People who deserve the most blame for Rangers' 2024 shortcomings

“Pointing fingers” is never a pleasant experience for any side of the practice, but after the Texas Rangers' poor attempt to defend their 2023 World Series title, there are certainly those who deserve some level of blame.

While baseball is and always has been a team sport that demands full accountability from every player, the Rangers’ starting rotation and key bats are primarily responsible for the club’s 2024 shortcomings.

On paper, Texas’ starting rotation could have been one of the game’s best entering 2024. But, injuries and inconsistencies plagued what could have been a special unit, Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer only made 12 combined starts in 2024.

Each player was expected to match their usual dominance, but instead had to watch the club scuffle along for the bulk of the year. Injuries also forced Tyler Mahle to miss the vast majority of the season.

Nathan Eovaldi performed well, but others such as Jon Gray and Andrew Heaney were not effective enough to replace the impact that deGrom and Scherzer could have brought to the table.

People who deserve the most blame for Rangers' 2024 shortcomings

It would not be wise to only mention the starting rotation or the injuries that the group dealt with last season. Every fan base could “cry injury,” but Texas also suffered because some of their key bats did not step up.

While Adolis Garcia bashed 25 home runs and collected 85 RBIs, he also ranked in the 16th percentile in K% and the 25th percentile in Squared Up%. Marcus Semien also struggled to find his footing. The San Francisco native only earned a .237 batting average and ranked in the 36th percentile in terms of Barrel%. He was not atrocious, but it would be fair to generally expect more from him.

Corey Seager, Wyatt Langford, Jonah Heim, and Nathaniel Lowe were all decent, but Texas could have benefitted from more productive versions of Semien and Garcia. At their best, both players have the kind of slug that can change a game in a single moment.

The Rangers could have also used healthy versions of Evan Carter and Josh Jung. It could be argued that their absence made Garcia and Semien’s down years more glaring.

There is clearly work to be done this offseason, and it would not be surprising to see the Rangers’ front office attempt to strengthen the team’s rotation and lineup in the event that last year's issues were not a fluke.