This Rangers offensive 'strategy' clearly isn't working and must come to an end

As the old adage says, there are a lot of ways to skin a cat. Just like there are many ways to strategize your team's approach at the plate to generate more offense. Some coaches implement a disciplined approach that demands a solid command of the strike zone. Ideally, this will do two things: make sure you swing at the best pitch possible during the at-bat and also force the pitcher to work deeper into the at-bat, elevating his pitch count. The Texas Rangers might not subscribe to this conventional wisdom.

Lately, Skip Schumaker, hitting coach Justin Viele, and the Rangers have been going with the opposite approach. The Texas hitters have clearly been instructed to go up their hacking and be ready to swing at the first pitch. Sometimes that's good, as it allows your hitters to be on the attack and jump on the opposing hurler early to rattle him.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, it has not been the most effective approach, and it is clearly time to rethink and go back to the drawing board. Like many aspects of the 2026 team, it has been inconsistent and not working in the Rangers' favor.

The Rangers need to stop swinging at the first pitch and make the pitcher work his way through the order

Dallas Morning News' Rangers beat man Evan Grant recently posted a revealing statistic that illustrates just how badly the team has been swinging at the first pitch of an at-bat. He notes that they have the 5th-highest first-pitch swing percentage in the league and the 21st-ranked first-pitch batting average. You see the pattern here? It's not good.

He notes that Corey Seager has been one of the most frequent culprits of going up there swinging, and the results are not good. He has the second-highest first-pitch swinging rate in MLB, but ranks 184th out of 230 in success rate. This is the guy that you're paying the big bucks to as a tone-setter for the whole lineup. Much has been made about how Seager is always seeking to perfect his approach and is a tireless tweaker with his swing. Still, you can't argue with the numbers, last night's homer notwithstanding.

He's not the only one; guys like Jake Burger and Brandon Nimmo have had that bat off their shoulder from the moment they step into the batter's box. More often than not, as Grant's numbers point out, it hasn't resulted in hits. Also, it lets the opposing pitcher off the hook if you only have a one-pitch at-bat that ends with an out.

The entire team needs to be on the same page about things like this. Schumaker and Viele are young coaches very early in their careers. Maybe they believe that an aggressive approach is better for this group. Still, the stats don't lie, and they take exception.

Like all things in life, balance is necessary. Knowing when to be aggressive and when to be patient is a skill, and one that the Rangers must develop. If they don't, we'll continue to see this wildly inconsistent and frequently bad offense until it's time to watch the playoffs from home.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow