Former Ranger gets honest about time in Texas, team's early 2025 struggles

The pain points for the 2025 Texas Rangers keep coming as former outfielder dishes harsh words and thoughts following his departure from the team earlier this year.

Kevin Pillar, 36, shared on Foul Territory on Wednesday that his perception of the 2023 World Series champions shifted when he finally got to Arlington for the regular season. The 13-year MLB veteran touched on the shift from spring training to the regular season, feeling like an outcast among the clubhouse and how the season's early struggles seemed to dig players deeper into the hole.

"When I got to the clubhouse in Texas, there's a lot of talent in there and a lot of individual stuff going on, Pillar said on Foul Territory. "A lot of guys doing their own things. You might not see people until the game.

"Your perception of a team can be a little different when you actually get into Spring Training and you're around the guys, It was a little bit different... them coming off a World Series win a couple of years ago, that was the team I thought I was joining."

Pillar's comments reflect a potential rift that has led to Rangers' subpar first half

The early part of the season had a weird feeling to it. The pitching was doing what it has done all season and the offense remained a huge question mark but they were still successful, having a 12-8 record through the first 20 games of the season.

According to Pillar though, the mood seemed like the record was flipped saying everyone seemed to be pressed by individual shortcomings rather than seeing the positives.

"The winning didn't seem... a lot of guys weren't enjoying that were winning games and a lot of the guys got caught up in their own failures," he said. "I tried to remind the guys that collectively we've hit rock bottom as an offense but we are winning games and that should motivate us."

The wheels rapidly started to fall off the track at that 20-game mark finishing the month of April at 16-15 and with a 12-16 month of May the team suddenly found themselves 28-31 and four games back in the AL West.

Now at 42-44, Texas still hasn't found offensive consistency, still hitting among the worst in the league in the majority of offensive categories and the division deficit now sits at 95. games back of Houston.

Pillar was released by the Rangers on May 31 after 20 games with the team. He slashed .206/.209/.256 with two doubles, no homers and one RBI for the Rangers. On Wednesday, Pillar also announced his retirement from baseball.