The Texas Rangers have stumbled through a disappointing season and are trending toward missing the playoffs after winning the 2023 World Series.
“We tried to come out and be the hunter. I guess we got hunted,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. “The only common link I can give you is that guys don’t quite have the same years.”
Texas stormed through the 2023 postseason with a 13-4 record en route to the first championship in franchise history. But things haven’t gone according to plan in 2024, as the Rangers sit at 65-73 and 9.5 games out of a wild-card spot.
The Rangers have been forced to navigate numerous injuries to the pitching staff and entered play Tuesday ranked 22nd in the league in ERA.
The offense has also struggled, going from third in the league in runs scored in 2023 to 24th this year.
General manager Chris Young lamented a missed opportunity to build off last season’s success.
“Our window was open,” Young said. “I take full responsibility and accountability for it.”
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy reflected on what has been a challenging and disappointing season, summing it up with a telling statement: “We got hunted.” After a strong start to the year, the Rangers found themselves slipping as the season progressed, and the weight of expectations seemed to grow heavier with each passing week. Bochy’s candid admission points to the reality of what it means to be a team with early success—other teams quickly adjust, and being the hunted comes with its own set of pressures.
The Rangers entered the 2024 season with a renewed sense of hope. Big offseason acquisitions and a talented roster had fans believing that this could be the year they returned to postseason contention. For a good portion of the first half, the team lived up to that potential. They held the top spot in the AL West and showcased an impressive blend of power hitting and solid pitching. However, as the season wore on, injuries began to take their toll, and the team struggled to maintain their form.
Bochy, a seasoned manager with three World Series titles under his belt, knows better than anyone the rigors of a long MLB season. He’s seen teams rise and fall, and he understands the fine line between success and failure in a highly competitive league. His comment that the Rangers were “hunted” speaks to the shift in dynamics that happens when teams perform well early on. Opponents begin to circle those games on their calendar, study tendencies, and bring their best effort to knock off a top contender. For the Rangers, that pressure seemed to culminate in a series of setbacks, both physically and mentally, that they couldn’t fully recover from.
Despite the disappointment, Bochy remains hopeful for the future. He’s confident in the core talent of the team and believes that lessons learned this season will help them become better prepared for the challenges ahead. “It’s part of the growing process,” Bochy said. “We’ll learn from this and come back stronger.”
As the Rangers head into the offseason, the sting of a missed opportunity will linger, but under Bochy’s experienced leadership, the team will look to regroup, refocus, and make another run at the postseason next year.
