Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Degrom delivers during the first inning during the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field on Monday, April 6, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
After a wide gulf in results during their first homestand, being swept and then sweeping, we should probably take a moment to take stock of the Rangers team.
As they head out on a 10-game West Coast road trip, what can we make of the first dozen games, particularly the homestand? Here’s our weekly stock report on who and what is paying big returns and who is underperforming:
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Blue chips
Jakes, Inc.: To borrow from the Rangers script regarding their new City Connects, whether you spell it with a “C” or a “K,” it means the same thing – dominant pitching. On the homestand, Jacob deGrom, Jacob Latz and Jakob Junis combined to allow one run in 12 innings and held batters to just an .071 (3 for 42) average. Latz, who has not allowed a hit this season, and Junis have taken the helm in the back of the bullpen and stabilized things. They hold the top leverage spots for the foreseeable future. Can Junis transition to a long-term closer at age 33 without a dominant fastball? We’ll see, but for now he’s paying big dividends.
Jack Leiter Growth Fund: Leiter is off to a strong start, with 17 strikeouts to two walks and three runs in his first two starts. But pan out a little further back to his rookie season finish. Over his last 11 games, dating to last August, he’s got a 3.30 ERA over 51 ⅔ innings and a strikeout-to-walk rate of 4.23-to-1. His ERA puts him in the top 30% in what amounts to a two-month stretch over two seasons. It suggests that Leiter, who continued to improve as his rookie season stretched on, has picked up right where he left off.
Brandon Nimmo Commodities: Nimmo has been the catalyst atop the lineup that makes the Rangers more dangerous, even if they aren’t producing runs in bulk. His discipline at the plate has led to a .415 OBP. His hustle on the bases perhaps forced an errant throw home that allowed two runs to score, breaking a scoreless tie Wednesday. Simply compare the leadoff position year over year. In 2025, through 12 games, Marcus Semien had a .167 OBP and would eventually be dropped from the spot before the end of the month.
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Luis Curvelo Trust Fund: If this bullpen is to truly excel, the Rangers need a “surprise” to emerge as a trustworthy middle- or late-inning guy. Curvelo has continued to gain trust since the early stages of spring training. He was the last cut from the roster because the Rangers rolled the dice on keeping Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler. But with Baumler battling an intercostal muscle strain, Curvelo was the Rangers’ first callup of the year. Pitched two perfect innings on Wednesday, and since Feb. 28 he’s got a 0.686 WHIP with 15 strikeouts to two walks between spring training, Triple-A Round Rock and the Rangers. He’s got the best fastball in the bullpen, and now he’s got some opportunity.
Kyle Higashioka Industries: Hard to find an offensive star in the Rangers’ week-long homestand, but Higashioka reached four times in seven plate appearances in his two starts. His two-run homer gave the Rangers the lead against George Kirby, whom they had never beaten. And his deadpan, wry postgame quips have been emblematic of how much different this team is than the last iteration.
MacKenzie Gore Trades: Any questions? He pitched five shutout, one-hit innings against Seattle on Wednesday and has 25 strikeouts in 16 innings thus far this season. His start against the Mariners certainly left the impression that the Rangers’ rotation stacks up very well against what is considered to be the best group in the AL.
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Underperformers
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Josh Jung Futures: Just a dozen games in and Jung has already lost his grip on an everyday spot. Ezequiel Duran started three of the final four games on the homestand. If Jung doesn’t stop chasing pitches so freely, playing time is liable to continue slipping away. Through the first 12 games, his chase rate of 44.9% was the 11th worst in baseball (minimum 30 plate appearances). It would be one thing if he was slugging balls when he made contact; that would offset some of the chase. But he’s not. His six hits are all singles. He is one of just three players with at least 30 plate appearances, no extra-base hits and one or zero walks. He’s got to do something better offensively to be able to contribute.
AL West franchises: The Rangers early-season schedule is so trying that simply surviving may be considered thriving. But it may be even more than that. The Rangers emerged from the first 12 games as the only team above .500 in the division. It doesn’t mean a ton in the standings at the moment, but given the dichotomy of their schedule, it may make an even bigger difference in the second half of the season when the Rangers have a distinct home-road advantage. One disclaimer: As of Thursday, though Seattle was 4-9 and Houston 6-7, it wasn’t far off from where they were at the start of the 2025 season. On this date last year, Houston was 5-6, Seattle 4-8. So, maybe it means something, maybe nothing.
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Globe Life Field Environments: Maybe it was just the quality of pitching the Rangers encountered on their first homestand, but until the Rangers start scoring runs at home, the narrative that Globe Life Field is bad for hitters is going to continue to percolate. The Rangers have data that suggested fly balls were playing about four feet further this year, but it’s a small sample size. And it still suggests the Rangers haven’t hit enough balls hard at home. When they return home at the end of April, maybe they can start to pick it up. Then again, they may have a date waiting for them with Paul Skenes in that first series back. So hold that thought.