<\/p>\n
Texas Rangers’ Evan Carter shows bunt during the sixth inning of a baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Athletics, Sunday, April 26, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/Julio Cortez)<\/p>\n
Julio Cortez\/AP<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON \u2014 In a nearly three-year search to fix a nonexistent offense, the\u00a0Rangers<\/a> have tried one change after another. They\u2019ve changed personnel. They\u2019ve changed hitting coaches. They\u2019ve even changed managers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next up: Changing philosophies?\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Built to slug but unable to hit fastballs, the Rangers are toying with and talking about small ball. While new approaches are both intriguing and necessary, it still ultimately comes down to the talent. Can old sluggers learn new tricks?\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI do feel like there might be some things on the table that might be a little unconventional in the \u2018new-school\u2019 type of way the game is being played to try to manufacture a little bit more than maybe we\u2019ve done before,\u201d manager Skip Schumaker said this week. \u201cBut you also have to remember the personnel that you have and who are the guys that are going to be able to do that. You don\u2019t just want to hit-and-run if you\u2019ve got a non-baserunner at first base. You have to do it the right way because just doing something for the sake of it is a sign of panic and we don\u2019t want that in the clubhouse.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n We\u2019ll get back to this in a moment. We\u2019re just still stuck on small ball suddenly being considered \u201cnew school.\u201d Maybe contact really does matter after all. Maybe the bunt can be useful. But we digress.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Whether old is new or not, the Rangers are leaning into the idea more. Perhaps they, like everybody else, have noticed that resourceful Tampa Bay has once again created an edge for itself by turning more to contact and opportunism.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Rays, who have the best record in the AL, are in the top 10 in virtually every situational offensive stat that portends to small ball. They lead the majors in sac bunts and total sacrifices and are second in percentage of \u201cproductive outs,\u201d as calculated by Baseball-Reference, which is mostly a measure of putting the situation over the swing. The Rangers began Wednesday with the third-lowest percentage in that same statistic. They got off their best swings, for sure, but rarely did what the situation called for. What was that thing Ron Washington used to say? Do what the game asks? \u00a0<\/p>\n Well, it appears they are going to try that on for a change. Wednesday\u2019s decision to move on from Andrew McCutchen and replacing him with bunting fool Nicky Lopez<\/a> was a tweak of the roster designed to make small ball, particularly from the bottom of the lineup, more viable. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve all discussed it and thought about ways we can try to manufacture runs a little bit more,\u201d president of baseball operations Chris Young said. \u201cBut we also have six guys in the lineup right now, without Corey and Wyatt, who are above league average OPS-wise, so we are doing some things well. But it seems like the consistency of scoring runs and maybe turning the lineup over at the bottom has been a challenge, and so this is an opportunity for us to try to change the personnel a little and maybe the style of play at the bottom of the lineup. It wouldn’t shock me if we see more opportunities for small ball.\u201d<\/p>\n And it\u2019s not just the manager and the POBO saying it. It\u2019s also the guy who has demonstrated more real clubhouse leadership skills in two months than any player around here has in five years saying it. Brandon Nimmo didn\u2019t say it in so many words, but he challenged his teammates this week to function as an offense, not as individuals<\/a>. That meant some self-awareness to identify attributes that played into offensive cohesion. He didn\u2019t just say it. He sat down with several younger players to discuss it. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n