Final thoughts from Rangers’ loss to Mariners: Shutout drops Texas into second place

ARLINGTON — Is it the Whataburger Curse?

Something doesn’t smell right at Globe Life Field lately. The Rangers offense has turned as limp as undercooked fries at home.

Which brings us to our theory: Must have something to do with that brand-new Whataburger that went up on the concourse on the third base side of the park. It’s as good a reason as any. The Whataburger was not finished for the Rangers’ first homestand of the season, during which they offense scored 20 runs. Ever since, things have turned colder than, well, do we really need another fast-food euphemism?

Of course, it might also have something to do with stuff like Josh Jung being absent, Corey Seager seeking his swing and the rookie twins going through rookie inconsistencies.

In their last six games at Globe Life Field, the Rangers have been one-, two- and three-hit by opposing pitchers. They have scored a total of 15 runs — an average of 2.5 per game. They are hitting .182. They are 1-5. Hey, that R-O-A-D thing from the playoffs and the World Series ring is cool and all, but, just because you played well on the road doesn’t mean you have to struggle at home, too.

By the way, the Rangers have a losing all-time regular-season record at Globe Life Field. It’s 141-143.

That’s definitely not just how you like it.

Anyway, here are some other VERY IMPORTANT final thoughts:

Worst pitch: The 0-2 fastball Dane Dunning threw to Cal Raleigh in the first inning was simply not a good pitch: 91 mph over the heart of the plate after getting a pair of swings and misses on cutters above the zone. Dunning said he wanted to go above the zone again with a four-seamer, the fifth most-used pitch in his repertoire. It was probably a mistake pitch. It was definitely a mistake in execution.

Most alarming thing about Dunning’s start to the year: He’s allowed seven homers in 27.1 innings. That’s an average of more than two per nine innings. It’s a small sample size (as is everything in April), but it is more than double his rate for 2023. Dunning is at his best when he’s getting ground ball outs.

Oh yeah: Raleigh’s homer was the ninth by a catcher against the Rangers this year. Weird.

Worst trend: Early or not, it can’t hurt to play better baseball against the AL West. The Rangers are 4-7 inside the division. Nobody in the division has gotten off to a hot start, which is good for a team trying to keep afloat while waiting for returning players, but the Rangers are going to have to win inside the division at some point this year if the postseason is to be a repeat occurrence.

The optimist’s view: After this series with the Mariners, the Rangers play only 10 games inside the division until July 4. Barring more injuries, they should have a much more “complete” roster when they play the bulk of their intra-division games.

Best trend: Things in the bullpen may be pointing upwards. A quartet of relievers — José Ureña, Jacob Latz, José Leclerc and Cole Winn — allowed just two hits over the final 4.2 innings. Ureña, who’s been effective as a middle reliever, escaped consecutive innings on double play balls.

Longer look: The Rangers are moving towards full strength in the bullpen. They activated Jonathan Hernández on Tuesday. Josh Sborz pitched on rehab on Tuesday and could join the roster Thursday. They seem to have settled on Kirby Yates as a closer. The Rangers are 7-1 in games in which David Robertson and Yates have appeared.

Best conspiracy theory: Isn’t it about time for somebody to posit some irregularity in the baseballs? Some deadening of the core? Slugging is down not just for the Rangers, but across all of baseball. It’s a bit more dramatic for the Rangers, who are averaging a homer every 36 at-bats. Last year, they averaged one every 24 at-bats in April, every 28 at-bats for the full season. As a whole, the league was averaging a homer every 34 at-bats this year, compared to one every 29.8 for 2023. Even with the mounting pitching epidemic homers are down. When they are up, inevitably a story pops up about how there are differences in the baseball that are allowing them to fly further. So now they are down.

Maybe we are just focused on the differences in the pants.

I don’t know. I smell a conspiracy. Or maybe that’s just Whataburger.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant

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