If you spent any part of last September staring at the Texas Rangers baseball scores scrolling across the bottom of your TV, you probably felt that familiar, creeping sense of "here we go again." One minute the team is hovering around .500, looking like they might just sneak into a Wild Card spot, and the next, they’re dropping 11 of their final 13 games. It was brutal. Honestly, finishing 81-81 in 2025 felt like a slap in the face after the 2023 World Series high.
But here we are in January 2026. The dust has settled, Bruce Bochy has officially ridden off into the retirement sunset, and Skip Schumaker is the guy holding the clipboard now. Everyone is obsessing over the scores from last year—the 1-13 blowout against Seattle or the 14-run shellacking from Cincinnati—but those numbers are ancient history.
What actually matters right now isn't the final score of a game played four months ago. It’s the weird, slightly chaotic roster surgery Chris Young is performing in the dark of winter.
The Semien Trade and the Scoreboard Reality
Let’s get the big elephant out of the room. The Rangers traded Marcus Semien.
Yeah, it happened. They sent him to the Mets and got Brandon Nimmo back. If you’re looking at future Texas Rangers baseball scores and wondering where the power is going to come from, you're not alone. Semien was the heartbeat of that middle infield. But the front office clearly looked at a team that finished 26th in batting average last year and decided "staying the course" was a recipe for another mediocre October at home.
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Nimmo brings a different vibe. He’s a guy who lives on base. Last year, the Rangers struggled to put crooked numbers on the board because they couldn't string together hits. They’d hit a solo shot, then strike out three times. Bringing in a guy like Nimmo, paired with Wyatt Langford—who just put up a 22-22 season and snagged a Gold Glove nomination—suggests a shift in strategy. They want more traffic. More pressure.
Key Roster Shuffles for 2026:
- Out: Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim (non-tendered), Adolis Garcia (non-tendered).
- In: Brandon Nimmo (via trade), Danny Jansen (2-year deal), Skip Schumaker (Manager).
- Returning: Jacob deGrom, Corey Seager, and a hopefully healthy Nathan Eovaldi.
It’s a gamble. You're basically betting that a younger, faster lineup can generate more runs than the veteran group that just ran out of gas.
Pitching Wins Games, But the Bullpen Loses Them
If you look at the Texas Rangers baseball scores from 2025, you’ll notice a trend. The starters were actually... good? Like, surprisingly good. The team ERA of 3.47 was technically first in the league. That sounds like a typo, but it's true. Nathan Eovaldi was pitching like a Cy Young candidate (1.73 ERA over 130 innings) before the injury bug bit him again.
The problem? The bullpen. ESPN recently labeled the Rangers' relief unit as the worst in baseball heading into 2026.
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It’s hard to argue. Watching a 3-1 lead evaporate in the 8th inning became a weekly tradition in Arlington. Chris Young has spent this offseason throwing darts at the board, signing guys like Chris Martin and Nabil Crismatt to minor league deals, hoping one of them sticks as a reliable bridge to the 9th.
What the 2026 Schedule Tells Us
We’re only a few weeks away from Spring Training. The first "score" that matters will be on February 20, 2026, when the Rangers face Kansas City in Surprise, Arizona.
But the real test starts March 26. They open on the road against Philadelphia. That’s a tough environment to debut a new manager and a rebuilt outfield. Following that up with a trip to Baltimore doesn't make it any easier.
Most fans are looking at the April schedule and seeing a lot of potential "L" marks. But here's the thing: the AL West is weirdly wide open. The Mariners won 90 games last year, but they aren't invincible. The Astros are the Astros, but they're getting older. If Texas can just stay within striking distance of .500 through May, they have the rotation depth to make a second-half run.
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Why You Should Ignore the Early Power Rankings
Some outlets are projecting the Rangers to win fewer than 70 games. That feels like a massive overcorrection.
Sure, losing Semien and Garcia hurts the "vibe" of the team. But you still have Corey Seager. You still have a healthy Jacob deGrom (for now). You have Wyatt Langford, who is widely expected to leap into the Top 50 players in the league this year.
The scores won't look like the 2023 explosion. They’re probably going to be lower-scoring, tighter games. It’s going to be "small ball" or bust.
Actionable Next Steps for Rangers Fans:
- Watch the International Market: The Rangers just landed Elian Rosario, a Top 10 international prospect. The farm system is being restocked in real-time.
- Track the 5th Starter Battle: Keep an eye on Jack Leiter and Zak Kent during Spring Training. If one of them can solidify the back end of the rotation, the starters will keep the team in games even when the bats are cold.
- Monitor the Bullpen Roles: By mid-March, we should know if Skip Schumaker is going with a "closer by committee" or if he's found a specific guy. This will be the single biggest factor in whether those 1-run leads turn into wins.
- Download the 2026 Schedule: The road trips to Philly and Baltimore in March/April are the early litmus test. If they come home from that trip with a winning record, cancel the "rebuild" talk immediately.
The 2026 season isn't about nostalgia for the 2023 trophy. It’s about whether this specific group of arms can carry a transitioning lineup. Don't let a bad week in April trick you into thinking the season is over before it starts.