Rangers Spring Training Preview: Was Last Season a Fluke?
February 25, 2025
Oh, how the mighty can fall.
From a wild-card berth-turned-World Series win in 2023, to below-.500 finish the following season, the Texas Rangers may have a newfound chip on their shoulder as they enter this season.
With familiar faces returning to the bullpen and a revamped lineup that looks to bring some power back to Globe Life Field, the Rangers are out to prove their 2023 championship run wasn’t just a fluke. While that won’t be an easy task, Texas has all the talent it needs to make a dash in the postseason.
One key contributor that could determine just how high Texas flies this season is second-year outfielder Wyatt Langford. After a phenomenal college career with the Florida Gators that saw him picked fourth by the Rangers in the 2023 MLB Draft, Langford immediately worked his way up through the ranks and earned a spot on Texas’ 2024 Opening Day roster.
Despite some bumps along the road (and a nearly four-week IL stint in May), Langford made plenty of noise for Texas last year, especially in the final stretch of the season. In the month of September, Langford tallied a .300 batting average and .996 OPS, all while knocking out eight home runs – his highest count of any month that season.
If Langford (and the rest of the Rangers’ roster) can stay healthy and certain underperformers from 2024 can return to their peak form, Texas may be one of the more notable squads to keep an eye on this coming year.
2024 record: 78-84 (Third, AL West)
Last Postseason Appearance: 2023 (Won World Series 4-1 over Arizona Diamondbacks)
What Happened in 2024: Despite some early flashes of productivity reminiscent of that of the 2023 squad, the wheels fell off for the Rangers by the start of the summer. From there, they never managed to get back on track and finished the wild-card race on the outside looking in. 2023 World Series hero Adolis Garcia regressed in nearly every category imaginable, the pitching rotation was decimated by injuries, and even standout players like Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager struggled to stay on the field at times with IL stints of their own.
New Arrivals
- OF Joc Pederson (Arizona Diamondbacks)
- 3B Jake Burger (Miami Marlins)
- C Kyle Higashioka (San Diego Padres)
- RHP Chris Martin (Boston Red Sox)
- LHP Robert Garcia (Washington Nationals)
Key Departures
- SP Max Scherzer (Toronto Blue Jays)
- 1B Nathaniel Lowe (traded to Washington Nationals)
- CL Kirby Yates (Los Angeles Dodgers)
- RHP José Leclerc (The Athletics)
Projected Batting Order*
- 2B Marcus Semien
- SS Corey Seager
- LF Wyatt Langford
- DH Joc Pederson
- RF Adolis García
- 3B Josh Jung
- CF Evan Carter
- 1B Jake Burger
- C Jonah Heim
Projected Rotation*
- Nathan Eovaldi (RHP)
- Jacob deGrom (RHP)
- Jon Gray (RHP)
- Tyler Mahle (RHP)
- Cody Bradford (LHP)
Projected Bullpen*
- Mid-Relief: Shawn Armstrong (RHP), Hoby Milner (LHP), Luke Jackson (RHP), Jacob Latz (LHP)
- Long-Relief: Dane Dunning (RHP)
- Set-Up: Robert Garcia (LHP), Jacob Webb (RHP)
- Closer: Chris Martin (RHP)
Biggest Question: Was 2024 an unfortunate flash in the pan, or a sign of what’s still to come for Texas?
The Rangers were the latest squad to suffer a World Series hangover, as they went from lifting the most coveted prize in all of baseball to missing the playoffs entirely in less than 12 months. The last team to actually make the playoffs after winning the World Series was the Washington Nationals, who made it in 2020 after winning in ‘19. Additionally, seven of the last 12 World Series champions missed the playoffs the season after winning it all. There’s a lot of reasons for the Rangers’ struggles last season, but the persisting belief is that Texas will land back on its feet come 2025. With some fresh power in their line-up (Burger and Pederson), the tools are there for a Rangers resurgence. But will these newcomers be enough to lift a once-towering Texas offense out of its 2024 doldrums?
Team MVP: Corey Seager
Whether the Rangers are good, bad or ugly, one thing has always remained consistent: Seager’s elite play, both on the basepaths and in the batter’s box. Amid the team’s overall struggles last season, Seager reaffirmed his status as one of the best shortstops in all of baseball, leading his squad in batting average (.278), home runs (30) and WAR (5.0). At 30 years old, there’s no reason to expect Seager to regress any time soon. If anything, the best may still be yet to come in 2025. Last season, he recorded his career-high in fielding percentage (.983), as well as his fourth-best WAR and third-best home run tally since entering the MLB in 2015.
Breakout Candidate: Wyatt Langford
Yes, it’s an easy pick, but considering that the 22-year-old finished the 2024 campaign with a .253 batting average and a 3.9 WAR (third-best on Texas last season), Langford may be primed for an even bigger performance this year. The only question that remains now is just how high his ceiling may be — something we could find out as soon as this coming summer.
Key Stat: 12
Texas’ starting pitchers combined to register 12 stints on the injured list last season, including Jacob deGrom missing most of the season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. Meanwhile, eight-time All-Star Max Scherzer only made nine starts due to a variety of injuries, including a herniated disk that sidelined him for the first two months of the season and a hamstring strain that subsequently cut his 2024 campaign short. Other notable Texas injury stints from last season include Seagar, who missed the final month of the season with a sports hernia, and Langford, who was forced to sit out most of May with a hamstring injury of his own.
2025 Will Be Successful If… Texas can avoid the injury bug.
Dealing with injuries is simply a natural part of baseball, but the Rangers saw their rotation nearly decimated at certain points last season. Nevertheless, with a pair of potential aces returning in Eovaldi and DeGrom (alongside a solid rotation to back them), Texas won’t be hard-pressed on talent coming out of the bullpen. It’s just a matter if they’ll be able to keep those arms on the mound consistently.
2025 Prediction: First in the AL West, Playoff Berth
Their path back to the playoffs won’t be an easy one, especially considering the talent surrounding them in a front-loaded AL West, but the Rangers have all the pieces they need to pick back up where they left off in 2023. Now, it’s just a matter if they’ll all fall into place — or if more turbulence will arise like last season. If the former comes to fruition, Texas looks to be as dangerous of a contender as they come in 2025.
*Projections were pulled from FanGraphs as of Feb. 25
Posted: February 25, 2025
Category: Cactus League, Texas Rangers
Tagged as: Adolis Garcia, Chris Martin, Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom, Jake Burger, Jon Gray, Josh Jung, Kyle Higashioka, Marcus Semien, Max Scherzer, MLB, MLB Spring Training, Nathan Eovaldi, Nathaniel Lowe, Rangers, Spring Training, Texas, Wyatt Langford
