The Texas Rangers are trying to formulate a play on an abbreviated timeline to improve enough his offseason to return to the playoffs in 2027.

The timeline would be abbreviated if there is a work stoppage in December, which almost seems to be a certainty at this point. But Texas has work to do to get back to the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 2023.

So what msut change? Well, compared to the two World Series teams, there are plenty of areas to choose from. But let’s explore one that president of baseball operations Chris Young is already trying to address.

This Rangers Stat Has to Change

Young emphasized getting better at getting runners on base last offseason. It’s why he flipped second baseman Marcus Semien to the New York Mets for outfielder Brandon Nimmo. He could replace Adolis Garcia in right field and had a better on-base percentage for his career. At the same time, there was a priority placed on getting current players to improve in that area. It resulted in improvement, but only incrementally.

In 2025 the Rangers were 18th in on-base percentage at .302. For context to the 2023 World Series team, that lineup had a .337 OBP. That’s what the Rangers are trying to get back to.

In 2026, Texas finished 16th in OBP at .317. That was a 15-point improvement from a year ago. But it was nowhere near the two World Series teams. The Milwaukee Brewers, the NL pennant winners, led the Majors with a .341 OBP. The Tampa Bay Rays, the AL pennant winner, had a .326 OBP.

That is fueled by two factors — batting average and walks. In both areas the Rangers have ground to make up:

Batting Average: Brewers — .258; Rays — .258; Rangers — .242.

Walks: Brewers — 668; Rays — 514; Rangers — 525.

So, the Rangers had a slight edge over the Rays in walks but that’s negligible when one considers the Rays led the AL in infield hits and singles. The Brewers led the NL in the same category. Milwaukee’s plate discipline is incredible, given the walk rate. Both teams crave contact at the plate instead of chasing power, and it shows up in identical batting averages.

If there is any good news, it’s that the Rangers aren’t THAT far away from changing it. It just feels that way because the Rangers didn’t make wholesale changes to their lineup in 2026. They opted to improve from within, with mixes results. But Texas must do that to figure out which talent wants to change — and which talent doesn’t. That could fuel personnel changes this offseason that could improve the on-base percentage for the Rangers and thereby improve their chances of reaching the postseason again.