Rangers turning their season around is impossible without improving these two areas

The Texas Rangers went to a place they hadn't been to since Bruce Bochy arrived in the Arlington — below .500. The Rangers' loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night put Texas in a peculiar position and revealed that all is not well this season.

But what's the Rangers' biggest problem? Right off the bat, almost every Rangers fan would tell you that injuries have haunted this year's team. That's part of the issue, but it's certainly not the whole story either.

While being without Max Scherzer, Josh Jung, and Jacob deGrom would make even the best team appear below-average at times, there are some other areas of concern the Rangers will have to address at some point this season.

Rangers turning their season around is impossible without improving these two areas

The Rangers rank in the middle of the pack in a number of offensive categories. But a recent stretch that's included a number of losses — more than any Texas fan wants to count — has seen the Rangers' bats virtually disappear. The Rangers were the third highest-scoring team in Major League Baseball last season with 881 runs scored.

But the Rangers have seen a number of games lately when the club is fortunate to barely scratch across two runs. Yes, the team is missing Jung and Justin Foscue, as well as Wyatt Langford, but the Rangers have to find ways to manufacture more runs if they want to be contenders this season.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is the Rangers' revolving bullpen trauma. While moving Jose Leclerc out of the closer's role has helped a little, it's sort of like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Kirby Yates and David Robertson have been steady, but the rest of the Rangers relief corps has been unreliable at best. Leclerc, Yerry Rodriguez, Jose Ureńa, and others have all fallen short of expectations.

The bats are something that will likely be solved with some adjustments and a handful of players returning from the IL. The bullpen may have to be fixed through a trade. While the return of Scherzer and deGrom could theoretically shift a starter or two into a relief role, Rangers fans know better than to predict how quickly any of the team's injured players will return to the active roster.

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