Rangers get passing April grade from MLB insider but the Ivy League isn't calling

The Texas Rangers finished the first full month of the season struggling mightily, almost entirely thanks to an offense that simply cannot score runs at the moment. That’s the bad news. The good news is that while they weren’t setting the world on fire, there's enough there that one prominent MLB insider thinks Bruce Bochy’s squad did just enough to earn a passing April grade.

ESPN’s David Schoenfield put together his April grades for every team in the Major League Baseball and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Rangers might need to hire a tutor. They’re certainly not graduating at the top of the class and it’s time to start looking at safety schools.Have I driven the school theme entirely into the ground yet?

Texas Rangers earn C plus April grade as offense continues to struggle

Schoenfield gave the Texas Rangers a C+ for the month of April. The good news there of course is that it’s actually a little bit above average. The bad news is it’s the kind of grade one gets when they finish the month ranked 4th in a five team division.

In offering up his assessment of the Rangers in April, there was a little bit of a reminder in there was well:

"It's still hard to draw an angle on this team, given the offense was also weak in 2024. The top three starters have been outstanding, however, as Nathan Eovaldi has dominated with a 2.11 ERA and an absurd 46-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Tyler Mahle has ridden a low BABIP to a league-leading 1.14 ERA and Jacob deGrom is rounding into form with just three runs allowed over his past three starts.”"

It’s hard to know what to make of the offense being bad for a second straight season (so far). Either that means there’s not much to worry about because the rotation is much better, or whether that’s a sign that the Rangers are headed for another losing season.

So how did the rest of the AL West grade out? Seattle is at the head of the class with a B+ while the A’s got a B and Houston got a B- grade for April. The Texas Rangers’ only grade out better than the Los Angeles who just barely passed the course with a D- grade.