Last series before the All-Star Game. Can Houston enter the break on a high note?
Rangers Season Overview: Was 2023 a fluke, or was 2024? Coming into this season, the Rangers looked to put the disappointment of 2024 in the rearview mirror, fulfilling the every-other-year success of Bochy with the San Francisco Giants. 2025? Mixed. The pitching staff is living up to the championship promise, especially the co-aces Eovaldi and deGrom. The offense…is not. Some injury concerns, but the expected fireworks have yet to materialize. Coming into the All-Star Break, even with a positive run differential, the Rangers find themselves under .500 and multiple games back of the AL West Crown. They are within range of the final Wild Card spot, but what the Rangers decide to do at the trade deadline will be among the more intriguing late July plotlines. At least they are all square with Houston for the 2025 Silver Boot race.
Rangers Standings At-A-Glance:
- Record: 46-48, 9.5 GB of AL West (3rd Place), 4.0 GB of Final Wild Card
- Road Record: 20-29 (Astros Home Record: 32-17)
- Record vs. AL West: 11-16 (Astros: 14-9)
- Last 10: 5-6 [LWWLWLLWLW] (Astros Last 10: 6-4 [WWWLWWWLLL])
- 2025 Record Against Houston: 2-2 (Split 2-2 at Arlington May 15-18)
- All-Time Record vs HOU: 142-141
- Silver Boot Count: 12 (Astros: 7).
- Post-season: 4-3 (2023 ALCS [SOB!!])
Rangers Leaders
Offense:
- BA: SS Josh Smith: .284
- HR: LF Wyatt Langford: 14
- RBI: Adolis Garcia: 53
- OPS: SS Corey Seager: .791
Pitching:
- ERA: SP Nathan Eovaldi: 1.62
- Wins: SP Jacob deGrom: 9
- Saves: RP Luke Jackson: 9
- Innings Pitched: Jacob deGrom: 106.1
Projected Pitching Matchups (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):
- Friday, July 11 7:10 PM CDT: Jack Leiter (4-6, 4.32) vs. Lance McCullers, Jr. (2-3, 5.82)
- Saturday, July 12 6:35 PM CDT: Jacob deGrom (9-2, 2.29) vs. Framber Valdez (10-4, 2.90)
- Sunday, July 13 1:10 PM CDT: Nathan Eovaldi (6-3, 1.62) vs. Hunter Brown (9-3, 2.21)
Projected Starting Line-up (Position Players…also subject to change):
- C: Jonah Heim
- 1B: Jake Burger
- 2B: Marcus Semien
- 3B: Josh Smith
- SS: Corey Seager
- LF: Wyatt Langford
- CF: Evan Carter
- RF: Adolis Garcia
- DH: Sam Haggerty
Rangers Offense: The theory of the Rangers’ lineup is that they have plenty of guys that can rake for average and power. The near half-billion invested in Marcus Semien and Corey Seager can power a team to championship glory (and it has). Adolis Garcia’s career pinnacle came against the Astros in the 2023 ALCS and the line-up has plenty of young bats that should terrorize opposing pitching staffs. That is the theory. The reality of 2025…what does it say that the Rangers made the desperation early in-season move to fire the hitting coach? Since that time…yeah, the Rangers are still in the lowest-tier of MLB offensive categories (23rd in BA, 24th in runs scored, 27th in OPS (.670)). That is especially frustrating for Arlington fans, for once they get runners on base, they rank 4th in MLB in stolen bases (86), which will present challenges for the Astros.
Rangers Pitching: The strength of this team is its run prevention. They allow the fewest runs in baseball (Houston is third). In particular, the starting rotation is the type that could cause serious pain to any lineup that it might face in a clutch/playoff situation (#1 in ERA (3.30), #2 in WHIP (1.17), #3 in BA (.230)). Jason deGrom is recapturing his Cy Young form. Nathan Eovaldi lost some time recently to injury, but is working his way back into shape. The rest of the rotation possesses fair to middling arms, but they are doing their part keeping the Rangers’ afloat. The bullpen is headlined by Chris Martin, Robert Garcia and Luke Jackson (primary closer). Once the weak link, the bullpen is not the horrid unit of past seasons, currently ranked 4th in bullpen ERA. To back up their stellar pitching, the Rangers boast the top fielding unit in MLB, logging the fewest errors in the game.
Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images
Most Dangerous Player: SP Jacob deGrom. The 2-time Cy Young winner is back. Seemingly over the approximately 12 bajillion injuries he suffered since his last Cy Young win as a Met in 2019, to include full recovery from another Tommy John operation in 2023, he has been all but unhittable, sporting a 2.29 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP for the season. Houston got an up-close and personal look at his resurgence back in May, when deGrom went 8.0 innings, surrendering only 5 hits and 1 BB, while dealing out 7 Ks and 0 runs in a 1-0 win. Over his last 6 starts, deGrom has gone at least 6 innings five times, giving up only 8 ERs while inflicting 37Ks, and that was with a less-than-outstanding (by his standards) outing against the Angels, where he went only 5 innings, gave up 3 runs and got a no-decision. Unfortunately for Houston, they get him in a primetime matchup (if the current projections hold) on Fox. At least it will be against Valdez, so maybe another pitcher’s duel…now if Houston could actually score on deGrom, which maybe could happen since this is a road start.
Rangers Injuries:
- 1B Joc Pederson (Hand, 10-Day IL): Projected Return after the All-Star Break
- SP Jon Gray (Wrist: 60-Day IL) Projected Return Late July
- SP Tyler Mahle (Shoulder, 60 Day IL) Projected Return…TBD
- SP Cody Bradford (Elbow, 60 Day IL) Projected Return 2026
Not as bad as the Astros’ situation, who saw OF Jake Meyers leave the last game against Cleveland before play even started. The team should be buoyed by the return 1B Christian Walker (paternity) and the call-up of Brice Matthews to bolster the attrition in the outfield.
Intangibles/Vibes: Last season, the Rangers could attribute their struggles to a major post-title hangover (clearly some teams can handle success better than others…ahem) and dealing with critical injuries. However, this Arlington team being so…mid…is not sitting all that well. While Rangers’ leadership is not panicking, their hovering just under/around .500 and so far back of the division lead at the All-Star Break couldn’t have been part of the master plan. Interestingly enough, the Rangers didn’t get the biggest endorsement of their locker-room culture with these insights from a former player.
Series Outlook: When you have rivalry games, records get thrown out the window. After a disappointing few months, a series win at a hated rival’s house could jump-start a second-half run for the Rangers. Houston followed up its 5-1 road trip and hot June/early July by getting swept by the slumping Guardians at home, mostly due to key Astros injuries and baseball being baseball. The Rangers mustered a split of a 4-game set against the Angels in Anaheim. Also, the Rangers get to unleash their two best arms, who have logged success against the Astros. When the #1 and #3 ranked teams for overall baseball defense get together, it is logical to expect plenty of 1-0, 2-1 type games. That very well could happen, but would any really be surprised with a 13-11 softball score or two thrown in for funsies? Look for some nail-biters before the All-Star Break. If nothing else, Houston will enter the break leading the AL West, which is definitely where they want to be.