3 reasons the 2024 Rangers season ended in disappointment

It’s extremely rare that a championship team will live up to the hype a year after giving their fans a storybook ending, but the 2024 Texas Rangers did not even come particularly close.

“Overall, obviously disappointed with the fact that we are here today and not competing in the playoffs,” Young said. “We certainly didn't expect that coming into the season, but understand for a number of reasons what contributed to the season we had. I think more than anything, as an organization, we're excited to move on and remedy some of the issues we had this year.”

While a 78-84 season was not the “worst possible outcome,” the campaign did not evoke the kind of excitement that one would hope to come with a title defense. Upon reflection, there are three possible reasons why this past season ended in disappointment.

3 reasons the 2024 Rangers season ended in disappointment

Injuries

Every team can use injuries as an excuse as to why they didn't “bring it home,” and the Rangers are not an exception. Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Josh Jung, Evan Carter, and others dealt with injuries throughout the year.

On paper, the Rangers had a similar team to the 2023 iteration that brought the hardware to Texas for the first time in club history, but 2024’s injuries proved to be too much. Carter is a particularly frustrating case. After hitting for a .300 batting average last Postseason, he hit .188 over 144 at-bats this year, and then was placed on the injured list with a lumbar strain that cut his season short.

With how Carter stepped up during his initial big league slate, it is clear that Texas hoped he could continue his evolution into his sophomore season. His injury prevented this from happening and did not help an offense that generally took a step back.

Offensive Regression

The 2023 Rangers will be largely remembered for their big bats and ability to bludgeon their opponents on any given night. They slashed .263/.337/.452 and used that power to get to the World Series. This year however, they only slashed .238/.305/.380, and failed to show the same spunk when push came to shove.

“As I look at our identity in 2023, we were an elite offensive unit,” Young said. “I think there's an explanation for that regression. The biggest remedy, in my opinion, is improving the guys that we currently have. We need Adolis to bounce back. We need Jonah Heim to bounce back. We need Leody Tavares to take the next step in his development. We need a healthy Josh Jung and a healthy Evan Carter.”

While a few individuals took a step back as Young alluded to, Adolis Garcia may have experienced the most impactful dip. After bashing 39 home runs and earning a .836 OPS last year, he hit 25 home runs and mustered a .684 OPS this season.

The advanced stats don't paint a prettier picture. According to Baseball Savant, Garcia ranked in the 17th percentile in Chase% this past season after ranking in the 42nd percentile last year. His Barrel% and K% were also slightly down.

Pitching Woes

Young expressed the Rangers’ need to bolster their pitching recently and it’s certainly an area that will need attention this winter. The staff was lackluster this past year, and with Kirby Yates, David Robertson, Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, and José Leclerc all set to become free agents, the front office will have to decide whether they will invest in starting pitching or the bullpen.

In any event, Texas will have to post better results next season. Texas starters were 21st in ERA in 2024 and their bullpen earned the fifth worst ERA in baseball. Neither mark is a recipe for success, and even the most potent lineup would not be able to regularly compensate for questionable pitching.

The offseason will surely allow for many changes, and the Rangers will attempt to remedy three of the reasons why this year fell short.