It’s no secret that the Texas Rangers offense in 2024 is a pain point. The ball club is seeing most of its offensive outputs drop from last year.

“You look at this offense, how good it was. For us, on a consistent basis, struggling to put runs across the board has us all baffled at times. You look at [it] we’ve had some tough injuries, too. What I always talk about when we try to get it done or have a change to get it done again, you got to stay healthy. Part of those downs, those are two big pieces, it all adds up,” Bruce Bochy said.

	R/GM	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB	SO	BB	BABIP
2024	4.23	.239	.307	.380	.687	64	963	387	.277
						0.52/gm	7.77/gm	3.12
2023	5.44	.263	.337	.452	.789	79	1416	599	.310
						0.49/gm	8.74/gm	3.70

The obvious conclusion is that the Rangers aren’t hitting the ball as well as last season, but they are putting the ball in play a little more than last year. On average, the Rangers are striking out less in 2024 and walking less. However, the results have yet to be found. Therefore, it’s an offense averaging more than a run fewer per game than a year ago.

Why has the offense been less productive than a year ago?

“We got a lot of youth out there that had to navigate the league,” Rangers hitting coach Tim Hyers told me. “Pitchers put a lot of pressure on hitters these days [with] game planning. There are a lot of things that may control baseball for a younger player.” Hyers defined younger players as players with two years of experience or less who would fit the mold of Wyatt Langford, Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Josh Jung, and Evan Carter.

“That first year [and] the sophomore year is still learning [the] curve of this league because of handling the different multiple fastballs that they’re creating against us,” Hyers said. “With Wyatt [Langford] navigating the Major Leagues and learning how to be successful [which] you know he’s going to be. He’s a stud that is an incredible player, but he’s learning the league. Every night he goes out there, it’s a new pitcher he has to face in a new solution.”

Of course, to Bochy’s point earlier about the injuries, three of those five guys have seen injuries that have kept them out for some time, which is making the league adjustment even more difficult.

Hyers added that Josh Smith had adjusted to the league. “[Josh] has had a great year, but he’s still navigating his first full year in the Major Leagues and learning—those ins and outs and producing when runners are in scoring position. Likewise with Duran, and we had Evan [Carter] earlier. It’s part of this league, but that’s our job, and that’s a fun part of being a hitting coach. It’s tough on younger players because of the pitch design and shape you see this day in age.”

LANGFORD TIES IT IN THE 9TH! pic.twitter.com/qsn6WlIWct

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) August 15, 2024

Baseball players are creatures of habit, and after a World Series, a downside is the shortened time between the end of the season and Spring Training. I asked Hyers if that shortened time could be an aftereffect of the struggles in 2024.

“I think it’s a little more difficult on pitchers because of the demands, and we expect so much from them in the playoffs. [But] it does throw you off your routine. Everything gets started later. There’s a lot of responsibilities and pulls of the field, and you [have to] satisfy a lot of requests and then get back straight to Spring Training,” he said.

Hyers added, “As players, it’s human nature. They want to pick back where they left off, and when it doesn’t happen, it’s not going to happen, [and] it’s like you’re taking some time off. That’s where some players without a lot of experience come in, and they’re like, why don’t I feel the same? They start searching for things and make some adjustments, and in this league, you can snowball in a hurry.”

That could equate to what is happening to the Rangers right now. The struggles started, and because of the success from a year ago, players could try to make that up quickly, resulting in chasing, tinkering, and searching for success.

Over the last eight games, the Rangers have scored 40 runs, averaging 5 runs per game, slightly below last year’s offensive success.

An Eraser Base Hit for Garcia!
@Rangers | #StraightUpTX | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/nWsi7NOLHy

— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) August 17, 2024

“I think Adolis is getting hot; he’s come up with some big hits for us,” Hyers said. “Corey is Corey, and he’s amazing at what he does every night. He puts pressure on the other side [and] on the opposing pitcher. I think we’ve got some key hits in critical spots and stayed on breaking balls a little better than we did.”

“Earlier, when we were struggling, we were late to the heater and early on the breaking ball [with] a lot of ground balls. [I] feel like we started to get the ball off the ground, stay behind some pitches, and drive a little better,” Hyers added.

We are down to less than 40 games left in the season, and the Rangers are 10 games back of a postseason spot. Things turned in a positive way towards the end of the road trip, but the struggles surfaced again against the Minnesota Twins. Unless the Texas Rangers make an incredible turn, it’ll be another case of a Bruce Bochy World Champion ball club missing the playoffs the next season with too much to overcome.