The Texas Rangers’ pitching took a major step backward in 2026, but there is at least one piece of the profile they can hang onto: they still did a solid job keeping hitters off the free pass parade.
That matters because the rest of the season was rough. Texas finished 80-82 and missed the postseason, and while the offense was a problem, the mound situation may have been even more alarming. The Rangers went from having one of the sport’s elite staffs in 2025 to a group that landed near the bottom in several key categories a year later.
In 2025, Texas led baseball with a 3.47 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, and it also finished third in opponent batting average at .230. By 2026, those numbers had fallen sharply: a 4.32 ERA ranked 22nd, a 1.30 WHIP placed 18th, and opponent batting average sat at .248, also 18th.
The one encouraging trend was walks. Even with the overall collapse, Texas pitchers ranked eighth in walks with 497 this season.
That’s not far off from 2025, when the Rangers were sixth with 463. For a staff that struggled everywhere else, that ability to limit free passes stands out as a legitimate building block.
The decline wasn’t limited to the mound, either. Texas had another muted year at the plate, finishing 25th in runs with 673 after ranking 22nd with 684 the year before. The similarities between the two seasons were striking despite changes in coaching and philosophy.
Still, the pitching drop is the bigger concern heading into 2027. The Rangers somehow stayed in the playoff chase until the final day of the regular season, but doing that with both a bottom-10 offense and a struggling pitching staff is not a sustainable formula.
There were also personnel factors at play. Pitching coach Mike Maddux left after Bruce Bochy parted ways with the team following the 2025 season.
That alone doesn’t explain everything, but it’s hard to ignore. Maddux later joined the Los Angeles Angels, only to be fired by them in August.
Injuries made the job harder, too. Jack Leiter and Nathan Eovaldi both dealt with major injuries, and Texas could have used better health across the staff. The Rangers are also still waiting for Leiter and Rocker to take the next step, while MacKenzie Gore was worse than expected in his first season with Texas.
If Texas can pair its ability to avoid walks with more strikeouts, especially in the bullpen, there’s a path back to a much stronger pitching staff. The foundation isn’t gone. It just needs a lot more help.
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