The Texas Rangers Lead the American League in Errors

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Your Texas Rangers are off to  a 4-5 start to the season, which isn’t bad considering they just finished a road trip through two of the toughest AL East teams, and considering the fact that they lead the American League in errors, and are tied for the lead in all of Major League Baseball with the Marlins and Dodgers. They also have the lowest fielding percentage of any team in the majors at .967. The ironically funny thing is they lead the majors in double plays turned as well (16), so imagine how good they would  be if you took six of those eleven errors away. To be 4-5 with eleven errors in nine games is really not that bad. Oh, did I mention that their team ERA is also fourth worst at 5.14?

The Texas Rangers are dealing with a lot of injuries, I know, but the players making these errors are not replacement players for the most part, they are guys that we have come to expect more out of. Guys like Elvis Andrus (3), Adrian Beltre (3), and Prince Fielder (2). Prince is not known as the best defender in the league by any stretch of the imagination, but just those three guys count for eight (8) of  the Texas Rangers eleven (11) errors. This is unacceptable from the team leaders. I would understand if Josh Wilson, Donnie Murphy and Robinson Chirinos were leading the team in errors, but it is not those guys. So why is this happening and what can make it stop?

I do not have the answers to those questions, but I feel from track record, that it will eventually stop. In his time in Texas,  Adrian Beltre averages only 11 errors a season, Elvis Andrus over the same time period (2011-2013) averages 18 (but they have been going down every season) and Fielder is averaging 11. This season, Adrian and Elvis  are on pace for 54 errors. Now that is not going to happen obviously, but that is if you project three errors every nine games throughout a 162 game season. The point is, if the Texas Rangers are going to compete in the American League West in 2014, then they need to be a much better fielding team, and I think they will be. It is very early, and I expect the errors to slow down significantly at some point, and at some point soon. So for now, Texas Rangers fans just need to be unhappy with the defense they have seen on the field and know that a better day is coming. Remember, even with the league lead in errors, this team is still right there in the division after only nine games.