Baseball is a weird game. Honestly, there is no other way to describe what just happened in Arlington. If you looked at the box scores for the Texas Rangers players 2025 season in April, you probably thought a dynasty was brewing. By September? It felt like a MAS*H unit trying to play a doubleheader.
The Rangers finished exactly at .500. 81 wins, 81 losses. It’s the kind of record that makes you want to scream because it’s so perfectly average, yet the path to get there was anything but. We saw a rotation that led the league with a 3.47 ERA, anchored by a version of Jacob deGrom that actually stayed on the mound. But we also saw an offense that, frankly, disappeared for weeks at a time. It was a year of "The Little Rascals" saving the day and superstars watching from the dugout in walking boots.
The superstars and the injury bug
Corey Seager is still the heartbeat of this team. Let’s just get that out of the way. Even though he only suited up for 102 games, he put up a 6.1 bWAR. Think about that for a second. Most guys don't hit that in a full 162-game slate. He was slashing .271/.373/.487 before an emergency appendectomy in September ended his season early. It’s sort of become the Seager story: pure brilliance when he’s there, but you’re always holding your breath every time he slides into second.
Then there’s Marcus Semien. The "Iron Man" finally showed he's human. He missed the final six weeks with a fractured foot—his first trip to the IL since 2017. Watching the lineup without Seager and Semien at the top felt wrong. It looked wrong.
Why the rotation actually worked
Nobody expected the Rangers' arms to be this good. Seriously. With Cody Bradford and Jon Gray hitting the shelf before the season even really started, things looked bleak. But Chris Young’s gamble on depth paid off in ways we didn't see coming.
- Jacob deGrom: He finally did it. 30 starts. He dialed back the velocity a tick—hitting 98 instead of 102—and the results were a 2.97 ERA and a 12-8 record.
- Nathan Eovaldi: Before a rotator cuff strain ended his year in late August, he was pitching like a Cy Young frontrunner. A 1.73 ERA through 130 innings is just silly.
- The Vanderbilt Boys: Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker finally shared a Major League rotation. Leiter took massive strides in his consistency, while Rocker showed those flashes of "unhittable" slider-heavy dominance that made him a legend in college.
The rise of the "Little Rascals"
When the stars went down, the kids came up. David Murphy, the color commentator, started calling them the "Little Rascals," and the name stuck. We’re talking about Cody Freeman, Michael Helman, Alejandro Osuna, and Dustin Harris.
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These weren't the guys on the back of the program at the start of the year. But man, they brought an energy that the veterans seemed to be lacking. Harris hit a walk-off against the Astros in September that briefly made us all believe a Wild Card spot was possible. Osuna, the younger brother of Roberto, showed a high baseball IQ and a knack for the big moment. They were scrappy. They choked up on the bat. They ran like crazy. They basically kept the season from spiraling into a 90-loss disaster.
The Jake Burger experiment
Trading for Jake Burger in the offseason was supposed to fix the hole left by Nathaniel Lowe (who was shipped to Washington). It was... bumpy. Burger struggled so much in April that he actually got sent down to Triple-A Round Rock to "reset." He eventually found his power stroke, finishing with some big homers in the second half, but the transition wasn't the seamless plug-and-play move the front office hoped for.
What to make of Wyatt Langford's sophomore year
Wyatt Langford didn't have a slump; he had a "sophomore grind." He led the team with 22 home runs and 62 RBIs, but his .241 average shows there’s still work to do. He’s already an elite defender in left field—ranking fifth in the league in defensive runs saved. If he hadn't missed time with quad issues and that late-season oblique strain, he might have been a 30/30 guy.
The reality for the Texas Rangers players 2025 group is that the window is still open, but it's getting heavy. You have a manager in Bruce Bochy who just coached his final season. You have a payroll that is under a microscope. And you have a fan base that knows what a World Series trophy feels like and isn't satisfied with .500.
Actionable insights for the 2026 outlook
If you're looking ahead to how this roster evolves, keep an eye on these specific movements:
- Watch the health of the "Big Three": The Rangers' success in 2026 is entirely dependent on deGrom, Seager, and Jung being on the field for 140+ games. There is no replacement for that level of talent.
- The Sebastian Walcott watch: He’s the top prospect for a reason. With the middle infield aging and getting more expensive, Walcott’s arrival in late 2026 or early 2027 is the next big "reset" button for this franchise.
- Bullpen stability: The 2025 bullpen was a revolving door of minor league contracts and waiver claims. Finding a lockdown closer to pair with Tyler Mahle (returning from the 60-day IL) is priority number one this winter.
- Value the depth: The "Little Rascals" proved that the bench needs to be more than just veteran placeholders. Expect players like Cody Freeman to have a much larger role in Spring Training 2026.
The 2025 season was a weird, frustrating, injury-riddled ride. But the fact that they stayed at .500 despite losing their entire core at different points tells you one thing: this team is too talented to stay down for long.