The Texas Rangers loaded the bases against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday. Again. And once again they did absolutely nothing with it. The final score was 6-3 to Boston and another golden opportunity went to waste.
This isn’t a one off. This isn’t a rough patch. This is a full blown trend — and it’s one of the strangest stories in baseball right now.
Just How Bad Is It
Bad enough to make you wince when you look at the numbers. The Rangers are slashing .208/.197/.245 with the bases loaded — fourth worst in all of baseball. They don’t have a single home run in those situations, one of only six teams in the entire league that can say that. Two extra base hits in 53 at bats, both doubles. Thirty four RBI with the bases loaded — second worst in baseball, ahead of only the Detroit Tigers.
And perhaps most damning of all — tied for the fewest walks with the bases loaded at just two. When a team can’t even take a free run in that situation something has gone genuinely wrong.
The Confusing Part
Here’s where it gets really strange. The Rangers aren’t actually a bad offensive team. With runners in scoring position they rank eighth in baseball with a .259/.344/.394 slash and 186 RBI. A completely respectable set of numbers that suggests their hitters know how to perform under pressure.
But the moment those bases get loaded? Everything falls apart. It’s like a switch flips and a completely different lineup shows up at the plate. How the same group of hitters can be competent in one situation and historically bad in another is genuinely perplexing.
Does It Actually Matter Though
Here’s the second reason this whole thing is so baffling — success with the bases loaded doesn’t automatically translate to winning baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers lead the NL Central and have the best bases loaded slash in baseball. Fine, that tracks.
But the San Francisco Giants are sitting fourth in the NL West despite having the third best bases loaded numbers. The Los Angeles Angels have over 70 RBI in those situations and are dead last in the AL West.
Meanwhile the Seattle Mariners — the team the Rangers are chasing in the AL West — are slashing .196/.274/.391 with the bases loaded. Worse than Texas. And yet the race is still tight.
The Bottom Line
The Rangers have won nine of their last twelve games despite this glaring weakness. They’re still in the AL West race. Still in the Wild Card picture. Still very much alive.
But two games under .500 with the worst bases loaded numbers in baseball is not a sustainable combination. At some point those squandered opportunities start costing wins that can’t be recovered.
The Rangers are good enough to mask the problem right now. Whether they’re good enough to keep masking it all the way to October is a completely different question. ⚾🔥
