My thoughts on the Rangers after losing the weekend series to the A's

The Rangers sit at 14-14 after dropping the series finale to the A's on Sunday. The Yankees roll into town Monday for the final series of April, wrapping up the first full month of the season. Regardless of how the Yankees series plays out, it’s still just a small sample size of the season.

The Rangers’ season began on March 26, so a full month of baseball is already in the books. Looking back at the schedule before the season started, I would’ve happily taken a .500 record after this stretch.

Sixteen of the first 22 games were on the road, and five of the first nine series were against teams that made the playoffs last year. Another ten games came against the A’s and Pirates—two clubs that have been much better than most of the mainstream media expected. It won't get any better schedule wise for the Rangers in the next few weeks.

What stands out most is the energy. You can see it in the dugout and on the bases. Ever since Andrew McCutchen brought out the lasso, this team has started smiling and it appears like they are having fun. That’s the start of a good foundation for this team's success.

The offense is improved—though that’s not saying much after last season’s team. Still, real progress is visible. Josh Jung finally looks like the player we’ve been waiting for. He’s not swinging hard and missing as often. After a slow start, he began putting the ball in play, and the extra-base hits and home runs have followed naturally. Basic baseball apparently still works.

Wyatt Langford would benefit from the same approach. He’s still swinging too hard and missing too much. He was starting to heat up before landing on the DL. When he returns, hopefully it won’t take him another month to find his rhythm. This is Year 3 for Wyatt. It’s time for him to deliver on that breakout hype.

Joc Pederson also got off to a brutal start, but in April he is hitting .264 with a .394 OBP. This time last year he was at .077/.189. All that extra swing work before spring training is clearly paying off.

Evan Carter wasn’t even on the big-league roster this time last year. Now he’s also starting to be the player we hoped for. In the Pirates series he robbed a home run and hit an electric inside-the-park homer. He’s getting on base consistently and already has 15 walks this season after posting just 19 in 67 games last season. His average will keep climbing. I’m confident he’ll figure out left-handed pitching well enough to be a productive everyday player.

Health will be the key for Carter, Jung, Langford, and Corey Seager. Seager’s batting average isn’t where the Rangers want it, but as long as he’s on the field, I’m not overly worried.

Josh Smith is a concern. He’s hitting .208 right now—the same number he posted after the All-Star break last year. Ezequiel Duran has hit .264 and is making a strong case for more playing time.

Brandon Nimmo has been excellent at the top of the lineup. If the Rangers can get steady production from second base and a bit more consistency from Jake Burger, the offense should keep trending upward.

The bullpen was a big offseason question mark. As of Sunday, it had the lowest ERA in the American League. Even with Chris Martin, Carter Baumler, and Robert Garcia on the IL, the pen has been remarkably reliable.

I’m not worried about Nathan Eovaldi—he’ll be fine as long as he stays healthy. Jack Leiter, however, has been disappointing. He’s yet to take the expected step forward. He throws far too many pitches, lacks a reliable third strike, and gives up too many first-pitch balls. In 25.1 innings he’s allowed 37 baserunners (1.46 WHIP) and opponents are hitting .260 off him.

As for manager Skip Schumaker, I think he’s done a very good job. The energy is different from the Bochy era, and he’s not afraid to try new things—like calling back-to-back bunts on Sunday.

There have been a few pitching decisions (especially with Robert Garcia) I didn’t love, but overall, I like what I see.

This team still hasn’t played anywhere close to its potential. I believe they are a playoff team. Unlocking that talent and getting them to October will be the standard by which Skip is judged. Anything less this season will feel like a disappointment.