3 Rangers who must step up in September to keep playoff hopes alive

The Texas Rangers have barely been treading water. The club finished August with a 13-15 record, falling to 68-70 on the season. The lead they had in the AL West is gone, and they now sit 2 games behind the Houston Astros. Texas is also 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot. Time is of the essence, or else the club will be sitting home once October rolls around.

It's time for these three Rangers to put up or shut up as the team tries to keep pace with the AL West-leading Astros and the handful of teams competing for the final wild-card spot. These position players simply need to be better at the plate if the team is going to rise from the crowded field and secure a postseason spot.

Three Rangers who have to be better if the Rangers are going to make the postseason

Wyatt Langford - LF

Langford had a nice series in Chicago, going 6-for-10 with three runs scored and just his third home run in August. The speedy left fielder was on a tear from mid-June to mid-July as one of the best hitters in MLB, but he had been slumping badly prior to the last three games against Chicago. Outside of the towering home run he hit in the first game of the series, he still didn't barrel the ball with above-average exit velocity. He's got to start mashing again.

The Rangers desperately need the midsummer version of Langford if they are going to mount a serious run to end the season. He is in the final few weeks of his third season, and it is time for him to prove to the Rangers' brass and fanbase that he was worth the fourth-overall draft pick and is on the cusp of becoming a superstar. He's dealing with some lingering injuries, and we get it. But he's not alone. Plenty of guys are banged up this time of year. It's crunch time, and if he's truly going to become a star it's time to perform.

Evan Carter - CF

Well, it's crystal clear that the Rangers and Skip Schumaker are going to sink or swim with Evan Carter playing center field and hitting toward middle of the lineup. Carter has been hitting below .200 for almost all of the 2026 season and has been one of the biggest offensive disappointments. Ranger Nation has been waiting through injuries and lack of production for the better part of three years, and patience is wearing thin.

If the Rangers are married to the idea of playing Carter every day, he has got to be better than a .197 hitter, plain and simple. He has remained healthy for an entire season, registering 378 plate appearances. Still, he hasn't been able to recapture the 2023 magic that Rangers fans have been dying to see from the kid from Elizabethon, Tennessee. You can't have a guy hitting below the Mendoza Line in the 6-hole who also is completely ineffective against left-handed pitching and expect to sustain rallies that put crooked numbers on the scoreboard.

Joc Pederson - DH/1B

Pederson has been significantly better this season than he was last season. He has successfully put the dreadful 2025 experience behind him and put up the kind of numbers that Chris Young and the fanbase expected from the 34-year-old slugger. But he hasn't been very good in August, going 9-for-65 (.138) with 3 homers and 6 RBIs. His overall average has dipped from .255 to .233.

Pederson is in the second year of a two-year deal and is making $17 million. He's got to start coming up big in crunch time. Until August, he had been a sensation out of the leadoff spot, and it looked like he would continue to be that veteran who has been a part of two World Series winners and show the younger players who weren't part of the 2023 team how it's done. Now is not the time for him to revert to his form from last season.

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