Texas Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter delivers during the first inning of baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds at Globe Life Field on Sunday, April 5, 2026.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
ARLINGTON — The week began with optimism that the pitfalls of last season were a thing of the past. It ended with the same concerns that followed them a year ago.
Are the Rangers better than they were last season? Are they the same? Worse?
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The best way to answer that question? They’ve played 9 out of 162 games, and as designated hitter Joc Pederson said after Sunday’s loss vs. the Cincinnati Reds, “there’s still opening day paint on the field.”
Here are five observations from the week that was.
The next step of ascension: There were never any questions about whether or not right-hander Jack Leiter had plus stuff in his toolkit. He’s now just started to show a masterful command of it.
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Leiter, 25, has been the club’s best starter through (nearly) two full turns through the rotation. He has a 2.45 ERA in 11 innings, 17 strikeouts that are tied for fifth-most in baseball and a heap of bats in his wake that’ve been stymied by a diverse arsenal.
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He struck out nine batters in Sunday’s loss vs. the Reds. Eight were totaled on off-speed or breaking pitches. His changeup, a project last spring, was responsible for three strikeouts and seven whiffs. His slider finished off four strikeouts. Oh, and, he throws the hardest fastball in the rotation. He ran consecutive 99 mph four-seam fastballs past Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez for a strikeout in the second inning.
The 39 swings-and-misses that he’s induced through two starts are the third-most leaguewide behind only Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Dylan Cease and Chicago Cubs right-hander Matthew Boyd. He elicited 21 whiffs against the Baltimore Orioles last Tuesday and another 18 vs. the Reds. Last season, in 29 starts, he eclipsed 18 swings-and-misses just twice.
“I feel good,” Leiter said Sunday. “It feels like we have a good plan.”
It feels like the Rangers have a real young rotation piece.
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A gem in center: The Rangers gave Evan Carter the reins (well, against right-handers, at least) in center field after he and Wyatt Langford were both considered for the position in camp.
How good has Carter been? Put it this way: Langford was a Gold Glove finalist in left field last season, profiles well up the middle and is a franchise cornerstone-caliber hitter, but the Rangers have no reason to regret Carter’s placement.
Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter (32) jogs to the dugout after making a running catch for an out during the fifth inning of the home opener against the Cincinnati Reds at Globe Life Field, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Arlington.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
The 23-year-old led all American League center fielders in outs above average (2) and defensive value (1.5) through Saturday’s games. He’s one of three players who’s made both a “five-star catch” which, per Baseball Savant, is any play made on a batted ball with less than a 25% catch expectancy, and a “four-star catch,” defined as any batted ball with a 50-25% catch expectancy.
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His .318/.423/.455 slash line vs. right-handed pitchers will keep him in the lineup for the majority of the time. His .000/.200/.000 slash line vs. left-handers will, for now, hold him back from true every-day status.
Quick start for a fresh face: A word of advice for players who’d like to make a strong first impression with their new team? Replicate right fielder Brandon Nimmo’s first week-and-a-half of games.
Nimmo has reached base in all nine games that the Rangers have played. His .389/.463/.556 slash line leads the team. His 14 total hits rank fifth leaguewide. His 4.11 pitches per plate appearance is above league average and fits well at the leadoff position. In conversations with teammates, when the state of the club’s offense is broached, many have cited Nimmo unprompted as a plus presence.
He’s the first Rangers player to reach base in their first nine games with the team at the start of season since — you guessed it — first baseman Jared Walsh did so two years ago.
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Nimmo’s time with the Rangers is on pace to be better when it’s all said and done.
Something good to chew on: The first nine-game sample size of the theoretically revamped Rangers offense provided a mixed bag. They looked wholly competent in their first two series against the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles. They looked identical to last year in many ways vs. the Reds. The Globe Life Field park factor — and more specifically the wind Sunday afternoon — might not’ve helped.
But, if you want a positive metric that suggests more positives than negatives about the quality of their at-bats, check the radar guns. The Rangers led baseball in average exit velocity (91.1 mph) and hard hit percentage (46.4%) through Saturday’s games.
What does that mean through 5% of the season? About as much as the results, which, as we said, varied.
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What could it mean over the course of a season? Exit velocity is only one piece of the offensive equation, but, it tends to translate to production when maintained over the course of a 162-game season.
“I think it would be unwise of us to change our decision making and our approach because I feel like we’re smoking the ball right now,” Carter said Sunday after the Rangers scored four runs in three games vs. the Reds. “I feel like we’re hitting it really hard and just getting unlucky.”
The ninth-inning remains … an area of focus: Specifically for all of the wrong reasons. The club’s two top candidates to close games this season — right-hander Chris Martin and left-hander Robert Garcia — have produced more questions than answers through nine games.
Texas Rangers pitcher Robert Garcia gets a visity from catcher Kyle Higashioka during the eighth inning of baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds at Globe Life Field on Sunday, April 5, 2026.
Smiley N. Pool/Staff Photographer
Martin simply hasn’t missed many bats. Opponents have hit .450 against him in four innings and tuned him up for a 9.00 ERA, a blown save and a two-run ninth inning Friday vs. the Reds. Garcia, the club’s closer for part of last season, was thrown into a high-leverage position in a tied game vs. the Reds Sunday afternoon and promptly allowed the go-ahead run on two walks and a single.
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The bigger issue is the lack of viable replacements. Martin is their most-experienced high-leverage arm and the true start to trade season is months away. Could right-hander Jakob Junis (0.00 ERA in four games) see more high-leverage opportunities? Could left-hander Jacob Latz (0.00 ERA in seven innings)? The Rangers will give Martin and Garcia a runway to shake off their slow starts. It’s just a matter of how long it’ll be.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.