SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Rangers had the best offense in the American League in 2023, scoring 881 runs while slashing .263/.337/.452 with a 116 wRC+ en route to the first World Series in franchise history.
But as the club¡¯s repeat bid fell short in 2024, so did the bats. Due to regression and injuries to some of the core players, the club slashed .238/.305/.380 overall.
Long story short, everybody not named Josh Smith -- who had a career year culminating in a Silver Slugger Award at the utility position -- didn't to pull their weight.
But the most glaring issue was the designated hitter position.
At designated hitter in 2024, the Rangers hit .205 (28th in AVG)/.261 (last in OBP)/.323 (last in SLG) for an MLB-worst .584 OPS at the position. That came after a 2023 season in which Mitch Garver hit .270 with an .870 OPS in 87 games, primarily at DH.
The external additions will be the biggest game changers of the Rangers in 2025, and while Jake Burger -- acquired via trade to replace Nathaniel Lowe at first base -- no doubt improves the slugging ability of the lineup, Joc Pederson may have been the most important addition for the Texas offense.
Pederson -- signed to a two-year, $37 million deal -- is a perfect complement to a Texas lineup that lacked slug in 2024. It¡¯s also a perfect addition for a club that was basically a black hole at DH last season.
In his age-32 season with the D-backs in 2024, Pederson set career highs in batting average (.275), on-base percentage (.393) and OPS (.908). He was in the 95th percentile in xwOBA (.378), 90th in expected slugging (.480) and 93rd in average exit velocity (92.3 mph). He was primarily the DH in Arizona.
¡°We were really missing that last year, no doubt,¡± manager Bruce Bochy said. ¡°We just didn't get the production that we needed from a DH spot. Of course, the year before, we ran into a hot bat there [Garver]. I thought we were missing that last year. Joc¡¯s gonna get most of that this year.¡±
Bochy said multiple times throughout camp that he¡¯s happy with the many ways he can construct the lineup with multiple guys rotating through the DH position, while also noting the full 26-man Opening Day roster has yet to be decided.
¡°We feel great about where our lineup is and where our position player group is,¡± president of baseball operations Chris Young said entering camp. ¡°We feel like we have the potential to have a lineup that can produce a lot of runs, that can slug, that can hit for average, that can get on base. We have a multitude of options for Boch in terms of how we can deploy these guys, so we're really, really excited about it.¡±
The Rangers¡¯ rotation has made the headlines for the last week of Spring Training, for reasons nobody wants to talk about. In just six days, the Rangers lost a pair of starters in Jon Gray (wrist fracture) and Cody Bradford (elbow soreness), and added Patrick Corbin -- owner of a 5.62 ERA in 2024 -- on a one-year deal.
One thing stood out as Young addressed the media following Corbin¡¯s signing: the offense needs to score runs.
¡°I think our team's built in a way to protect our starting pitching with an offense that's going to score some runs,¡± Young said.
And you know what? Maybe they just will.
Entering Wednesday¡¯s Cactus League matchup with the Mariners, the Rangers had recorded at least two extra-base hits in all 25 of their Cactus League contests. Texas ranks tied for fifth in all of MLB this spring with 92 extra-base hits (33 HR, 6 triples, 53 doubles with 42.4% of the offense¡¯s hits going for extra bases. The Rangers¡¯ 33 home runs this spring rank fourth in the Cactus League).
¡°I think the offense has been pretty good,¡± Bochy said. ¡°I don't think it's where we're going to be. The numbers tell you that too. But we¡¯ve still got some guys that need some at-bats here before we start. I think that's fair to say. I've talked to a couple of them, but overall, I think it's been a pretty good spring.¡±