Thursday, January 22

WASHINGTON -- It’s been just over one month since the Rangers dismissed offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker amid their worst offensive stretch of the year. 

On May 6, the Rangers replaced Ecker with Bret Boone, while retaining hitting coach Justin Viele and assistant hitting coach Seth Connor. Despite the coaching staff shuffles, not much has changed with the Rangers' offense over the last month. 

When the Rangers dismissed Ecker, they ranked 25th in wRC+ (85), 25th in slugging (.359), 26th in batting average (.228), 28th in on-base percentage (.285), 29th in runs (113) and 29th in walk rate (6.7%).

Just over a month after the fact, Texas now ranks 29th in wRC+ (79), 28th in slugging (.353), 29th in batting average (.220), 29th in on-base percentage (.282), 28th in runs (217) and 27th in walk rate (7.2%) entering Sunday’s matchup with the Nationals. 

“I just feel for the guys,” Viele said. “You want them to do well, you want the work that they put in to show on the field and for them to have success. That's been the hardest part. I hate watching guys struggle.”

Since Boone’s first game on May 6, Texas ranks last in MLB in average (.212) and OPS (.626). 

Two of the team’s best hitters in Wyatt Langford and Adolis García have struggled more and more. Langford had a .900 OPS in 25 games before the hitting coach change. Since then, he’s slashing .181/.262/.336 in 30 games. García is just 10-for-58 (.172) with a .441 OPS over his last 17 games.

And it’s not just the two of them. More than anything, the Rangers are struggling to get on base. They’re not walking, they’re not getting hits and they’re definitely not going for extra bases.

“We're trying everything we can to get on base,” Viele said. “It's just not happening. So I don't know. There's a lot of things that we probably could probably point at or adjust, but at the end of the day, these guys have everything they need. They just have to show up and put it together. We're hoping that will come soon.”

There haven’t been grand sweeping changes with the addition of Boone to the staff. But all three of the hitting coaches are trying everything to get the offense moving. 

Manager Bruce Bochy has remarked before that he feels like sometimes the hitters are overdoing it with their prep and taking too many swings pregame. But there’s a balance between a sense of urgency and panicking. 

Viele’s job is to try to keep them from panicking. 

“I try to be the same every day,” Viele said. “They don't need more of a roller coaster than they have to go through it every day of the season. So I try not to be super reactive. I just try to give them what they need and the resources they need. 

“I, generally, will rethink everything that I'm doing, and adjust where I feel like I need to adjust. I'm the first one that will make adjustments if I feel like the personnel is telling me to do something different. It has been a challenge, just trying to find the right thing that clicks with these guys."

At some point, it really does just come down to the players themselves. No matter who the coaches are and what the routine is, the players need to find a way to get back to the best version of themselves. And at this point, nobody in the lineup is there. 

“Nobody wants to be [bad]. Nobody,” Viele said. “None of these guys want to have bad months or have bad seasons. They all care and they all work and they're all doing everything they can to do well. It's just not happening right now. There's only so much that we as hitting coaches can do besides showing up and being the same every day and being there.”

“You just hope that something snowballs and you have a couple good games, and it turns into a good month. That's kind of what we're pushing for.”

“[RFK Stadium] was my first Major League game. Talk about inspiring a young kid and seeing his first Major League game and watching these Major League players make it look so easy. It was a big day for me when I could go watch a game there.

"We lived in Northern Virginia, so it was pretty cool for me to get to see my favorite player as a kid -- Mickey Mantle -- play there. Of course, I was a huge Frank Howard fan and Don Locke. It was really cool for me when I got to manage in that ballpark. I would show the players where I would sit on the third base side, in the upper deck.” -- Bochy on playing in Washington D.C.

Phase 1 of the balloting for next month’s 2025 MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta has begun. The first phase allows fans to vote daily. You can vote up to five times every day on MLB.com until Thursday, June 26 at 11 a.m. CT.

Shortstop Corey Seager, second baseman Marcus Semien, utilityman Josh Smith, catcher Jonah Heim and outfielders Langford and García all appear on the ballot for the Rangers this season. 

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