With 27 games left to go in their 2025 MLB regular season, the Texas Rangers are only ranked third in the American League West. They are one game over .500 at the time of writing with a 68-67 record, four and a half games back of the 72-62 Seattle Mariners for second place, and six and a half games back of the first-place Houston Astros (74-60).
The Mariners are currently in the final Wild Card spot, and between them and the Rangers stand the 69-65 Kansas City Royals. For the Rangers to make the postseason at this point, then, is a tough ask; by way of illustrating the point, FanGraphs pegs the Rangers‘ current odds of making the playoffs at a mere 4.8%.
It has been a disappointing campaign for the Rangers, whose strong starting rotation was supposed to get the team back to the postseason after missing out in 2024 amid a limp defense of their 2023 World Series title. There was investment in the offseason, particularly in the offense, and they also were buyers at the deadline. Yet a season of .500 baseball looks like being all they have to show for all that market aggression.
At least, though, the Rangers have a quality defensive unit to point to. The best in the majors, in fact.
Strong Team Defensive Unit
According to the numbers at Fielding Bible, the Rangers have the best defense in the majors. As a unit, they have combined for 84 defensive runs saved, with only the Chicago Cubs (76) coming anywhere close to them. It is a big, big gap to third place and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Cubs are in second place in large part on account of their excellent up-the-middle duo of Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong. By contrast, the Rangers have more than five defensive runs saved at six different positions – while also sporting two stand-out defensive players of their own.
At shortstop, it is not only his work at the plate that has made Corey Seager into one of baseball’s best players. Despite being snubbed for his sixth All-Star appearance, Seager has posted 15 defensive runs saved, and would have posted more had he not missed the best part of a month through injury earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, in right field, Adolis Garcia has 17 of the team’s 19 defensive runs saved at the position, picking up in the field for his struggles at the plate. Garcia has to be considered one of the most improved defensive players in the majors, too, having recorded a -5 in this category last season, a massive decline from his above-average play that was a big part of the Rangers‘ 2023 World Series victory. In 2025, he is not just back to his best – he is greatly improving on it.
When paired with fellow plus-defenders Wyatt Langford, Marcus Semien, Ezequiel Duran and Kyle Higashioka (whose addition has helped stem the bleeding from Jonah Heim’s continued struggles), the Rangers have good defensive options at every position. It is what happens going the other way where the problems start.
Rangers’ Run-Scoring Problems
For the Rangers to convert this defensive excellence into World Series competitiveness, they have to improve at the plate, substantially. The Rangers rank only 22nd in the majors in runs scored per game – bottom-third teams do not compete for World Series crowns.
As embodied by Garcia, all the defense in the world still needs runs going the other way, and despite the strength in the rotation, the pitching staff as a collective has not been as good as advertised either. Jacob deGrom has stayed healthy, at least, but after having emerged as the staff ace, Nathan Eovaldi has not.
This year, it is not going to happen. Next year, who knows. There nevertheless exists a crumb of comfort in knowing that, of the three departments of the game of baseball, the Rangers are the league’s best at one of them. Just two more to go, then.
Rangers Have the Best Defense in the Major Leagues