Texas Rangers’ Road Struggles Derail a Season of High Hopes
ARLINGTON, Texas — For much of the summer, the Texas Rangers looked like a team built for October. Their lineup mashed, their bullpen stabilized, and Globe Life Field pulsed with postseason anticipation. Yet as the regular season draws to a close, the Rangers’ year has been undone by an all-too-familiar flaw: they simply could not win away from home.
The contrast is striking. At Globe Life Field, Texas played like a contender, posting one of the American League’s best home records and averaging more than five runs per game. On the road, the story flipped. Defensive lapses, silent bats, and late-inning breakdowns have plagued them, leading to a losing record outside Arlington and a Wild Card race slipping out of reach.
Manager Bruce Bochy, who guided last year’s club to a World Series title, has struggled to explain the split. “We’ve prepared the same way,” Bochy said. “But baseball is a game of execution. On the road, we’ve just come up short.”
Players have echoed the frustration. Shortstop Corey Seager, normally steady at the plate, admitted the travel grind wore on the team. “You try not to press, but when the results keep going the wrong way, it’s tough,” Seager said. “We know how good we can be. We just haven’t shown it away from home.”
The numbers tell the story. Texas entered September hitting nearly 30 points lower on the road while its pitching staff carried an ERA more than a run higher than at Globe Life Field. Clutch hitting, a hallmark of last year’s championship run, has been inconsistent in visiting ballparks, leaving runners stranded and momentum squandered.
Fans have noticed. Each road trip brought mounting tension, with social media lighting up after another narrow loss in a hostile stadium. “This team at home is a juggernaut,” one fan posted on X. “On the road, it feels like a different club entirely.”
Despite the struggles, the Rangers remain a dangerous opponent. The offense, powered by Seager and Marcus Semien, can score in bunches, and the rotation anchored by Nathan Eovaldi is capable of shutting down elite lineups. But to return to October baseball, Texas must solve its road riddle—a task that may now have to wait until 2026.
The front office faces a pivotal offseason. Reinforcing the bullpen, adding another reliable starter, and evaluating travel routines will all be on the table. For a team with championship talent, the inability to perform consistently away from Globe Life Field is both a mystery and a mandate for change.
“We’ve got to figure it out,” Bochy said. “If we want to be playing deep into October again, we can’t be two different teams.”
For now, the Rangers’ faithful can only look back on a season of highs at home and heartbreak on the road, wondering how a club so formidable in Arlington came undone beyond Texas state lines.
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