His live stream, which was held before Texas began its weekend series against the Detroit Tigers, came as the Rangers flipped the calendar from May to April. Evan specifically pointed out two significant developments that popped up for Texas during its 15-16 start to the season that could bode well for the rest of the season, one on the offense, the other on the defense.
See what SportsDay’s veteran Rangers insider had to say about Texas’ start to 2026 below, with his lengthy answer edited lightly for clarity
Evan Grant: In my season predictions, month-by-month analysis, I had them going 16-15 through the end of April, they’re 15-16. And the way I look at it is they’re a one-run loss to the A’s at home that was full of some some late opportunities away from being right on track with where they should be record-wise. But what I think is more important is, to me, there are two developments, and we can talk about the lack of offense all year long, because it’s I think it’s going to be a story. I think it’s going to be story in Globe Life Field, we can get into some stats in a little bit, but I think there were two developments that were of real significance in April.
One was that we saw Josh Jung play the best baseball of his career. This last month has been the best baseball he has ever played for a 30-game stretch, he’s looked like the player, and better, that he was in the first half of 2023 when he was an American League All-Star, and so that’s a big step. And one thing I really like is, I think over these last 25 games, I think he’s right at 1:1 in walk-to-strikeout ratio. So that’s great for him. This is a guy who chased too much, and a guy who didn’t walk a ton. And so if he’s made that adjustment and able to, the way I tried to explain it to somebody yesterday is, I think that there have been some minor changes in his setup and approach that have allowed him to see the ball a millisecond longer before starting a swing. And because of it, it’s allowed him better pitch recognition. I also think that he’s not trying to do too much at the plate, and we’re seeing him drive the ball into the gaps, a lot of doubles. Globe Life Field is a park that you may have to be satisfied with doubles and not home runs. And he’s not trying to hit home runs. He’s simply trying to hit the ball hard to the big part of the field, and that’s what this offense needs to do to be successful at home.
The second element for me that was really significant in April was, going into the season, we had a whole lot of questions about this bullpen. I did not have on my bingo card the Rangers bullpen having the best relief ERA in Major League Baseball. And listen, relief era can be skewed a little bit one way or another, because maybe you don’t get charged for the inherited runners, but you still allow runs to score. But what I think does matter is the fact that Jacob Latz has, for all intents and purposes, become the closer. And I think Skip Schumaker was very close to saying that on Wednesday after the game, when he said that Jake was his ninth inning guy, depending on the lane, and that’s his qualifier. And means that if he’s facing, if it was a strong string of right-handed hitters, maybe Jakob Junis is the guy in that situation. But in that string of hitters that he faced in a two-inning save on Wednesday against the New York Yankees, was Aaron Judge, and he got Aaron Judge out and you’re not going to face a better right-handed hitter than Aaron Judge. So I do think that was a real turning point in the evolution of Jacob Latz, and his month has been spectacular: a spot start, a two-inning save, ninth inning outings, lots of high-leverage games. He was a really valuable piece and I think the linchpin in that bullpen.
Also in the bullpen, I think the production of surprises. And you need to have surprises in your bullpen. You’ve just got to have guys who come from out of nowhere and really hit a hot streak. And I think the Rangers have had that, at least the beginning of one, with 9 ⅓ combined scoreless innings from Gavin Collyer, who’s got closer-type stuff at 100 mph and Peyton Gray, who doesn’t have powerful stuff, but he’s got a big league changeup, and he’s using that to his advantage. And so the fact that those two guys have really stepped in has been, I think, a significant development.
So my takeaway from April is that this team is pretty much on target for where they need to be. I do think that Globe Life Field has gotten in these hitters’ heads a little bit, and I think that is a concern. I wrote a story the other day about the chase rate at home versus the chase rate on the road. And that, to me, was the biggest indicator of any of this, that there’s an issue there that basically said to me that the Rangers are trying to do too much. They’re chasing way too much at home versus on the road. The ballpark is not making you swing. The flight of the ball is not making you swing, but it may be putting thoughts in your head that you got to try and do a little bit more, or you got to start a little bit earlier to try and get a little bit more extra power on the ball, since you’ve got to hit the ball pretty much 106 mph, or harder, to get it out in the gaps or in center field, and so that may be taking some of that pitch recognition away from some guys. I think they were in the top 10 in a league, in lowest chase percentage on the road and lowest chase percentage with runners in scoring position on the road. They were in the bottom 10 in both of those stats at home. So that’s something to watch for. And I do think the Rangers are trying to address it and need to address it, and the players, it’s a hard thing to do when it gets inside your head.
Watch Evan’s full live Q&A below.