homerless with a .094 average. First baseman Jake Burger, also a new addition, has two homers and a .119 average to date.

It's remarkable that Texas has the best record in the AL despite their six most dangerous hitters all performing well below expectations.

Using the general concept of regression to the mean, most, if not all, of the Rangers' best hitters will finish the season at least near their career averages at the plate. Not only does that point towards each of these hitters having better days ahead of them, but since so many Texas hitters are struggling at once, a few, if not all, of them could realistically get hot at the same time.

If Pederson had a disappointing season, that would be the least surprising among this struggling group. But chances are the middle of the order -- Seager, Langford and Garcia -- at minimum, will get hot at the plate in the relative future.

If all of them go on a tear at the same time, look out.

Any team in the league would sign up for this start with an early divisional lead, but for the Rangers, there is a very clear path to their best baseball still being ahead of them.

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Ryan Reynolds
RYAN REYNOLDS

Ryan Reynolds has worked in sports media since 2019, where he’s primarily covered the NFL. He got his start writing for Evan Silva and Adam Levitan’s Establish the Run where Ryan became an authority on NFL awards markets. Ryan recently served as an Associate Director and content headliner for former NFL executives Joe Banner and Mike Tannenbaum at The 33rd Team. Ryan has also made multiple guest appearances on Fantasy Sports Radio on SiriusXM and VSiN. Outside of sports Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, graduating with honors from the University of Minnesota. He now has nearly a decade’s worth of experience in management. You can find Ryan on X @RyanReynoldsNFL or email him at RyanReynoldsNFL@gmail.com.

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